Frodo convinces Gollum to leave the Forbidden Pool, not without some feelings of regret at his betrayal of the wretched creature. After a brief interrogation, Faramir is satisfied that Gollum knows nothing and won’t come back to this secret place, and hands him into Frodo’s keeping along with a decree that Frodo himself may walk free in Gondor for a year and a day. But the news of where the party is going next is not good, for the name “Cirith Ungol” is one of dread among Gondor’s loremasters. For the life of us, we can’t figure out why Faramir doesn’t explain this more clearly.
Recommended Reading:
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings (Mariner Books, paperback) “The Forbidden Pool”, pp. 672-78
Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) The Silmarillion (Mariner Books, paperback)
Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (Mariner Books, paperback)
You talking about the meaning of ‘Cirith Ungol’ got me thinking about something.
I was sure I remembered the phrase “the pass of Cirith Ungol” being used somewhere and I thought it was said by Faramir. Calling it that would make perfect sense if you only knew ‘Cirith Ungol’ as a name, but to someone fluent in Sindarin it would sound as silly as “the borough of Tuckborough,” it’s an awkward redundancy. Sure enough, learned Faramir never makes this mistake.
Using lotrproject’s text search I found only one use of “Pass of Cirith x” – we get “the Pass of Cirith Gorgor” in The Black Gate Opens. Strangely, it comes from the narrator. I have no idea what to make of that! Sloppy Findegil?
Eventually I figured out why I thought the phrase “pass of Cirith Ungol” had been used: it appears in Jackson’s RotK… Spoken by Gandalf. Oh dear, another minor thing to get overly annoyed by every time I watch that.
I think the lack of mention of Eru by the characters could also be explained by that name being considered sacred among the people partaking in the cult of the One, and maybe to a point that it would be used only in special occasions (we have a quick description of the main numenorean religious events in Akallabeth if my memory serves). I cannot remember if we see religious events in elven communities, though, having been in contact with Eru’s direct thought-offspring, calaquendi at least would also have very good reasons not to speak that name lightly.