Tolkien might as well have titled this chapter “Pippin Steps Up.” Up until now, he’s had basically zero positive contributions to the Quest. Mostly he’s just been there, with the one occasion that he really stood out being dropping the rock down the well in Moria. He gets full credit for coming in the first place, but he hasn’t been the most useful member of the Fellowship.
But this chapter is where Pippin proves his worth. He’s in one of the most dangerous positions of his entire life, and he rises to the occasion magnificently. He keeps his wits about him and acts intelligently to take full advantage when he can. He isn’t trying to get away, both because he is unwilling to abandon Merry and because he has no idea of where he’d go. But he’s actively seizing the opportunities that present themselves (or that he can make happen regardless), all with the thought of “Aragorn is following.”
Grishnákh is someone who’s always interested me. It’s stated repeatedly that neither Saruman nor Sauron really trust the orcs that serve them, yet despite this Grishnákh clearly knows what the Hobbits are wanted for, as well as who Gollum is. No idea how he came by this information, but he clearly did. It does explain his decision to lead his orcs of Mordor in following Uglúk towards Isengard - can’t let Saruman have the Hobbits, after all.
Once again, Tolkien shows his gift for creating atmosphere. In this case, I’m referring to the escalating tension as the Riders are sighted, and gradually approach, and ultimately encircle the Orcs. And then there’s a truly great section as the Riders effectively have the Orcs under a brief siege, waiting for the dawn before they attack in earnest. I suspect this is another place where Tolkien’s writing is informed by his wartime experiences - it’s very easy to imagine a young Tolkien on a misty night at the Somme, aware of the enemy out there and moving but unable to see more than hints of them.
Movie aside: meat never was off the menu.
An Orc stooped over him, and flung him some bread and a strip of raw dried flesh. He ate the stale grey bread hungrily, but not the meat. He was famished but not yet so famished as to eat flesh flung to him by an Orc, the flesh of he dared not guess what creature.
I don’t like this addition by Jackson, though it’s not that big of a deal really. Orcs are plenty evil on their own; there’s no need to throw gratuitous cannibalism into the mix. It actually goes contrary to how Orcs feel about the eating of their own kind:
“How do you folk like being called swine by the muck-rakers of a dirty little wizard? It’s orc-flesh they eat, I’ll warrant.”
Friday, I’ll take a long time to say anything about Treebeard, because anything worth saying in the One Mike to Read Them All LotR readalong is worth taking a long time to say.