Deep under the Misty Mountains, beneath the noise and cruelty of Goblin-town, there was a black lake. It was cold.It was still.And in the middle of it was a small island. That island was Gollum’s world. For hundreds of years, he lived there in the dark, catching blind fish from the water and creeping through … Read more
The most disturbing thing about Annatar is not that he was Sauron in disguise. It is that his disguise answered a desire the Elves already had. By the time he came among them in the Second Age, Middle-earth was not the world it had once been. Morgoth had been defeated, but the wounds of the … Read more
When the Fellowship enters Lothlórien, it does so in grief. They have escaped Moria, but not whole. Gandalf has fallen from the Bridge of Khazad-dûm. The Company that left Rivendell as nine now walks beneath the golden trees as eight. And in Lórien, one of the wisest beings still remaining in Middle-earth receives them. This … Read more
The scene outside the West-gate of Moria is easy to remember as a monster attack. The Fellowship arrives at a dark, stagnant pool. The old road is gone. The stream of Sirannon has been dammed or blocked, and the water now lies against the Doors of Durin. Then, as the Company struggles to enter Moria, … Read more
At the end of the Third Age, the Sea becomes a symbol of release. Elrond sails.Galadriel sails.Gandalf sails.Bilbo and Frodo, though mortal, are permitted to go with them. The Grey Havens become the last visible threshold between Middle-earth and the Undying Lands. For the Elves, it is a homecoming. For Frodo and Bilbo, it is … Read more
At the end of The Lord of the Rings, Middle-earth looks as if it has been restored. Sauron is overthrown. The One Ring is destroyed. The King returns to Gondor. The Shire, after its own bitter scouring, begins to heal. Trees are replanted. Homes are rebuilt. The long fear that had crept westward is finally broken. … Read more
The Arkenstone is one of those Middle-earth mysteries that almost invites a larger answer. It shines with its own pale light. It is found deep beneath the Lonely Mountain. It becomes the treasure Thorin Oakenshield desires above all others. And when Bilbo Baggins takes it from Smaug’s hoard, the whole story turns. A war almost … Read more
Most people think Elves in Middle-earth are naturally good. That is understandable. In The Lord of the Rings, the Elves we meet most closely are figures of wisdom, sorrow, beauty, and resistance. Elrond preserves memory in Rivendell. Galadriel stands against Sauron from Lórien. Legolas becomes one of the Nine Walkers and remains faithful through fear, … Read more
When Sauron fell at the end of the Second Age, Middle-earth did not immediately become whole again. The Dark Lord was overthrown. Barad-dûr was cast down. The armies of the Last Alliance had won a victory so great that later generations could scarcely imagine it. And in the middle of that victory lay a broken … Read more
At first glance, it seems like a very small moment. The War of the Ring is over. Saruman has been defeated. Aragorn has been crowned. The company is travelling north after the wedding of Aragorn and Arwen and the funeral of Théoden, and on the road home they come again to Isengard. There they find … Read more