Question for hardcore LOTR readers....

[Guest Lord of The Curry]

In the chapter "The Field of Cormallen", the fellowship is all present. Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli.

 

In the next chapter, "The Steward and the King", Merry is all of a sudden in Minas Tirith, chatting with Faramir about Eowyn.

 

How or when did Merry get from being on the The Field of Cormallen to sitting with Faramit in Minas Tirith? This has bugged me for a while, as I can't seem to find any recollection of Tolkien mentioning that Merry somehow got from Gondor to the field, or vice versa.

[Guest Grand Slam]

If i remember correctly, these two chapters take place out of order. If you re-read the "Stewart and the King" chapter, you'll see that is happens while Aragorn and the Army of Gondor are marching to the Towers of the Teeth and Frodo and Sam are still struggling to Mount Doom.

 

Tolkien pulls this little trick quite often, and sometimes it is hard to keep track of what is happening when...

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

Yeah, you have to read the timeline in the Appendix to get the true order in which things happen.

 

For example, the events with Shelob occur on the same day that Faramir gets wounded at the Battle of Pellenor Fields.