Saruman is often described as Sauron’s servant. That is true in one sense. By the time the War of the Ring reaches its crisis, Saruman is working in ways that benefit Mordor. He has turned Isengard into a fortress of war. He has broken faith with the White Council. He has become an enemy of … Read more
The scene is so famous that many people remember it more simply than it is written. The Fellowship is fleeing through Moria. Behind them comes a terror of fire and shadow. Gandalf turns on the narrow bridge, confronts the creature, and speaks as if he knows exactly what stands before him. A Balrog. Durin’s Bane. … 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 Gandalf returns in Fangorn Forest, the moment should feel impossible. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli have watched him fall into the abyss of Moria. They have mourned him. They have continued the road without him, believing that the guide of the Fellowship was gone forever. Then, in the deep shadow of Fangorn, they meet an … 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, the scene seems almost impossible. Thorin Oakenshield arrives in Rivendell carrying Thrór’s Map, a map tied to the secret entrance of the Lonely Mountain. The company has already passed through danger. Trolls have nearly ended the quest before it properly began. Gandalf has brought them to the Last Homely House, and there, in … Read more
It seems like one of the most obvious questions in The Lord of the Rings. Why did Frodo not take a map? He was walking from the Shire to Mordor. He was carrying the One Ring. The fate of Middle-earth depended on reaching a specific place: the fire of Orodruin, Mount Doom, where the Ring … 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