Chapter V
I don't care what anyone says, the drums here are awesome. they have a steady beat throughout the chapter.

This is the second time that i remember Frodo getting angry, when he stabs the troll. Its not something we see a lot of, emotions in these characters. Most are melodramatic told emotions, but rage is something Tolkien communicates very well. Is this something we will see more of as the ring takes a deeper hold on him?

I also like how the orcs retreat. Too often in the RPG world, the bad guys fight to the death, but I am pleased to see that it is not canon for the grandfather of them.

I can understand whey they changed it in the movie to be a heroic last stand for gandalf, instead of an old man getting tired and having his strong ward shattered. But i appreciate the kind of vulnarability we see here from Gandalf. The wizard has been flinging around spells left and right, and running more than he's used to.

Chapter VI:
Fist, a bit from Chapter V- "Thus, at last, they came beyond hope under the sky and felt the wind on their faces."
When Aragorn laments Gandalf's passing, "What hope have we without you" ..."We must do without hope."
Gandalf really was the heart of the party, and without him the party descends even deeper into melodrama, starting with Aragorn, who ruins his line of 'we must do without hope.' with all the alases. Mourning isn't something that's well communicated, and I feel like this could have been done better, though I don't know how.

Discussing again the communication of emotion, Melancholy and Longing are done very well by Aragorn in his thoughts on Arwen. And its cleverly done that the first word in his remiscence- "Arwen vanimelda namarie" by using her name, even though we don't know the translation, we can discern both what he feels and about whom.

Chapter VII:
Celeborn is a dick. But at least he's honest about it.
And we meet our fifth named woman, Galadriel. And she has all of the character for the whole forest. She chews every scene she is in, even when she doesn't say a single word. Even when she is offered the ring, and denies it, you can practically hear her giggling to herself as she cheers her own passing of "the test". She's just great.
I'm glad we'll see more of her next chapter.

Next week we conclude the Fellowship, and then a two week break to recalibrate (and drum up support for more people) so we can move on to Two Towers (my nickname for my parents as a kid).

@Irene @TheWiseTomato

 

oh, and fun linguistic thing: Lothlorien has no northern gate, only at least a southwestern one (and possibly a southern or southeastern one, but we aren't given that answer), and they go around the "fosse" which I had to look up, and then slapped myself. It comes from the Latin for depression, which we use in anatomy a lot, and in this instance refers to a ditch or moat. Which reminds me of the one Latin idiom/pun we learned in first year Latin, "Ossa in Fossa." The bones are in the ditch, which means that the trash is removed or things are complete or 'well shit, nothing to be done now.'

 

Chapter 5: The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm

• Ayyyy Frodo draws first blood in the battle of Balin's tomb
• It's an orc chieftain that stabs him here, and Durin's Bane doesn't show face till after everyone runs and Gandalf holds the door, but here the orcs are more in league with it it seems, since it enters the chamber with them still in it rather than them all blindly fleeing as it approaches
  
• Gandalf falling is rough. Aragorn and Boromir stand with him in the end but there's nothing anyone can do or could've done

Chapter 6: Lothlórien

• The little bits of worldbuilding all over keep taking me out of it in amazement. Gimli's little detour to see the Mirrormere with the hobbits makes the world feel so lived in and old in a way that's hard to grasp. Shit's just there and sometimes you see it.
• I love the little bits of magic. The Nimrodel sweeping away the weariness from those who ford it is just that little bit of "maybe it's just refreshing or maybe it's magically refreshing". Magic is delightful in how subtle it often is in this world
• Lol I love that Legolas is told to only bring Frodo up but Sam goes up and no one from the party or the elves questions it
• We keep catching glimpses of Gollum, he's quite creepy
• The description of Lothlórien was amazing

Chapter 7: The Mirror of Galadriel

• There's a line when they're resting after meeting Galadriel, "It seemed to them that they did little but eat and drink and rest, and walk among the trees; and it was enough." And honestly that sounds like a great vacation to me. Makes me want to go camping again. Just a week in a forest somewhere hiking and reading and eating.
• We have the seeds of the legendary friendship between Gimli and Legolas (finally)
• Okay when we go to the mirror, Galadriel says this: "For this is what your folk would call magic, I believe; though I do not understand clearly what they mean; and they seem to use the same word of the deceits of the Enemy." This is another cool bit of magic not being what we normally think of it.
• Poor Sam looking the mirror. I do love that it's not shown as easy to stay, to leave his home to (potentially) suffer. Brave Samwise Gamgee indeed.
• Overall really love the portrayal of Galadriel, and again the mentions to old and deep history. I feel like that's the part that really makes LotR shine above all, no other world feels quite as "there".