Tolkien’s Timeless Trilogy

“There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. . . and it’s worth fighting for.”

– Sam Gamgee

Have you ever compared the fight for freedom to the epic struggle depicted in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings?

The trilogy was written between 1937 and 1949—certainly a dark time for those dedicated to preserving freedom by limiting government. The Second World War came and went, failing to bring about “world peace,” despite the founding of the United Nations on October 24, 1945. This major step toward the New World Order launched the U.S. into unprecedented levels of global meddling in foreign controversies, accelerated subversion of U.S. sovereignty, and the empowering of despotic regimes worldwide. Dark times indeed.

The threatening menace we face—the headquarters of which is the Dark Tower on our eastern seaboard, surrounded by the colorful flags of the nations of the world, better known as the United Nations—is not the tower of Barád-Dŭr, nor does it have hordes of Orcs, trolls, and Nazgûl it may send flooding in where resistance is strongest. They do, however, enjoy the sadistic devotion of multitudinous minions who obediently carry out the bidding of the conspiracy’s masterminds.

Tolkien masterfully depicted the age-old struggle of freedom versus tyranny, justice versus oppression, and loyalty versus selfishness in his gripping story. The tale resonates with Americanists as we ourselves face the same historic struggle.

In the trilogy, Tolkien powerfully contrasted good with evil and pitted them against each other in a struggle not unlike our own. He left no room for compromising between good and evil, nor did he blur the lines and confuse the two sides like many modern fantasies, which often portray as heroes figures who view the ends as justifying the means and are willing to do whatever is necessary to get what they want. Light and darkness do not swap qualities in the LotR. Part of what makes The Lord of the Rings such an exceedingly satisfying story is Tolkien’s masterful portrayal of total victory over evil—even to the remotest corners of the Shire.

When considering our battle with the globalist Insiders, who insanely lust for power, words such as Gandalf’s in The Return of the King seem written for us.

“If it [the Ring of Power] is destroyed, then he [Sauron] will fall; and his fall will be so low that none can foresee his arising ever again. For he will lose the best part of the strength that was native to him in his beginning, and all that was made or begun with that power will crumble, and he will be maimed forever, becoming a mere spirit of malice that gnaws itself in the shadows, but cannot again grow or take shape. And so a great of evil of this world will be removed.

“Other evils there are that may come; for Sauron is himself but a servant or emissary. Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.”

Concluding his counsel, Gandalf said:

“For, my lords, it may well prove that we ourselves shall perish utterly in a black battle far from the living lands; so that even if Barad-dûr be thrown down, we shall not live to see a new age. But this, I deem, is our duty. And better so than to perish nonetheless—as we surely shall, if we sit here—and know as we die that no new age shall be.”

Tolkien adequately addressed here the problem of despair and lack of hope when facing the foe. Giving up, Tolkien wrote, is unacceptable and shameful. He also pointed out that the face of evil each generation battles may appear different, but they will always have the same atrocious objectives—and share the same ultimate mastermind: the devil.

History is a story filled with a succession of evil movements, each lusting for power and world domination. Whether it was the Illuminati of the eighteenth century, or the Communists of the twentieth century, or the crusaders of the New World Order of the modern day, there is relatively no difference in the eventual aims of these conspirators, spread out over American history.

In the end, they are merely arms of the vast conspiracy waged against God since the beginning of this world—Satan deceives the nations and in every generation attempts to bring all light, every hope, and each soul, into eternal darkness. The foremost way to accomplish this is to use evil government to suppress truth.

In the quote above, Tolkien admitted that in spite of the best efforts of the righteous, the war may still be lost to evil. Yet he brilliantly put it in perspective, pointing out that while we may lose, it will be better to have thrown ourselves wholeheartedly into preserving freedom—and still lose—rather than to sit and disgracefully wait for an unavoidable loss.

Gandalf spoke of leaving ‘clean earth to till’ for those who come after—our children and our grandchildren. What kind of country are we leaving them?

There are those who, as Gandalf said, “. . .sit here and know as they die. . .” that liberties are being lost and innocents murdered and the truth crushed. Some despairingly attempt to excuse themselves of their civic responsibility by claiming that America is a lost cause—that there is nothing we can do to save our country from the New World Order.

Yet do we have anything to lose by trying? And don’t we have everything to gain?

And even supposing we did sooner or later lose our country to world tyranny, that wouldn’t change the fact that our duty, our God-given responsibility, is to fight for righteousness in the meantime. Robert Welch, founder of The John Birch Society, wrote in 1959, “We do know that history is full of apparently lost causes that still emerged victorious. We simply refuse to be licked; and for that reason, among others, we do not think that we shall be.” That is the winning attitude we all need to have. We labor and persevere for liberty and trust the results to God.

Perhaps many can sympathize with Frodo when he learned the terrifying truth about the Ring he had received: the One Ring, the Ring of Power.

“I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.”

In true Gandalf-fashion, the wizard replied, “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

The times truly are in the Lord’s hands—and He placed us when and where He did for a reason. We may not know His plan, but we do know that we are “not to lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” (Galatians 6:9)

“The Dark Lord has Nine. But we have One, mightier than they: the White Rider. He has passed through the fire and the abyss, and they shall fear him. We will go where he leads,” Aragorn declared in The Two Towers. What an amazing reminder to the battle-weary and hopeless among us: We have the White Rider, and we will go where He leads us—ultimately to victory. Revelation 19:11,16 tells us, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. …And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’” Following Him were the “armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen white and clean,” also riding white horses.

Fellow soldiers, we are engaged in a spiritual battle! We must wake up and fight! Our King goes before us, and is with us—what are we waiting for? “Arise, arise, riders of the Kingdom!”

Unlike the fictional Middle-Earth, where the Ring of Power was ultimately destroyed, freeing Middle-Earth of its corrupting menace, we face the corruption of power that will never disappear as long as this world lasts. We cannot, like Frodo, take the pervading human lust for Power and cast it into Mount Doom, never to fear its reemergence. The struggle between those who desire to live and let live and those who lust for power and domination will continue until the last day.

The films based on The Lord of the Rings, of course, added a whole new dimension to Middle-Earth, retaining much of the drama of the struggle between good and evil even while adding many controversial extra-canonical elements. But even Tolkien purists must admit that Peter Jackson and company stayed relatively true to important storyline elements, particularly the temptation of power that plagues even the best-intentioned, as in the case of Boromir.

The Hobbit was a book written for children and does not contain as many of the profound quotes and epic battles—external as well as internal. One of the main themes in this Tolkien tale, however, is the danger of greed. Jackson’s three Hobbit movies—in spite of mutilating the story plot even more than they managed to mangle The Lord of the Rings—masterfully emphasize the temptation of greed—in some ways even more profoundly than Tolkien’s The Hobbit itself.

Paul warns us in 1 Timothy that, “The love of money is a root of all sorts of evil.” This can be an easily recognizable sin in those who have made money their god, and the concept is aptly demonstrated in the form of “dragon sickness” in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

This “dragon sickness” nearly subdues the dwarf king, Thorin Oakenshield, whose love of gold and sparkling treasure becomes such that he is hardened to the needs of the homeless people of Laketown, he reneges on his promise to share a portion of the treasure, and he refuses to join his kinsman and allies in fighting the armies of Orcs and trolls right outside his door.

At last he becomes aware that dragon sickness has been firmly taking its hold on him. He relinquishes his greed, throws off his crown, and leads the dwarfs into battle, no longer concerned about the gold of Erebor.

In the end he admits to Bilbo Baggins, the humble Hobbit content with the simple things, “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” We all know it would be. We may know people who are more or less enchanted with acquiring money. Always more money. Depending on how deeply they love money, they sacrifice their relationships, their eternity, and true joy. In the LotR, Gollum’s greed for the Ring was such that it consumed all his thoughts, and his own family drove him from home. His was a case of supreme greed—greed that literally devours a soul.

Both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings offer inspiring hope as well as gripping adventure. These tales remind us of important life principles and the simple joys. . .and second breakfasts, of course!

To read The Lord of the Rings is to know tragedy, love, courage, and hope—to experience the victory of a small and dedicated few over the minions of evil—to glimpse tyranny thrown down—to see courage and perseverance that inspires. The Lord of the Rings is as refreshing and heartening today as it was when it was written nearly seventy years ago. The battle between good and evil rages on.

“But in the end it’s only a passing thing, this shadow; even darkness must pass.”

– Sam Gamgee