Eowyn and Theoden are borne off the battlefield in honour, while noone notices a small fatigued Merry wandering in the background with tears filling his eyes. When Pippin finds his friend, Merry is already falling under the Black Shadow. Soon the wounded are all laid in beds in the houses of healing, but though they are tended well there seems to be no cure for the shadow of the nazgul. But then a wise woman of Gondor remembers an old proverb; “the hands of the king are the hands of a healer”.
How do you think the Black Shadow affects its victims? How are Eowyn, Faramir and Merry affected differently? What can the houses of healing tell us about Gondor?
Now Aragorn enters the capital city of his realm at last. Not yet to rule, but to aid the wounded. We shall look at how he goes about treating Faramir, Eowyn and Merry. Furthermore we shall talk about what Aragorns behavior tells us about him as a man and as a king. Perhaps this one chapter reveals more about the mysterious and aloof future ruler of the reunited kingdom than any other part of the book.
Join us in #thehalloffire as we take a look at Return of the King book V, Chapter VIII – The Houses of Healing.
Times:
Saturday Chat:
5:30pm ET (17:30)
[also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 7:30am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat:
7:00 pm (19:00) CET
[also 1:00pm (13:00) ET and 3:00am (03:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
AET = Australian East Coast
Do you have a possible topic for Hall of Fire? Drop us a line at halloffire@theonering.net.
