Tolkien Tuesday: Reading "The Lord of the Rings: Mount Doom"

In one of the most wrenching, heartbreaking, and tragic chapters in the book, Sam gives it his all to get Frodo to Mount Doom, while his master fails at the threshold of accomplishing his great task.

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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!

And so we come at last to what is arguably the most important chapter in all of The Lord of the Rings. Frodo and Sam, having endured so much and having made it thus far, at last make their way to Mount Doom, where Sam helps his master to ascend the terrible height, only for the Ring to finally overthrow Frodo’s will completely, leaving him unable to do what he came to do. Only the arrival of the sinister Gollum, who bites off Frodo's finger and falls to his demise in the Cracks of Doom, keeps utter calamity at bay. In the end, the two hobbits have only one another as the world falls apart around them.

The entire time I was re-reading this chapter, I kept recalling the phrase “the valley of the shadow of death” from the Psalms. What else is Mordor, really, but exactly this shadow, which Frodo and Sam must cross if they are to ever have a chance of destroying the One Ring and the threat it poses to all of Middle-earth? This is a land that has been so thoroughly poisoned by Sauron’s malice and his never-ending extraction of the land’s resources that it is almost beyond all hope. For a man like Tolkien, who was renowned for his love of green spaces, such a place could only be Hell on Earth, and that’s certainly the impression one gets as one reads this chapter and Frodo and Sam make their halting, painful way to Mount Doom.

The bleakness and despair that characterizes Mordor finds its reflection in Frodo, who continues to feel the weight of the Ring grow heavier with each passing step. Even this, though, isn’t the worst of it, for he also has moments when he lashes out at Sam, particularly when the latter reaches out and offers to take some of the burden of the Ring. Of all the perilous effects of this sinister object, the way that it repeatedly turns Frodo’s mind against the one person who loves him most in all the world is perhaps the most grievous.

As he has since the beginning, Sam once again shows his mettle in this chapter, sacrificing his own health and well-being to make sure that his master reaches his destination. This chapter includes a remarkable moment in which he has an internal debate with himself, acknowledging the utter hopelessness of the task and the even greater futility of hoping that they can ever make their way home, even if they succeed in destroying the Ring itself. It’s another of those moments where Sam demonstrates a powerful heroism, one that entails going forward, even if there is no hope, even if doing so is an act of folly and foolishness that would make his old Gaffer shake his head in despair. He fatefully leaves his good sense behind in favor of the absolute and unshakeable loyalty to Frodo that he has shown ever since they set out from Bag End all those months ago.

Of course, the tragic centerpiece of the chapter is the moment when Frodo, having come so far and braved so much, ultimately proves unable to destroy the Ring. There’s something particularly grandiose and haunting about his refusal: “I have come [...] But I do not choose now to do what I came to do. I will not do this deed. The Ring is mine!” It’s truly one of the most heartbreaking moments in a book that is full of them. For Frodo to not be able to do this thing, for him to finally fall victim to the blandishments of the One Ring, is the most tragic part of his entire arc. One can hardly blame him–they are at the very heart of Sauron’s domain–but even so, it breaks my heart to see it.

Much has been written about Gollum being the inadvertent agent of the Ring’s destruction. For my part, it’s yet another of those moments of contingency that are part of the building blocks of Tolkien’s world. Just as it was chance that Bilbo found the ring at the root of the Misty Mountains, so now it is chance that Gollum, just when he crows about his victory–achieved through violence, as has always been his way–tumbles down and is consumed, taking the Ring with him. The Ring has made its last seduction, and it’s one that leads to its own destruction.

No matter how many times I read the last words of this chapter, in which Frodo thanks Sam for being with him at the end of all things, they never fail to bring me to tears. Perhaps it’s the lasting impact of Jackson’s film adaptation wrenching pathos of seeing Frodo and Sam–so memorably embodied by Elijah Wood and Sean Astin–finding solace in one another as Mount Doom erupts around them. Then again, perhaps it’s just the power of the words themselves, the simplicity of Frodo’s sentiment. Even though the world is falling apart around them, even though they stand on the very brink of death, they can still take some comfort in knowing that they are together. As with so many other aspects of The Lord of the Rings, this whole moment hits much harder in these dark days.

Narratively, I find it so fascinating that this is both a hinge chapter–marking the key moment of transition between the Quest and its aftermath. At the beginning of this chapter we are still in a Middle-earth shaped by the Ring and its destiny; at the end, the Ring is gone, and Middle-earth is poised on the threshold of a new Age. At the same time, it’s also a culmination, in that it marks the moment when the Quest is at an end. From this moment forward no one and nothing–not the characters and not Middle-earth itself–will be what it was before.

It’s also, I think it’s safe to say, one of the most subversive chapters in the entirety of The Lord of the Rings. After all, Frodo doesn’t actually succeed in what he sets out to do. Were it not for the timely arrival of Gollum and his own insatiable desire for the Ring–and his subsequent biting off of Frodo’s finger and tumbling into the Cracks of Doom–it’s entirely likely that Sauron would have managed to get it back into his grasp. Frodo is a hero, to be sure, but he’s also a failed one and that, again, is an even more haunting thing in this, our new dark age.