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
Most readers notice the difference almost immediately. In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins meets goblins. They live under the Misty Mountains. They sing cruel songs. They drag Thorin and Company into the halls of the Great Goblin. They are noisy, malicious, clever with tunnels and weapons, and deeply tied to the dark places beneath the mountains. Then The … Read more
Gollum calls the Ring “my precious” so often that it becomes almost inseparable from him. He does not speak of it like an object. He speaks of it like a living thing, a secret companion, a wound, a treasure, and a self. Long before Frodo carries it toward Mordor, Gollum has already spent centuries whispering … Read more
Gollum is one of the most disturbing figures in Middle-earth. He is thin, secretive, hungry, and divided against himself. He speaks to the Ring as if it were alive. He hates it and loves it. He curses it and cannot bear to lose it. By the time he enters the main story of The Lord … Read more
Near the end of The Lord of the Rings, after the great battles are over and the Shadow has fallen, there is a quiet scene that many readers pass over too quickly. The company is on the long road home. The hobbits sleep. The world has been saved, but the older powers of Middle-earth have not … Read more
When the Fellowship leaves Rivendell, the scene feels strangely quiet. There is no army. No shining host of Elves. No wagon train of provisions. No company of guards riding beside Frodo to carry the Ring safely across Middle-earth. Instead, nine walkers pass into the wild in winter. Four of them are Hobbits. One is a … Read more
Most people think the answer is simple. The Lord of the Rings is Sauron. He is the Dark Lord. He made the One Ring. He forged it in the fire of Orodruin, poured much of his own power into it, and designed it to rule the other Rings of Power. The Ring-verse appears to settle … Read more