Henneth Annûn Story Archive

I've been rereading the Trilogy, and doing so pretty systematically and thoroughly because I've been looking for quotes for a research article I'm working on. But I've noticed something pretty fascinating: there are a lot of similarities between the Henneth Annun chapters in The Two Towers and the Lothlorien ones in The Fellowship of the Ring. Instead of just slapping my own observations up here, though, I'm interested in what other people have seen. What, if anything, has struck you as similar between the two passages? Marta

 

Having been the one to point out to Marta that there were similarities in a particular area (although she found far more similarities overall between the two episodes than I had noticed), I am also be very interested to hear whether other people see the same things. Cheers, Liz

 

Well, let's see. 1. Frodo and Sam are blindfolded when entering both Henneth-Annun and Lorien. 2. Both Henneth-Annun and Lorien are hidden sanctuaries. 3. In both, Frodo is faced with a towering figure which may be trying to take the ring from him. Galadriel and Faramir are both tested and pass. 4. In both Henneth Annun and Lorien, Frodo and Sam are given food for the rest of the journey -- lembas bread in Lorien, and ... was it bread and dried meat in Henneth Annun? If so, is there a significance in the bread? 5. They have to cross water to enter both -- In Lorien, they hear the waterfall as Legolas sings before they enter, and in H.A. they pass beneath the waterfall. 6. They are gifted when they leave -- the Lady's gifts, of course, but Faramir gives them fine walking sticks. 7. In both cases, the death of a comrade is announced -- the Fellowship informs Lorien of the fall of Gandalf, and Faramir tells Frodo and Sam of the death of Boromir. 8. The mirror of Galadriel, and the pool in Henneth Annun -- both require water. I thought this might be stretching, until I looked at the description of the pool in H.A. In both we have the imagery of moving water stilled and quieted, and in both he uses the word basin to describe it. H.A.: "Far below them they saw the white waters pour into a foaming bowl, and then swirl darkly about a deep oval *basin* in the rocks" Lorien: "At the bottom, upon a low pedestal carved like a branching tree, stood a *basin* of silver. wide and shallow, and beside it stood a silver ewer. With water from the stream Galadriel filled the basin to the brim, and breathed on it, and when the water was still again she spoke." In Ithilien, however, the imagery is of moonlight, while in Lorien, Tolkien emphasizes the starlight. 9. Gollum does not enter Lorien with them, but follows them as they leave. Gollum does not enter Henneth Annun with them, but follows them and is captured at the pool. How did I do? I'm sure there are more. -- Nightsky ... going off to re-read the two chapters.

 

Um... both are located in forests? Ok, Lothlorien is a forest, but if you count Caras Galadhon...

 

In each case, departing the hidden refuge is described, by implication or explicitly, as waking from a dream. One might say that both locations are, in some sense, "faerie", where one is taken "under the hill" and for a time confronted with someone who does not belong to this time ("perhaps you discern from far away the air of Númenor" (TTT, The Window on the West, last sentence), and Denethor's own, accusatory observation in RoTK, "Minas Tirith", that Faramir's generosity stems from days long past and so is untimely in a couple of senses of that word. Beregond also remarks that "in these days" Faramir seems exceptional, as a man who is both a warrior and a scholar, and so represents something out of the past that is not in synch with the expctations and attitudes of his time. I take it that we don't really need quotes and references for Galadriel in this case). Obviously, there are differences, but a certain "out of time"-ness applies to both places in virtue of the leading figures who inhabit them.

 

Just chiming in with my two bits worth: Frodo's reference to Elrond's words about finding help and friendship unlooked for in secret places can apply to Lorien as well as to Henneth Annun. Also, the image of a verdant refuge surrounded by war-scarred lands and seemingly untouched by time is repeated. The first meeting with the people of Lorien - armed sentinels who blend into the forest is mirrored in the encounter with the four rangers, also dressed to blend in. They are somewhat similarly armed, with bows (and spears, in the case of the Rangers). There's a symmetry to the beggining and end of both episodes: the Fellowship/Frodo and Sam walk in blindfolded, and walk out with their eyes opened in more ways than one. cheers, Maya

 

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