In the Fellowship of the Ring, our gang leaves Rivendell and travels to the south. It seems the plan was to cross the mountains via Redhorn Gate, over Caradhras. This will leave them a bit exposed, but better than going too far south and risk traveling too close to Isenguard.
When the plan to cross over Caradhras fails the group is forced to go through Moria ( not anybodies first choice ).
Why did the group not go over the Misty Mountains via the High Pass near Rivendell? Or better yet, don’t you think the elves would have a better , more secret way across.
The group could have then traveled south along the Anduin. This would have avoided the exposed route over Caradhras, Isenguard and Moria. I know that they wanted to go south, since Boromir and Aragorn were headed that way.
Did Gandalf reailze that it was his “destiny” to go through Moria at this time? He didn’t want to go through the ordeal, knew that he had too, but dreaded it none the less.
As for secret elven passes - Eregion/Morian/Lorien all lined up across near the Redhorn Gate and Dimrill Stairs, why would they ever need to create another one? Particularly given the elven retreat from affairs in the 3rd age.
Passage would not have been possible without the Beoring presence on the eastern side. The main issue in my view, though, is the presence of Dol Goldur.
It was stated in the book that many of the orcs of the Misty Mountains were destroyed in the Battle of the Five Armies (one of the reasons Gandulf was optimistic about being able to travel through Moria) and that it was not as dangerous as it used to be. They did say in the book (IIRC) that by travelling through the rugged, sparsely populated, Eregion rather than the valley of the Anduin (Wilderland) they hoped to escape the notice of the enemy for many days/miles.
Besides, wouldn’t the High Pass be just as exposed as Caradhras?
I thought that the Necromancer (Sauron) was expelled from Dol Goldur by the Council.
Legolas (talking about the attempt to recapture Gollum) states" we were drawing nigh to Dol Goldur, and that is still avery evil place; we do not go that way"
Is that it, the woodland elves don’t go that way because they still feel it is a place of great evil. But was it really more of a risk than Redhorn, or Moria?
Sauron wasn’t expelled by the White Council, it was a ruse on Sauron’s part to draw them off, and allow him to move into Mordor. Afterwards his minions returned to control Dol Gulder (consider the attacks on Lorien from Dol Gulder during the War of the Ring).
IIRC, the Beornings helped keep the area near the High Pass safer, but they were being slowly overwhelmed by increased pressure from orcs and other evil creatures, and were unable to protect the area as adequately as before.
Redhorn probably seemed safer than High Pass because, at least in part, allies/a safe haven were nearer in the form of the elves of Lorien.
If the fellowship had known they’d fail at Redhorn when they left Imladris, they probably would have given the High Pass a go, rather than Moria. Just my opinion.
The High Pass takes longer to cross. I cannot recomember correctly, but it seems that the whole of the passage across that pass takes some time; by contrast, the passage across at Caradhras is somewhat shorter.
The High Pass is known to be infested with Goblins/Orcs; the Redhorn Gate and the Dimrill stairs would presumably be less likely to be so infested, since both Lothlorien and Imladris prefer to keep it open for communication (IIRC, Elrond’s sons use it to go to Lothlorien while everyone is searching to see what happened to the Nazgul after they are defeated at the Fords of Bruinen).
Any attempt to travel down the Vale of Anduin puts you in close proximity to Mirkwood (not good) and Dol Guldur (even more not good); by contrast, Eregion had little available to hinder the Company (though Sauron managed to whip up an attack by wargs pretty spur of the moment).
Besides, we had already been over the High Pass in The Hobbit. Who wants to read a second narrative of that sort of travel?
Those weren’t wargs. Wargs are flesh-and-blood creatures that just happen to be on the side of evil; the wolf-things that attacked the Fellowship left no corpses behind.
They are described in the book as Wargs. They are called Wargs by Gandalf and Aragorn. The fact that they leave no trace in the morning simply causes Gandalf to comment that they were no “ordinary” wolves hunting.
I have to agree, the wargs are smart and simply pulled the dead bodies away to leave less trace. Wargs had their own language as pointed out in the Hobbit.
I think the other reason was that crossing the High pass would force them to come at Mordor from the north. That was more dangerous, perhaps, than going the way they did. Sauron had already set armies in motion and the whole eastern section of the map was crawling with his forces.
Likewise, Moria wasn’t really the intended route, but it was chosen because they thought it likely safer than the alternative. This was wrong, but note that without Pippin’s actions (which may themselves have been guided by a higher hand) they could have walked right through with no problems.
Ah but the arrows were undamaged except for the one that caught fire in flight. Wargs are clever but I don’t think they’re that clever. I’ve always wondered if Sauron had a few werewolves left hanging around the place in the 3rd age.
I agree in general with the points others have made. And I would like to point out that the Fellowship tried to cross Caradhras in mid-January. Even if there were other passes, they may have been as bad or worse at that time of year.
This was a movie change from the book. Gandalf was the one who suggested Moria, and he was the great supporter of the plan. He had already passed though before (from East to West). He specifically suggests that their may be no orcs in Moria at all, and shows no dread at all the prospect.
The Wargs are implied in some parts of the work done by Tolkein to be at a minimum descended from the werewolves of the First Age. It wouldn’t be a shock if there were more of them around at the end of the T. A. than anyone expected.
Good point. I forgot it was January. Likely the passes in the north are blocked by snow.
Indeed, Gandalf can be overheard to argue the point with Aragorn prior to their tackling the Redhorn Pass. He makes a cryptic reference that the hobbit who overhears him (Sam?) doesn’t understand.
