A couple of weeks ago (closer to a month, but still countable in weeks), I promised to deliver you a rendering of that one time when someone actually set my words to type and sent them around the globe. Today, I come to honor that promise. The long awaited world-wide Internet presentation of: The Least Likely to Succeed!
Despite the constant cringing and incessant temptations to change things (minimally at times, often drastically), I have decided to present the essay in its pure, undistilled form. And....here it is.
Non can foretell what will come to pass, if we take this road or that. But it seems to me not clear which road that we must take. The westward road seems easiest. Therefore it must be shunned....Now at this last we must take a hard road, a road unforseen. There lies our hope, if hope it be. To walk into peril- to Mordor. We must send the ring to the fire- Elrond
In the midst of the excitement of seeing The Lord of the Rings masterfully translated onto the big screen (although in truth I was more versed in The Hobbit as a child), it is important to remember that Tolkien's work is not just entertainment but an extension of who he was. Try as we might, we cannot fully separate entertainment from reality because entertainment is really just an outlet of creative expression of who we are. Whether it is music, or acting, or writing, as an artist it is impossible to completely sunder who we are from what we want to portray.
The Lord of the Rings is no exception. I don't claim to know what J.R.R. Tolkien intended in his writing, nor do I know what he was thinking. What I do know is that Tolkien was a Christian man who could not separate his Christianity from his writings. The Lord of the Rings is an unbelievably well designed tale, with depth that very few stories have ever attempted and stirring of the imagination that few stories ever achieve. Reading The Lord of the Rings is like taking a trip to another world, a world with it's own extensive history and stories of it's own. When reading, the reader feels not only that Middle-earth actually exists, but that they are actually there.
However, the Lord of the Rings text contains more than a story; it is filled with Christian parallels. Indeed, reading the Trilogy has helped me in my Christian walk, in that I've been able to see some things in a different light. Things such as understanding God as the King, creation (from The Silmarillion), and the corruption of sin. These are things I knew about, but by applying Christian principles to Tolkien's work, I have gained an even greater understanding and appreciation for them.
The One Ring serves to show us the power and enticement of sin. Sauron is very much a form of Satan, pure evil and hatred personified, as opposed to the typical watered down Dr. Evil type of villain ("I'm holding the world ransom for one million dollars!"). Sauron, like Satan, does not merely desire to rule the world; he desires to completely annihilate all that is good.
But ultimately, every element of the story serves to compliment one central theme: final victory over evil. In The Lord of the Rings, this theme is embodied in Frodo's quest to destroy the One Ring. In Christianity, it is the death and resurrection of Christ to defeat Sin and Satan.
There are three Christ-types in the story (according to my count; there may be more): Aragorn, the victorious King, the healer, the social outcast whose return marks the end of the age and ushers in a period of peace; Gandalf, the wise wizard, the Istari sent by the Ainur to guide the protect men, who gave his live to save his companions from the evil demon Balrog; and Frodo.
Aragorn is the image of Christ's return. We first meet up with Aragorn in the Bree, under the guise of a Ranger named Strider. Strider is suspicious at best and has the appearance of someone who is up to no good. As the saga unfolds, however, more of Aragorn's kingly nature shines through, climaxing at his daring adventure through the Paths of the Dead. Much of Aragorn's life is fulfillment of prophecy. In addition to his jaunt through the Paths of the Dead, Aragorn turns out to have 'healing hands', which only the King returning is said to have. His reign on the throne ushers in the beginning of the fourth age, a peaceful age.
Gandalf could be said to be the one who illustrates Christ's death. Just as Jesus was sent to help people find God (both through His life and His death), Gandalf was sent by the Ainur (who were sent by Ilu'vatar to be gods of Middle Earth) to help all beings of a good heart. More than a man, but less than the Ainur, Gandalf has some power allotted to him, but only within the confines of Middle-Earth. When the fellowship is trapped in the Mines of Moria by a Balrog, Gandalf lays his life aside to battle it, and falls "into shadow". Gandalf defeats the demon and emerges from the confrontation, changed, more powerful and wise. Gandalf the Grey has become Gandalf the White, much like the Lamb who was slain is now the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
There are two follies to avoid. To use this [Ring] is perilous. At this hour, to send it into the hands of a witless halfling into the land of the enemy himself, as you have done...that's madness- Denethor
Frodo is the most unlikely Christ-type of all. Aragorn had the credentials of being a descendant of the Dunedain, the greatest of all the race of men. Gandalf was a wizard, given great power with which to battle against the forces of Sauron. But Frodo? He was a hobbit, which was mockingly called halfling by other people. Most of the tales of of lore in Middle-earth don't even allow for the existence of the little people, especially the tales involving heroic deeds and valor.
As the story begins, Frodo seems to be caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. His adopted father (and cousin also) Bilbo, who found the Ring while on an adventure with dwarves, had reached the ripe old age of eleventy-one, or one hundred and eleven years old if you prefer. Reaching a point in life where he was starting to "feel like butter spread across too much bread," Bilbo set out to Rivendell and left the Ring in the keeping of Frodo. This occurrence just happened to coincide with the reemergence of Sauron in Mordor. Sauron had discovered that the One Ring was in circulation and began to draw evil to Mordor in anticipation of his retainment of the Ring and subsequent destruction of Middle-earth.
One of my favorite scenes from the movie occurs shortly after Frodo discovers the nature of the Ring. Gandalf is leaving to counsel with Saruman while Frodo and Sam are setting out to Bree. Gandalf tells Frodo that the Ring "wants to be found" by the Dark Lord. It became clear at that moment that Frodo wanted no part of this quest.
Thus we return once more to the destroying of the Ring, and yet we come no nearer. What strength have we for the finding of the Fire in which it was made? This is the path of despair. Of folly, I would say...-Erestor
I said victory could not be achieved by arms. I still hope for victory, but not by arms- Gandalf
After a close call with the Ringwraiths (former kings of men who succumbed to the power of the Ring to become Sauron's slaves), Frodo arrived at Rivendell, the house of Elrond. There several leaders met, representing the Dwarves, Elves, and Men, to figure out exactly what course of action to take in regards to the Ring. At the council, every conceivable plan seemed doomed to failure against the powers of darkness. A battle of arms would be futile, for Sauron's forces far outnumbered those of Gondor and its allies.
The Ring could not be hidden, as Rivendell had insufficient power to resist Mordor, and the other strongholds were even less resistant. Even throwing the Ring into the Sea, which would at least buy valuable time, would only delay the inevitable. The Ring could only be destroyed in the fires of Orodruin, Mount Doom. Even that course of action seemed folly, because Mount Doom was located in the very heart of Mordor, the stronghold of Sauron. In truth, no course of action seemed any better than the other because all seemed destined to fail, to the complete ruin of Middle-earth. With that in mind, the wise were forced to make a decision to choose the best path in the interests of all the free peoples. They chose to destroy the Ring in Mordor.
Why do you speak ever of hiding and destroying? Why should we not think that the great Ring has come into our hands to serve us in the very hour of need- Boromir
What was he thinking? The council had to be filled with doubts and 'what-ifs' when the decision was made. Even those who had the most faith in the mission couldn't feel too secure in the thought of taking Sauron's Ring, which wanted to join with him, into his acropolis unprotected. It would have been impossible to take a sizable force into Mordor undetected. Neither Gandalf nor Elrond, the wisest and most powerful of the council, could bear the Ring for fear of the potential danger they would wield. After listening to Boromir, nobody was ready to completely trust Gondor with it. After a period of thoughtful consideration, Frodo felt the call to bear the Ring into Mordor.
Despair or folly? It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. It is wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have not been weight, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope. Well, let folly be our cloak, a veil before the eyes of the enemy! For he is very wise, and weights all things to a nicety in the scales of his malice. But the only measure he knows is desire, desire for power, and so he judges all hearts. Into his thought will not enter that any will refuse it, that having the Ring we may seek to destroy it. If we seek this, we shall put him out of reckoning- Gandalf
To make the long trilogy of books short, the Ring is destroyed in the end, in spite of what seemed to be overwhelming odds. The plan which seemed to defy all wisdom, in the end, provided a victory that was not only final but satisfying in the sense that the victory was accomplished beyond all reasoning, via means that Sauron didn't even account for.
Jesus also went on a Ring-quest. In fact, Frodo's quest is remarkably similar to Christ's life.
The fact that Jesus chose to lay aside His Godhood to become a man like us is against logic, kind of like trusting the fate of Middle-earth in the hands of a halfling. Jesus, as Creator of the world, probably could have chosen from any of a million different ways to reconcile men to Himself, and could have saved Himself a lot of pain and sorrow. Instead, He chose to show us how much He loved us. With that in mind, there was only one course of action to take, no matter how foolish it seems to us. The God of love had to bring about reconciliation through the greatest act of love He could have shown: to lay down His life.
In our wisdom, God's decision to take the form of man and live among us is hard to comprehend. But it's what Jesus chose to do with His life that really confounds most people (Isaiah 55:8- For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord).
Instead of flaunting His Godhood and setting up the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, Jesus became the servant extraordinaire. He showed remarkable self-sacrifice, frequently laying down His rights and desires for the good of others. Jesus even humbled Himself to the point of washing His disciples feet!
Jesus also said things that clashed with traditional thinking. Jesus said that the poor in spirit were blessed, as were those who were persecuted. He said that in order to gain life it had to be lost. In the mind of Christ, it was better to lose everything to gain eternal life than to gain the whole world and lose our soul. In the Kingdom of God, the last shall be first. These are some examples of radical words from Jesus, who spent His life on Earth going against everything that man said was wisdom and truth.
1 Corinthians 3:19- For the wisdom of the world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: 'He catches the wise in their craftiness' and again, 'The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile'.
However, none of the things He did while He lived on Earth flew in the face of human reason the way His death did. Indeed, His very mission in life was to die. His disciples were confused because they thought Jesus wasn't advancing His "political agenda" enough. The people were confused because they saw the Man who saved others and chose not to save Himself. The Pharisees were confused because the man who openly challenged their self-righteous, dead religion go quietly to death without so much as a word of defense. Even to the end, Jesus chose to go against the norm, choosing humility, self-sacrifice, and obedience over power, self-preservation, and rebellion.
And that is why the quest to destroy the Ring is the central theme, not only in The Lord of the Rings, but in our lives. It is as if the King, the Istari, became the halfling and chose to bear each of our rings into Mordor, so that we don't have to. The life of Christ may not make sense to us. But one thing is for sure: with the victory He as purchased, it doesn't have to.
1 Corinthians 1: 18-23, 25- For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate'. Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased that through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.
Well, there you have it. If you made it all the way through until the end, congratulations. You have must have Wolverine-like healing and regeneration skills- at least in the eye and brain area. Even though I was able to resist the urge to basically revamp it completely, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to be discussing my thoughts on it. But that will come another day. Hopefully another day next week.
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