Q: How Safe Would Frodo Have Been had He Sailed to Gondor from Mithlond?
ANSWER: Could Frodo and his companions have sailed from Mithlond to Gondor with the Ring, instead of walking all the way from Rivendell? A reader asks if a sea route, bypassing the perils in Isengard and along the Anduin, would have made more sense.
The decision to send the Ring to Mordor was only made at the Council of Elrond. Hence, within the story itself the journey begins at Rivendell. During the council, Glorfindel suggested there were only two choices: send the Ring over Sea or attempt to destroy it. Elrond said that the Valar would not receive the Ring.
But it was Galdor (Cirdan’s messenger from Mithlond) who summed up for the council the poor chances of sending the Ring west:
‘And that we shall not find on the roads to the Sea,’ said Galdor. ‘If the return to Iarwain be thought too dangerous, then flight to the Sea is now fraught with gravest peril. My heart tells me that Sauron will expect us to take the western way, when he learns what has befallen. He soon will. The Nine have been unhorsed indeed but that is but a respite, ere they find new steeds and swifter. Only the waning might of Gondor stands now between him and a march in power along the coasts into the North; and if he comes, assailing the White Towers and the Havens, hereafter the Elves may have no escape from the lengthening shadows of Middle-earth.’
It was Glorfindel who argued that sending the Ring back to Bombadil would be dangerous:
`But in any case,’ said Glorfindel, `to send the Ring to him would only postpone the day of evil. He is far away. We could not now take it back to him, unguessed, unmarked by any spy. And even if we could, soon or late the Lord of the Rings would learn of its hiding place and would bend all his power towards it. Could that power be defied by Bombadil alone? I think not. I think that in the end, if all else is conquered, Bombadil will fall, Last as he was First; and then Night will come.’
Now, as far as sending the Ring to Cirdan for transport to Gondor is concerned, Tolkien did not directly address the issue. But he made it plain enough that the westward road was being watched and there would have been little hope of secrecy.
So where would the story have led, but to a fateful encounter with the Corsairs and a massive assault on Gondor? Even though these details had not yet been composed when Tolkien wrote “The Council of Elrond”, he plainly felt that the Sea should not represent any sort of safe haven or highway. The threat by sea began to take shape when Tolkien brought Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli to Theoden’s hall. There he introduced a rumor of an enemy fleet threatening Gondor.
I don’t believe J.R.R. Tolkien ever explained why he chose an overland story, when plainly he had already established within his tales a tradition of seafaring and adventuring. But it seems plain to me that for him the choice to send the Ringbearer by land was completely logical, even when he still did not have a map of the route or the destination. He could have devised a seaward path but chose not to. And perhaps he felt that the boat trip down Anduin was sufficient “safe passage” to move the story along while retaining the tension of constant peril.
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Good general analysis. But when Gandalf is telling Frodo to flee Hobbiton with the Ring and Frodo asks where Gandalf responds: “And you must go, or at least set out. either North, South West or East-and the directon should certainly not be known.” This would lead, especially if Frodo didn’t delay into Autumn, to a relatively safer path West then later in the year and from further East in Rivendell (North seems pointless as a direction to run). And an elvish ship would hug the coast no further then Andrast (for safety from Corsairs). Pracically, this path would involve shifting places in the tale (particulrly Kazud-dum to somewhere in the White Mountains and ditto with relocating Lorien). But in a medieval type geography sea travel was generally far quicker and not infrequently safer then land travel.
Of course, fleeing South would involve interesting changes also and be feasible. Relocate Lorien to the Blue Mountains or Eryn Vorn?
I always figured it was because Sauron or Saruman could summon some kind of storm or just send the corsairs to capture the fellowship. It isn’t like Sauron wouldn’t know that they had gone to Mithlond and it isn’t a hard guess on where they are headed.
It’s a fascinating question with some underlying unsolved ambiguities. For instance, Tolkien wrote more than once that Morgoth’s servants always feared the sea. Would Sauron’s do the same? And would the Corsairs venture to attack an Elven ship bearing the power of an angelic figure such as Gandalf was? And if Manwe, by proxy through the Eagles, takes part in the battle before the Morannon, would Ulmo, distant presence in the Third Age as he appeared to be notwithstanding, take part in aiding such a sea voyage?
Of course there is no mention of Ulmo in LOTR. But given Gandalf’s statement to Frodo in Hobbiton that perhaps Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and thus Frodo also, there in itself is an early indicator of some higher power at work. So one can just guess that this is a hidden hint that the Valar (or at least some of them) still had an active interest in Middle-Earth. And one of Tolkien’s greatest triumphs IMHO is the slow and (relatively) humble revealing of Gandalf, through comments and his transformation, as an emissary from them. (As a kid reading LOTR, Gandalf’s speech to Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli in Fangorn detailing his coming back to life,’until my task was done’ was always transfixing and tantalizing, the ultimate hint that there were layers and layers to this tale).
Good point about Ulmo. And if they sailed no further than the Angren (Isen) and then went up they could choose between traveling north or south of the White Mountains (either would have plusses and minuses. And parenthetically, I’ve found it curious that even JRRT (in Letters I believe) concurred with some that the Nazgul fear of water was difficult to explain. I’ve thought it could be the lingering effect of Ulmo’s power (fading as the rivers go upstream and towards evil infested lands).
Well while the main fact is that water is an element itself the least tainted by dark powers (especially in the sea controlled by ‘gods of the sea’ Ulmo, Osse, Uinen, Salmar) and that Dark Lords servants often feared the sea (though that is true mostly to Morgoth’s servants) and that rarely if ever they made war on sea (except when Morgoth does so himself when still a demiurg of immense power and when having temporary allegiance of Osse) it still does not mean that there can’t be some sea monsters or creatures that could be prone to darkness in hte depths. When discussing idea of throwing ring to the sea Gandalf says that there are many things in deep waters, whatever they are, ordinary sea animals or something else, they too could be drawn to the Ring and then adding pirates :). Corsairs of Umbar probably could venture far to the north if needed, also the ordinary dangers of sea travel in winter season which certainly means that weather would be harsh and the closed space inducing discomfort and all those typical psychological effects, sea sickness :), the obvious needed for presence of crew, meaning more people for the Ring to corrupt even if elves would be more wary of it and whatever other tricks Sauron had in his sleeve would make such a journey rather uncertain. Also we must remember that in this particular time Gondor is no longer ruling the seas as in the past, it’s the corsairs and other fleets of Harad that basically are stronger on sea. The only mention of fleet Gondor has is during the service of Aragorn as Thorongil, who was great leader ”by land and by sea” and that he took command of small fleet for a raid on Umbar itself, certainly Aragorn has skill as ship captain or something 🙂 but still it’s a long way, even going near the coast and lots of things could happen :).