Tolkien Site > Maiar
barrow is, in this context,
a mound of rock or earth marking a grave, especially an ancient one.
word comes from Middle English berw, from Anglo-Saxon beorg
"grove". Groves have a great deal of mystical/religious/mythical
A wight is, in this ancient use, a preternatural,
supernatural, or unearthly being. The word is from Middle English wist
, wight, from Anglo-Saxon wight "creature, animal,
A different version of wight comes from Middle English wihte;
Norse vigr, neut. vigt, "warlike, fit for war".
information on the Barrow-wights
is scattered about as Tolkien reveals it slowly to the hobbits. This
attempts to bring it together.
hobbits of the Shire
knew the rumor of the Barrow-wights of the Barrow-downs east of the Old
a tale no hobbit liked to hear. Whispered tales told of the dreadful
of the Barrow-wights.
Bombadil lived at the
edge of the Barrow-downs and advised Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin
the Barrow-wights whom they were about to pass through and how to avoid
He said the grassy, hilly
country of the Barrow-downs
had once been home to sheep and tiny kingdoms with fortresses on the
The kingdoms fought among themselves, the towers fell, the fortresses
and broken leaving only rings of stone on the hills, the royalty were
with their treasures under barrows, and the people were gone. The stone
were shut and grass grew over all. The sheep stayed a time for the
then they too disappeared.
as Bombadil said:
"A shadow came out of
places far away, and the bones were stirred in the mounds.
walked in the hollow places with a clink of rings on cold fingers, and
chains in the wind." More is told of Bombadil's reference in Appendix A of the The Return of the King.
During the time of King Argeleb II, plague came into Eriador from the
South-east killing many of the people of Cardolan and causing great
suffering among the Hobbits and other peoples. The plague lessened as
it passed northwards and little affected northern Arthedain. But this
was the time of the end for the Dunedain of Cardolan. Mounds were built
for the dead of Cardolan and these were called the Tyrn Gorthad, later
the Barrow-downs. They were built by the forefathers of the Edain
before crossing the Blue Mountains into Beleriand of which, by the time
of the War of the Ring, only Lindon remained. Therefore these hills
were revered by the Dunedain on their return; many of their lords and
kings were buried there. It appears that the mound in which Frodo was
imprisoned was the grave of the last prince of Cardolan, who fell in
the war of 1409. Unfortunately while the graves were deserted after
their building, evil spirits came out of Angmar and Rhudaur and moved
into the deserted mounds for their dwelling places.
safe from Barrow-wights,
Tom told the Hobbits to avoid the Barrows and keep to the green grass. If they
too near a Barrow, they should pass it on the west side. This is the
towards the Lords of the West, the Valar, while the East is of the Dark
If they still managed to have trouble, they should call him with a song
he taught them, for he had greater power than the Barrow-wights.
Interestingly, just yelling, "Tom! Help! Barrow-wights!" was not
suggested and may not have
worked. In Tolkien's stories, songs hold power.
The hobbits should
have been able to pass the
Downs before sunset, but they came to a hill with a valley at the top
a single standing stone at its center. They took a meal beneath the
and fell into a sleep, although they had been lively earlier. The sleep
suddenly for all of them at sunset. They saw a fog had rolled in around
then, as they watched, thick mist came above them like a roof with the
standing as a pillar.
the road should be, the hobbits
with Merry's ponies headed immediately out into the fog which became
and damper as they went downhill. They thought they were heading for
north-gate of the Barrow-downs, but instead came between two huge
stones. The stones were not straight, but leaned a bit towards each
"like the pillars of a headless door". As soon as they went between the
When the blackness hit,
the ponies bucked off
their riders and ran back towards a safer place behind them. But the
called to each other and tried to go towards the calls (which weren't
their own calls), which were muffled and seemed far although they had
next to each other.
Frodo was the last
caught. At the top of the
hill where he had heard cries come, then cut off as wails, the east
"thrust aside" the fog and stars lit the top. He saw a Barrow-wight. It
a voice, deep and cold that seemed to come from underground, saying it
been waiting for him. It was a "tall dark figure like a shadow against
stars." "He (Frodo) thought there were two eyes, very cold, though lit
a pale light that seemed to come from some remote distance. Then a grip
and colder than iron seized him. The icy touch froze his bones and he
He woke up flat on
his back laid out on stone, his hands folded over his breast. This is a
burial position. Sam, Pippin, and Merry were laid out beside him
similarly, unconscious, cold-skinned, and
pale of face. They wore white clothing and their own was never seen
On their heads were circlets, around their waists were gold chains, and
their fingers were many rings. By their sides lay swords, and at their
were shields. "But across their three necks lay one long naked sword."
himself mentally, and noticed a
pale greenish light around him, seeming to come out of himself and the
not yet reaching walls nor roof. He was able to turn and see his
Then he heard the
song of the Barrow-wight, cold,
rising and falling, seeming to be far away high in the air or under the
railing against the mornings and warmth it could not have but for which
hungered. Then he realized the song changed into an incantation,
what it was doing to the hobbits and one in which the wight's belief
the Dark Lord was revealed:
"Cold be hand and
shows an expectation that
the Dark Lord would one day win out over the other Ainur. The Sun and
are Maiar who would fail and die. The rest is about the highest Valar.
wind of Manwe, King of the Valar, would become black. The stars of
Elbereth would die. The sea of Ulmo would die. The land of Aule and
would wither. This Dark Lord could be Sauron, acting as Melkor's agent
Arda as he was doing at the time of the story, or mean that Melkor
would return from his exile in the Void, already prophesied for the
Last Battle. Both Sauron and Melkor are called
the Dark Lord, but during the time of the War of the Ring, the title
usually meant Sauron.
and cold be sleep under stone:
never more to wake on stony bed,
never, till the Sun fails and the Moon is dead.
In the black wind the stars shall die,
and still on gold here let them lie,
till the Dark Lord lifts his hand
over dead sea and withered land."
Barrow-wight became physically active, giving Frodo something to
counter beyond coming conscious and able to move, which the others
could not. A long arm creaked and scraped around the corner into the
room walking on its fingers. It headed towards the nearest hobbit, Sam,
and the sword hilt there. Frodo had to fight off the urge to use the
Ring in his pocket, then grabbed the short sword beside him, kneeled
his friends, and chopped off the monster's hand at the wrist. The sword
up to the hilt. He heard a shriek, the light vanished, and something
Frodo fell off balance, but remembered the song Bombadil had told them
use to summon him if they were in trouble, and sang it so that the
echoed as if to drum and trumpet".
This song mentioned
places where Bombadil was
found and may be acknowledging power from water (of the Vala Ulmo and
the River-daughter Goldberry who might be a Maia of Ulmo, or the
daughter of such a Maia), wood (of Yavanna
who handled the plants and animals of which Bombadil was so fond,
the wood, reed and willow mentioned here; maybe also Orome the huntsman
frequented the wood), fire (perhaps from the forges of Aule who was
of the earth and its hills where Frodo and his friends were trapped),
and Moon. Tom was himself a being of great power, possibly a Maia of
or Aule. Whatever else this song is, it is certainly a summoning.
"Ho! Tom Bombadil!
sudden silence fell. No more
snarling. Then the summoned Bombadil began his own songs of power,
the Barrow-wight. Simply to identify himself was enough to give warning
the creature, and reminded it that Tom's songs were stronger. His cheer
the opposite pole to the wight's gloom, and the despair the Dark Lord
all to feel so that they could not have the strength of will to oppose
Bombadil's bright colors warred with the glooms and blacknesses of the
ones, all of which he reminded the Wight. His mention of being old was
reminder that he was the Eldest, an authority, and he reminded it that
was master of that region. My thought is that the frequently
mentioned color blue is the preferred color of Manwe, Elder King, and
be a way of showing where Tom's loyalty lay.
By water, wood, and hill, by the reed and willow,
By fire, sun, and moon, harken now and hear us!
Come Tom Bombadil, for our need is near us!"
"Old Tom Bombadil
is a merry fellow,
after this song,
rocks fell and daylight streamed into the chamber. Tom entered. The
faces lost the sickly hue and they appeared only deeply asleep. At the
of the unconscious hobbits, Bombadil unleashed another song of power
against the wight, assigning him a terrible fate, as it cannot be
of exile. His use of the word "old" was in an unflattering phrase, not
way he used it for himself. The exclamation marks allowed no argument,
short definite commands. The song showed an opposition to the belief of
Wight that the Dark Lord would take over, saying instead that the world
would be mended.
Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are
None has ever caught him yet, for Tom he is the
His songs are stronger songs, and his feet are
"Get out you old
Wight! Vanish in the sunlight!
power was immediately
felt by the wight. It cried out, part of the inner chamber crashed
a long shriek trailed into the distance. Then silence.
Shrivel like the cold mist, like the winds go
Out into the barren lands far beyond the mountains!
Come never here again! Leave your barrow empty!
Lost and forgotten be, darker than the darkness,
Where gates stand for ever shut, till the world is
This ended the
continuing threat, but
the spell on the hobbits remained to be broken. Frodo and Tom carried
them to lie on clean grass outside the hole, on the west side of the
stomped the still wriggling hand, presumably until it stopped moving.
Tom bore the treasure out of the mound, laying it in the sunshine on
of the grassy mound. Sunlight? A night must have passed.
Then he stood over
the three unconscious hobbits, hat in hand, raised his right hand, and
sang clear and commanding words over them. He ordered them to awake and
claimed them as his. He healed them from their cold immobility. Stone,
which the wights seem to use for power
as in the standing stones, may also have had power inside the mounds
they lived, as its breaking is specifically mentioned as important.
"Wake now my
merry lads! Wake and hear me calling!
hobbits didn't just slowly
come out of it, but sprang up. Merry referred to a memory he couldn't
one that he must have picked up from the dead people of the mound. He
a night attack by the men of Carn Dum and a spear in his heart. But
Merry quickly dismissed it as a bad dream.
Warm now be heart and limb! The cold stone
Dark door is standing wide; dead hand is broken.
Night under Night is flown, and the Gate is
Tom's cheery singing
and bouncing made
the horror fade from their hearts, so that they could be strong and
continue with the mission which must be done. Tom again used power
songs to bring back
Merry's scattered ponies, along with his own. His song names stuck to
ponies so that they answered to those from then on. New clothes were
from the packs, replacing the Barrow clothing. True to their nature,
hobbits, ate from the provisions Tom brought (for he knew hobbits).
of another race might have thought only of leaving the place where they
been nearly killed. While they ate, Tom finished breaking the power of
wights there. He made a pile of the treasure, bidding that it be free
finders, birds, beasts, Elves, Men, and all kindly creatures, to
it "for so the spell of the mound should be broken and scattered and no
ever come back to it".
He started the
process himself by taking a brooch for Goldberry, in remembrance of the
fair lady who had once worn it. He gave each of the hobbits a fabulous
dagger, large enough to use as
swords for hobbits, for future defense. With the blades, he told more
the origin of the mounds and the men of Carn Dum whom Merry had
The blades were made
long ago by the
men of Westernesse, foes of the Dark Lord. They were overcome by the
men of Carn Dum of the land of Angmar. He alludes to the kingly line of
Aragorn without using the name, and of their guardianship "over folk
who are heedless", partly referring to all Hobbits. A vision (from
Bombadil or from the Vala, Irmo?) came over the hobbits and
they saw those ancestors and one with a star on his brow.
The Dark Lord here
referred to was
Sauron. The head Nazgul was the Witch-king of Angmar. Their purpose had
to destroy the North Kingdom, which they accomplished. Then they moved
on to the old site of Angband, Melkor's fortress run by Sauron, on
which they built Mordor, the very place to which Frodo and Sam were
headed although they
did not yet know it.
Tom rode through the
escort to the hobbits to the edge of his lands, understandably not
them to stay out of trouble with more Wights. He warned the hobbits
out east his knowledge failed, and that he was no master of the Black
Riders from outside his country, and that he would not pass his
Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary
, Unabridged 2nd edition, 1983.
The Fellowship of the
Ring: "In the
House of Tom Bombadil", "Fog on the