I always liked Ithilien. “The Garden of Gondor,” it was called, and I appreciate that Tolkien made sure that there wasn’t a linear correlation between “closeness to Mordor” and “barren-ness.” Ithilien is right up against the Ephel Dúath, but is as fair as anything outside of Lothlórien. Indeed, after the War of the Ring, while Gimli leads a colony of Dwarves in the Glittering Caves, Legolas leads a colony of Elves of Mirkwood who settle in Ithilien.
Sam’s concerns about their food supply is ongoing, and so he decides to do something about it and sends Sméagol hunting for rabbits. Sméagol does so, and isn’t pleased when he learns that Sam means to cook them - both because cooking will, as far as Sméagol’s palate is concerned, ruin them, and because lighting a fire is, as far as Sméagol is concerned, a monumentally stupid thing to do. He’s correct on the latter point, as the smoke from the fire is seen. Luckily it’s seen by Men of Gondor rather than Orcs, even if they do get low-key insulted in the process:
‘We have not found what we sought,’ said one. ‘But what have we found?’ ‘Not Orcs,’ said another, releasing the hilt of his sword, which he had seized when he saw the glitter of Sting in Frodo’s hand. ‘Elves?’ said a third, doubtfully. ‘Nay! Not Elves,’ said the fourth, the tallest, and as it appeared the chief among them. ‘Elves do not walk in Ithilien in these days. And Elves are wondrous fair to look upon, or so ’tis said.’ ‘Meaning we’re not, I take you,’ said Sam. ‘Thank you kindly. And when you’ve finished discussing us, perhaps you’ll say who you are, and why you can’t let two tired travellers rest.’
In discussing who they are and what they are doing there, Frodo name-drops Boromir, and that changes the tenor of the conversation completely. There’s no question now of having a good long chat with the Hobbits, though Faramir is playing his own cards close to the chest as well and doesn’t mention that he’s Boromir’s brother yet.
Faramir goes off to ambush a column of Haradrim heading for the Morannon, giving us this memorable passage:
Then suddenly straight over the rim of their sheltering bank, a man fell, crashing through the slender trees, nearly on top of them. He came to rest in the fern a few feet away, face downward, green arrow-feathers sticking from his neck below a golden collar. His scarlet robes were tattered, his corslet of overlapping brazen plates was rent and hewn, his black plaits of hair braided with gold were drenched with blood. His brown hand still clutched the hilt of a broken sword. It was Sam’s first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man’s name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace – all in a flash of thought which was quickly driven from his mind.
There’s a lot to say about these few words. World War I is a presence here again - to me it is patently obvious that young Lt. Tolkien had these thoughts looking at a dead German soldier at the Somme.
This also is a passage that I feel counters the common charge that Tolkien is racist. Earlier in the passage he describes the Haradrim as “swarthy,” a word which to a British man born in the 19th century would have applied equally well to anyone with a Mediterranean complexion, be they Italian or Greek or Egyptian or Moroccan. As a “racist” term, it doesn’t really qualify. And the dead Haradrim’s hand is described as “brown,” but it’s worth remember that Sam’s hands are consistently described in the exact same way. And more than quibbling over skin tone, this passage emphasizes that the “Evil Men” of the South were Men. This isn’t a dead monster that Sam is looking at: it’s a dead person. Racism is, in the end, about dehumanization. It is about turning other people into “The Other,” and that is something Tolkien works hard to avoid. You see it here, you saw it in Helm’s Deep when he talks about how frightened the surrendering Men of Dunland were, and you’ll see it later on.
Next time, Frodo and Sam get to go hang in Faramir’s cool secret hideout with a Window on the West.