The shrieking cry of what might sound like a Ringwraith if they weren’t destroyed forever at the Ford of Bruinen (They were, right? Right!?) makes Frodo lose his grip and his sight while climbing down a cliff. He manages to land on his feet on a ledge not far below, but he can’t get back up or down without a rope, which Sam just so happens to have, and to know how to use it. We ponder (and worry slightly about) Alan’s fondness for ropes, Shawn’s fondness for booze, and Sam’s therapy bills thanks to the Gaffer’s old-fashioned parenting methods.
Recommended Reading:
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings (Mariner Books, paperback) “The Taming of Sméagol”, pp. 593-97
Just a quick comment: the word “ninny” is still widely used in Britain.
Coincidentally I was listening to this yesterday, and then reading Richard Adam’s (he of Watership Down) Plague Dogs novel in the evening… and what should turn up in Plague Dogs but the phrase ninnyhammer!
Phil