It was only on my most recent, present, read through of The Lord of the Rings (and after more than 50 years of re-reading!) that I suddenly noticed the puzzling situation of Gandalf the White being in Fangorn Forest and in the vicinity of Treebeard's observatory hill; to be seen by Treebeard two days before Merry and Pippin met Treebeard; and still present two days later to encounter Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli.
For the first time I wondered: What on earth was the recently re-born Gandalf doing, hanging around that part of Fangorn for at least four days?
On doing a bit of research in the Tale of Years chronology, it was soon evident that the motivation for Gandalf having gone to Fangorn Forest, and having stayed there for several days, is never provided.
It is a puzzle.
And, on the face of it, there is no "logical" reason why Gandalf - whose memory of being Gandalf the Grey was not yet fully recovered; should have gone to Fangorn specifically, of all possible places - and for staying near the observing hill even after Gandalf had seen Merry and Pippin meet and befriend Treebeard and be carried-off by him.
Yes, things worked-out very well; but what could Gandalf have been expecting would happen?
My best guess, given the apparently arbitrary nature of Gandalf's behaviour yet its excellent outcomes, is that Gandalf was in the grip of divine providence, and went to Fangorn without foreknowledge but because that was where his intuition (his attunement with divine purposes) told him he ought to be.
But further; the fact I had never noticed this gap in the narrative through many re-readings is significant; and the highly effective nature of the scene when Gandalf meets with the three orc-hunters; shows that Tolkien was (for whatever reason) correct to leave-out an explanation of Gandalf's presence.
Explanation was not necessary, and therefore it was not provided
4 comments:
I recall wondering how Gandalf knew where to be the first time I read the TT , however this is most likely because I started with TT not FoTR. I had a lot of unnecessary confusion and questions at the end of RoTK to put it mildly.
I don't have the relevant History of Middle Earth volume, is there any discussion of this scene there?
@Lucas - re: HoME, it does not answer this matter of motivation.
Food for thought and multiple re-readings as always. My take is this.
Three periods are involved. During the month that the Company is in Lorien, Gandalf lies on the peak "out of thought and time... on roads I will not tell". Then the Company's ten days on the Great River while Gwaihir, sent by Galadriel, bears Gandalf to Lorien for healing and counsel, and the eagle goes before him "to watch the River". Then the breaking of the fellowship and the two full days of Merry and Pippin's captivity. Of this, Gandalf perceives only Frodo's flight. "I sat in a high place and strove with the Dark Tower". His is the voice which Frodo hears on Amon Hen. Tolkien goes out of his way to tell us that the next day, "four days ago", Gandalf sees Treebeard in Fangorn but does not speak "for I was heavy with thought, and weary after my struggle".
The real question is how Gandalf gets from Lorien to Fangorn. I suggest that he is still in the timeless state or in the elven time of Lorien, returning gradually to his identity as the guide of the Company. "Thence by strange roads I came and messages I bring to some of you." The messages are to the three who, as it turns out, he encounters. Galadriel, it seems, knows something he does not.
@Philip Neal - Looking on the map, and comparing with the journey of Aragorn Legolas and Gimli; I would guess that it might take Gandalf 3-5 days walking to get from Lorien to where the Entwash emerges from Fangorn - depending on how fast and how many hours a day Gandalf can walk.
I think you are right about his mental condition until shortly before meeting Aragorn et al; he seems to be semi-delirious with fatigue, on top of the disorientation of being reincarnated.
Normally, I suppose that Galadriel would not be willing to let a still-sick and mentally incompetent patient discharge himself and wander off in a trance (certainly, such people would have been prevented from leaving hospital when I was a doctor!); but I presume she recognized that great matters were afoot, and that she should not intervene except to help.
If so, this might suggest that in deciding to go and hang-around in Fangorn for several days, Gandalf was operating by unconscious intuition rather than on the basis of reason. The hand of divine providence at work, perhaps - ensuring that when Gandalf "came to himself" in Fangorn, he was in exactly the right place.
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