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Similes
Book 3, Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—As Rings To Me:
In Book 3, Chapter 9, after the Ents destroy Orthanc, Merry and Pippin reunite with Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas. They find some pipeweed in the ruins of Isengard, but none of them has a pipe. After a moment, Pippin reaches into his shirt, just as the party so often saw Frodo do when he reached for the Ring. But Pippin does not have a Ring of Power in his shirt, only a pipe. To him, this is just as precious a possession as a ring, as Pippin explains in a moment of situational irony:
‘Half a moment!’ said Pippin. Putting his hand inside the breast of his jacket he pulled out a little soft wallet on a string. ‘I keep a treasure or two near my skin, as precious as Rings to me.'
Having been deprived of a smoke for too long, Pippin is as excited to have a pipe as to have the Ring, an object with such a powerful thrall that many have fought and died over it for thousands of years. In the world of the novels, the Ring is the most precious object in the world: it turns men's hearts and minds to madness for wanting of it. And yet, to Pippin, nothing is dearer to him than a smoke after such a terrifying battle and such a long separation from his friends. The Hobbits' dedication to their lifestyle, especially pipeweed, produces situational irony in which simple pipes are as precious as magic rings.
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