The description of Woodhall and the surrounding area as Frodo, Sam, and Pippin passed through always caught at my imagination. Something about the name itself conjures up images of a dark oak-wood under the stars, deep in the wilder Green Hill Country, quiet except for a mild late-summer breeze rustling the leaves, with the few yellow lights of the village blinking among the dark tree boles. What better place to encounter Elves.
Such a fortunate encounter for the Hobbits occurs just as a Black Rider approaches, when the sound of the Elves' voices drove it away. The three Hobbits are able to enjoy the hospitality and protection of the Elves that night within a true hall of woods.
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| Discussing the possible fate of the three Hobbits. |
In LOTRO, on a high hill to the west of Woodhall, you'll find the Abandoned Elf Camp. A lone Elf, Orthir, stands guard there, possibly passing through on his way to or from the Grey Havens. Or more likely, passing through while conducting research on the trees in that part of Middle Earth. For Orthir is a Scholar of the Trees, and you will meet him again much later in Lothlorien, concerned about the state of some of the trees there (where he also admits to having had reservations about my intentions and abilities, but we're all good now - ah the frankness of the Elves). He's also adept at reading ancient runes found on a collar that identify a huge creature terrifying the Hobbits around Budgeford as being a Warg from Angmar (
The Secret of the Collar,
The Warg of Budgeford).
It doesn't take a great leap of imagination to believe that this may very well be the same Elf camp where the traveling Elves hosted Frodo, Sam, and Pippin. Maybe Orthir was even among the party on that night. As for the Elf in charge that night, the noble Gildor Inglorion, we are fortunate to cross paths with him again in the North Downs, inside the library of Lin Giliath. You will meet him personally when you run Chapter 5 of Volume 1, Book 3.
It is Gildor Inglorion who gives us another of the famous lines from the Lord of the Rings:
"Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger."
Sources: The Fellowship of the Ring
Great idea for a blog! Ive just learn from it on CSTM. Ill be a follower.
ReplyDeleteIm sure you already know of the famous thread on Lotro Forum. I think its call Hidden nuggets. You can get lots of cracked, candled or uncandled eggs in there.
I'm really enjoying your blog & am trying to catch up on posts I've missed. This is a beautiful, magical passage from the books, especially for Sam as he meets Elves for the first time, & it's great that it's been referenced in the game. I haven't actually quested much in the Shire, so after reading this I had to take my Forester, who does his crafting in Hobbiton, to Woodhall to see the camp for myself.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff, keep it up!
1 of the best LotRO moments for me so far was finding the 3 petrified trolls from The Hobbit in the Trollshaws (even tho the poses are wrong) . The more authenticity & Tolkien lore in LotRO, the better!
Aedhuil of Withywindle