Tolkien Tuesday: Reading "The Lord of the Rings": "The Passage of the Marshes"
In a remarkably layered chapter, Frodo and Sam have to contend with the ugly Dead Marshes, even as Gollum proves to be a far from reliable ally.
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Welcome to Tolkien Tuesdays, where I talk about various things that I love about the lore and writings of Tolkien, whether in a chapter reading or a character study or an essay. I hope you enjoy reading these ruminations as much as I enjoy writing them and, if you have a moment, I’d love it if you’d subscribe to this newsletter. It’s free, but there are paid options, as well, if you’re of a mind to support a struggling writer. Either way, thank you for joining me!
There are some chapters of The Lord of the Rings that stand out for the way they perfectly capture a sense of place and feeling. These are the chapters that stand out to you long after you finish reading them, simply because they are so layered with description. “The Passages of the Marshes” is one such chapter, filled with menace and despair and darkness, a sort of purgatory through which Frodo and Sam must trudge as they try to make their way to Mordor while also evading Sauron’s gaze.
To me, the moment when Frodo comes face-to-face with the dead faces is the eldritch highlight of the chapter, and it is eerily reminiscent of the moment when he was trapped in the barrow way back in Fellowship. In both cases, he found himself confronted with the specter of a being that should by all rights be dead but has, through some foul mechanism, managed to survive into the present. Indeed, I think there’s something remarkably poignant, almost tragic, about the fact that these bodies still remain in some foul stasis so many centuries after the battle in which they fought. These are Men and Elves, after all, who gave their lives in an effort to defeat Sauron, and yet their mortal remains are now nothing more than rotting corpses in the midst of a dismal swamp on the very threshold of Mordor.
Moreover, these bodies are also reminders of how the past of Middle-earth continues to encroach upon the present. As Gollum himself points out, he learned of this battle when he was still young, showing that it was clearly of great import to those who came after. The Dead Marshes are like the ghost of the past yearning for an exorcism, for someone to finally come in and them of their filth and stench.
As gloomy and despondent as the Dead Marshes are, however, they pale in comparison to Sauron’s doorstep, which Tolkien goes out of his way to describe as possibly the foulest and most despairing place in all of Middle-earth. “Even to the Mere of Dead Faces some haggard phantom of green spring would come; but here neither spring nor summer would ever come again,” the narrator notes, before going on to call this “a land defiled, diseased beyond all healing–unless the Great Sea should enter in and wash it with oblivion.” Given the extent to which Tolkien has already drawn our attention to lands that are not beyond redemption despite their corruption–I’m thinking here of Isengard–this is jarring, indeed. Whatever Sauron’s other manifold crimes, this utter destruction of the land surrounding his domain is perhaps the worst, and it’s rather sad to think of the land heaving in its poisoned spasms for untold Ages.
And then there’s the malevolence of the Ringwraith on its winged steed. I’ve written before about how these scenes always struck fear into me as a child reading The Lord of the Rings, and while I may not be quite as susceptible to fear as I was back then, I’ll admit that there’s still something bone-chilling about this “wraith on wings.” Tolkien is a master at allowing us to feel what it’s like to be two hobbits out in the middle of a dreadful swamp, guided by an unreliable and wretched creature like Gollum, as this force of darkness swoops across the face of the moon. We as readers are reminded once again of just how powerless they are and that were it not for the other events taking place to their west–most notably the battle between the men of Rohan and the forces of Saruman–that it’s even possible they would have been spotted by the winged Black Riders.
While the Ringwraith is a reminder of the enduring power and lure of the Ring to the servants of Sauron, closer to home both Sam and Frodo have to contend with the sinister being in their very midst: Gollum. One of the most fascinating aspects of this chapter is the extent to which it shows us just how divided this character’s psyche remains. There are certainly still times when the Sméagol side manages to come out on top, but the final conversation between the two halves of his personality reveals that this is only ever a temporary measure. The Ring has poisoned his soul, and though Frodo clearly holds out hope that he isn’t entirely beyond hope, it certainly seems as if Sam’s skepticism, and downright hostility, are well-deserved. This isn’t to say that Gollum is entirely unsympathetic, of course, but there’s no question that he still retains many of his earlier traits. He is driven to possess the Ring again, and if that means that he has to recruit the sinister “Her,” then that is what he will do.
Even so, there’s something a little remarkable about the fact that he even shakes his fist at Sauron, something very few other characters would dare to do. We also get a glimpse into what Gollum would try to do if he were to gain control of the Ring again, and it’s clear that its power continues to grow as it comes closer to its place of origin. There’s something both hilarious and tragic about the idea of Gollum using it to set himself up as a Dark Lord getting fish every day (three times a day, no less). Kudos to Tolkien for this little dash of humor in what is otherwise a very disconcerting part of the story.
As always, there is some measure of light, and as so often it is represented by dear old Sam. Unlike Frodo, who has come to believe that their mission can only ever end in their demise–assuming they are able to destroy the Ring in the first place–Sam holds out hope that they will one day be able to return to the Shire. And, practical hobbit that he is, most of his concerns revolve around food and making sure that there’s enough of it for the road back home. It’s really quite touching to see the extent to which he continues to believe there is a path of return, and it’s this simple courage which will come to be incredibly valuable to Frodo as he continues to make his terrible way to the Black Land and Mount Doom.