Although Odysseus is guarding the place of blood with a drawn sword, he seems to be moving throughout the territory of the Underworld. Perhaps it doesn't stand still and he is getting glimpses of the areas of torment as it revolves.
Elpenor speaks without blood, but he isn't a proper shade because funeral rites haven't been performed. The performance of cremation explains the insubstantiality of the shades: burned bones and flesh mean there is nothing left. (What happens to bodies buried without being burned?)
Some of the shades know what is going on. Odysseus' mother knows that there are suitors, that Penelope is still waiting, that Telemachus has been tending the fields, and that Odysseus' father, Laertes, is sleeping beside the slaves in winter and outside in the summer. Tiresias knows what Odysseus will experience if his men steal the sun god's cattle. He knows how Odysseus will end his days. In contrast, Agamemnon and Achilles want news of what happened with their sons.
The horse of Epheios is mentioned and its actions alluded to in connection with the virtue of Achilles' son, Neoptolemus.
The story of Agamemnon's betrayal, which was mentioned in the first book of the Odyssey, comes up again. In Book XI, it starts out sounding as though Agamemnon is going to blame his cousin for his murder, but instead he rails against his wife, her sister, Helen, and by extension, all women.
When Alcinous offers to supply Odysseus with all sorts of goodies if the Ithacan will stay an extra day, Odysseus is very willing. Going home without treats would confer less honor upon him. It doesn't matter whether the booty is plunder or gifts from Alcinous.
