Thursday, July 28, 2022

The Beech-Grove

After Sam and Frodo are rescued from Mordor, they awaken in a beech-grove in Ithilien.  We enter the scene with Sam's return to consciousness:

(LotR VI.4 at 951).*  After some discussion and their morning ablutions, Frodo and Sam follow Gandalf "out of the beech-grove in which they had lain" even further into a world of bliss and beauty and abundance (id. at 952).

* * *

So here we see peace and safety associated with a bed outdoors in a beech-grove.  We say "safe as houses," but the description here really emphasizes the lack of roof.  With no roof and no walls, the hobbits would necessarily be exposed to the elements, wouldn't they?  No doubt the clement weather, too, is a sign of grace. 



FN* Sam quickly realizes where he is (that smell!) and verifies that Frodo is sleeping peacefully.  Over the next five paragraphs he has a bit of conversation with Gandalf and springs out of bed, before we (along with Sam) learn that Frodo first woke up hours before ("I was awake early this morning, and now it must be nearly noon.").  



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