So, you’ve walked nearly continuously all day everyday for the last few months? How does running with a pack of orcs sound? And if you can’t keep up, you’ll be whipped, beaten, and who knows what else worse. Does that sound like a good time?
Is that so?
For Frodo, the march is a nightmare. He’s so weary from carrying the burden of the ring that he can barely walk, let alone run for his life. Sam notices his trouble, but helping him would only draw the attention of the overseers. They run for some miles in sweat, pain, and stench. Just as Frodo starts to lose it, the company halts as they come to a crossroads where many orc companies are meeting in their marches to the Black Gate. It’s a little bit chaotic.
Still no mention of if the hobbits’ feet are noticeable. Come to think of it, when they’re running in the inner ranks of the orcs, they might just be covered up enough that no one would notice. The orcs in the pack are really too focused on their march to care, anyway. No one will notice unless the slave-driving orcs do.
However, I continue to wonder about the timing of this. We’re past the point where Aragorn has revealed himself to Sauron, and that’s the very reason why these orcs are on the move north. Unfortunately, the passage of time in Mordor is hard to deduce. Day and night don’t function entirely normally, so keeping track of time is harder. Of course, my confusion could also be a result of the fact that the text is deliberately trying to confuse the reader. That’s a good text.
Confuse!
And this chapter is ending tomorrow. I actually believe that we’re almost done with Frodo and Sam’s journey! Yes, there is still more to come. Don’t forget about the end that everyone forgets about.
No one dies today.
“Though the drivers yelled and…”
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