Sauron’s power is easy to misunderstand. On the surface, he looks like a ruler of overwhelming force. He has Mordor. He has Barad-dûr. He commands Orcs, trolls, siege engines, spies, armies from the East and South, and the Nine Ringwraiths. By the end of the Third Age, the Free Peoples know that if the war … Read more
At first glance, the Ring wins at Mount Doom. That is the uncomfortable truth at the center of the ending. Frodo does reach the Crack of Doom. He does stand in the one place where the Ring can be destroyed. He does carry the burden farther than any reasonable hope could demand. And then he … Read more
At first glance, Frodo forgiving Saruman looks almost impossible. Saruman has not merely fallen from greatness. He has chosen pettiness after ruin. He has lost Isengard, lost his staff, lost his authority, and then spent his last strength spoiling the Shire out of malice. He does not come to Hobbiton as a repentant old enemy. … Read more
At first glance, Númenor looks like Sauron’s greatest victory. He enters the island as a captive. He leaves it ruined beneath the Sea. Between those two moments, the mightiest kingdom of Men is turned from reverence into rebellion, from wisdom into tyranny, from fear of death into worship of darkness. But that is only the … Read more
Most readers remember the Nazgûl’s screams as one of the great sounds of terror in The Lord of the Rings. A shriek in the dark.A cry above the battlefield.A voice that makes horses panic and men falter. But the screams were not just there to make the Ringwraiths seem frightening. They were part of what the … Read more
Most readers think Tom Bombadil is the mystery. But Goldberry may be the reason the mystery cannot be solved in the usual way. Tom is the figure everyone tries to classify. He is called “Eldest.” The Ring has no power over him. He remembers things that seem to reach back beyond the histories known to … Read more
Everyone asks why Frodo failed at Mount Doom. But that may be the wrong question. The more unsettling question is this: What did Gollum already understand about the Ring that Frodo could not fully understand until it was too late? Frodo knew many things about the Ring. He knew it was dangerous. He knew it … Read more
Everyone asks why Gandalf did not simply command the Eagles to carry the Ring to Mordor. But that may be the wrong question. The deeper issue is not whether Eagles can fly. They obviously can. They cross great distances. They rescue people from deadly places. They appear at some of the most desperate moments in … Read more
Most readers remember Sam’s vision in Mordor as one of his greatest moments of resistance. And it is. But the scene is more unsettling than that. Because the Ring does not fail to tempt Sam. It reaches him. It finds something real. It does not offer him a random dream of wealth or comfort. It … Read more
Everyone asks why Gandalf could stand against the Balrog, but refused the Ring. But that may be the wrong question. Because the real mystery is not whether Gandalf had power. He clearly did. At the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, Gandalf faced something so terrible that the rest of the Fellowship could not answer it. Legolas knew … Read more