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9. The Grey Havens

From the moment Frodo opens the door to Gandalf and lets in the shadow, he is never truly happy again. He becomes a serious and reflective, often despondent hobbit; relieved when a danger has passed, glad to see a friend again, capable of smiling wistfully, even laughing at something amusing, but he never again becomes a happy hobbit. On the contrary, he is withdrawn, at times ill, repeatedly tormented by his wounds. He takes a fatherly joy in Sam’s happiness, and so on, but for his own part the shadow is irretrievably a part of life. Is this the reward for all his toil? Is it not usually the case that the hero, that symbol of the individuation process, after completing his task lives happily ever after? Should not the wise Frodo now be enlightened and free from conflict, walking a few inches above the ground with a benevolent smile toward the unsuspecting folk who still struggle with the problems of everyday life? If we dwell on individuation, which in our reading runs like a thread t...
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7. Homeward Bound; 8. The Scouring of the Shire

Before Gandalf and the hobbits reach Bree and the Prancing Pony, they pass Weathertop. Frodo is tormented by the wound the Witch‑king inflicted on him. When Gandalf asks about it, he replies: “There is really no going back. Even if I make it to the Shire, it will not be the same, for I shall not be the same.” Autumn has come, and when they arrive in Bree everything is bleak – rain, wind, harsh and dark. The Prancing Pony turns out to be rather deserted. Bree and the hobbits’ land have suffered from strangled trade and an influx of “bad folk.” Butterbur has much to lament, but Gandalf reassures him that there is now a new king on the throne and everything will be set right: “All evil things will be driven out. In time the wild will not be wild any longer, and there will be people and fields where once there was only wilderness.” We note further expressions of how the dark and unknown are to give way to the civilisation of consciousness. Eventually they ride on westward. (We may note tha...
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6. Many Partings

Frodo goes to Aragorn and Arwen, who are sitting by the fountain beside the new White Tree. Arwen sings as the tree grows and blooms. The scene depicts the goal of the quest. At the same time there is something naïve about it all; not quite as bad as the apparition of Goldberry, but one has the feeling that something is missing, something that would lend weight to the content, allow it to mature. This sense of emptiness arises from the fact that what is troubling – the virgin we discussed in the previous commentary, for instance – has been repressed. There is no hint of shadow in the situation, and it therefore lacks body, weight, reality.[1] Shelob, as noted, still stirs in Cirith Ungol, while Aragorn and Arwen seem increasingly bloodless – though happy, of course. In any case Arwen gives Frodo a gift: a white gemstone in the shape of a star. It represents Frodo's "inner core," a concretization of his true self – or whatever term one prefers. The star is singular and ete...
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4. The Field of Cormallen; 5. The Steward and the King

We leave the dismembered Frodo and his faithful companion in the midst of ”the end of the world,” turning back to Gandalf and Aragorn. Their army awaits the numerically superior enemy swarming around the hills. The foe is so vast that ” The Captains of the West were foundering in a gathering sea,”  ”the onslaught of Mordor broke like a wave ... voices roaring like a tide” – descriptions that once again lead us to experience the threat as drowning and dissolution (in contrast to, for example, the thrusting of cold steel). The narrative turns its gaze to Gandalf, underscoring his spiritual quality: he stands at the top of a hill, ”white and cold,” looking toward the sky. ”The Eagles are coming!” he cries, and they sweep down like a ”rushing wind” upon the Nazgûl. It is now, as the eagles come soaring over Gandalf and Aragorn, that the Ring is destroyed in the fires of the ”furnace”. ”This is the hour of doom!” cries Gandalf. A darkness rises from Mordor, the creatures grow restless a...
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3. Mount Doom II

Nothing now stands between Frodo and the fire – except his own shadow. In previous commentaries we have discussed how the ring seduces the ego through the shadow (or the one-sidedness that comes with being unaware of one's own shadow). The ring itself causes an abaissement du niveau mental , a lowering of the level of consciousness. We discussed this in connection with Frodo's reaction to Old Man Willow and quoted Jung: "[The phenomenon] can arise as a result of physical and mental exhaustion … violent emotional upheaval or shock." Frodo is by this point completely exhausted – the weight of the ring, the terror of the Eye, the tremendous ordeals, and now Mount Doom and on top of this the vision of the Dark Tower. He has, as he himself said, "no protection". The shadow streams in anew, the shadow that should be behind him. Beyond the fact that the shadow constantly shapes itself – it is not a static "thing" – it has a new quality on Mount Doom. Whil...
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