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Green Dragon Ping!

Hullo friends! And welcome to our new thread! As we start our story, Frodo and Sam have left the others behind and set off for Mordor alone, and the rest of the fellowship are at a crossroads.

The Two Towers

Topic for the week:
Chapter 1: The Departure of Boromir
Chapter 2: The Riders of Rohan

The Departure of Boromir:

…A mile, maybe, from Parth Galen in a little glade not far from the lake he found Boromir. He was sitting with his back to a great tree, as if he was resting. But Aragorn saw that he was pierced with many black-feathered arrows; his sword was still in his hand, but it was broken near the hilt; his horn cloven in two was at his side. Many Orcs lay slain, piled all about him and at his feet.
Aragorn knelt beside him. Boromir opened his eyes and strove to speak. At last slow words came. 'I tried to take the Ring from Frodo ' he said. 'I am sorry. I have paid.' His glance strayed to his fallen enemies; twenty at least lay there. 'They have gone: the Halflings: the Orcs have taken them. I think they are not dead. Orcs bound them.' He paused and his eyes closed wearily. After a moment he spoke again.
'Farewell, Aragorn! Go to Minas Tirith and save my people! I have failed.'
'No!' said Aragorn, taking his hand and kissing his brow. 'You have conquered. Few have gained such a victory. Be at peace! Minas Tirith shall not fall!'
Boromir smiled.
'Which way did they go? Was Frodo there?' said Aragorn.
But Boromir did not speak again.
'Alas!' said Aragorn. 'Thus passes the heir of Denethor, Lord of the Tower of Guard! This is a bitter end. Now the Company is all in ruin. It is I that have failed. Vain was Gandalf's trust in me. What shall I do now? Boromir has laid it on me to go to Minas Tirith, and my heart desires it; but where are the Ring and the Bearer? How shall I find them and save the Quest from disaster?'
He knelt for a while, bent with weeping, still clasping Boromir's hand. So it was that Legolas and Gimli found him. They came from the western slopes of the hill, silently, creeping through the trees as if they were hunting. Gimli had his axe in hand, and Legolas his long knife: all his arrows were spent. When they came into the glade they halted in amazement; and then they stood a moment with heads bowed in grief, for it seemed to them plain what had happened.
'Alas!' said Legolas, coming to Aragorn's side. 'We have hunted and slain many Orcs in the woods, but we should have been of more use here. We came when we heard the horn-but too late, it seems. I fear you have taken deadly hurt.'
'Boromir is dead,' said Aragorn. 'I am unscathed, for I was not here with him. He fell defending the hobbits, while I was away upon the hill.'
'The hobbits!' cried Gimli 'Where are they then? Where is Frodo?'
'I do not know,' answered Aragorn wearily. 'Before he died Boromir told me that the Orcs had bound them; he did not think that they were dead. I sent him to follow Merry and Pippin; but I did not ask him if Frodo or Sam were with him: not until it was too late. All that I have done today has gone amiss. What is to be done now?'
'First we must tend the fallen,' said Legolas. 'We cannot leave him lying like carrion among these foul Orcs.'
'But we must be swift,' said Gimli. 'He would not wish us to linger. We must follow the Orcs, if there is hope that any of our Company are living prisoners.'
'But we do not know whether the Ring-bearer is with them or not ' said Aragorn. 'Are we to abandon him? Must we not seek him first? An evil choice is now before us!'…

OK! We have a week now to read and discuss the first two chapters… I grouped them because chapter one is a very short chapter, and I am excited to get on our way! So come on!

'We will go now. Leave all that can be spared behind! We will press on by day and dark!'

If I had been in Aragorn's position at that point in the book, I might have suggested splitting the party again. I don't have the book unpacked from my most recent move, but I believe that he talks about that possibility in the book. I think Aragorn says that he originally envisioned Gandalf taking maybe Legolas and Sam to go with the Ring-bearer towards Mordor while he and Boromir took the other hobbits to Minas Tirith and began the military campaign. In this scenario, Gimli would likely have been allowed to choose whichever course was best to him.

I think the reasonable split at that point would have sent Legolas in search of Frodo and Sam by himself. All three of the remaining fellowship members were quite capable of operating in the woods alone, and Legolas might have been able to track Frodo and Sam. While his presence would have ruined the mission as Tolkein wrote the situation, I think Legolas and two hobbits would have had a better chance of sneaking into Mordor than any other combination.

Rather than chasing the orcs that took Merry and Pippin, I would have taken Gimli and gone directly to Minas Tirith or maybe to the Paths of the Dead. While no one can fault the compassion in the choice to try to rescue the two hobbits, Aragorn's real obligation would have been elsewhere. Gimli would have been a helpful fellow fighter if Aragorn had encountered trouble on the way to Minas Tirith, but Gimli would have sorta been out of the story at that point.

A third option would have been for Gimli to chase the orcs alone while Aragorn went to Minas Tirith. Gimli likely wouldn't have made as much progress or ever made contact with the riders of Rohan. This option would have again put him out of the story except maybe to wander to Minas Tirith eventually.

WFTR
Bill