Another LOTR Read-Along: The Passage of the Marshes (TTT 4, 2)

Drearily we stumble along, stumble along, stumble along...

As Tolkien himself says here, "The next stage of their journey was much the same as the last" (p. 611). Sam continues to suspect Gollum/Smeagol of ulterior motives, and to help Frodo by "supporting him if he stumbled, and trying to encourage him with clumsy words" (p. 617). Everything is ugly and horrible and ghastly.

And then we get to the Dead Marshes and discover that they're not just called that because nothing much grows there, but...