Who were the real heroes of Middle-earth?: More thinking, less blabbing

» isengar - More thinking, less blabbing

I am shocked at how a carefully written article that delineates a particular point can let slip a remark that’s ignorant and offensive. I speak of the following:

“The senseless slaughter and gradual abandonment of civilization by Europeans hovers across the starkly denuded landscape of Eriador as Tolkien’s ‘Tale of Years’ records the gradual withering of the Dunadan realms in Middle-earth.”

WWI may have senselessly slain millions, making it simple to point fingers at Europeans, but if so then what about Vietnam or even the war on Iraq President Bush will certainly make happen? And how can the European involvement in WWI be called a “gradual abandonment of civilization” when they are the ones that have made the current staples of civilization possible, namely democracy, codes of law and even its people whose descendants are now Americans?

Tolkien shows that it’s human nature to be greedy and power-hungry and thus engage in “senseless slaughter” a.k.a. war. What Tolkien wished to exploit about war was how it places our accomplishments as a people, even our own future existence, in danger. Can war be called a “gradual abandonment of civilization”? Well, there’s nothing gradual about it. War is selfish abandon, period. Abandon for others, for the environment, for centuries of progress, for life itself. For example, we know the U.S. will soon go to war with Iraq but for what? The no spin truth is that the U.S. is in a difficult recession and war stimulates the economy.

Tolkien is clear on the issue of war. The war of the Noldor against Morgoth is futile because it was spawned by selfish greed and material obsession, begun by Fëanor and consecrated by a deadly oath. The first indication that something was dead wrong with this war for the Silmarils was the slaying of Kin at Aqualondë. No cause is worth killing your brothers. The theme of that story runs parallel to that of Cain and Abel.

So one has to ask oneself why is it that Beren and Luthien were granted the victory of snatching a Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown—a feat unmatched in all Middle-earth history? Very simple. Because they did it for love. Neither Beren or Luthien gave a damn about the Silmaril. They did it because that was Thingol’s price for Luthien’s hand in marriage, and the fact that Luthien took an active part in making this happen says a lot about their love and puts an ironically corrective twist on the medieval damsel-in-distress concept.

Also, many times Elves, Men and Dwarves fight against Morgoth for survival and Tolkien points out that they could, if they stuck together, overcome anything Morgoth threw at them… But they don't. Men are primarily at fault for this, being easy to tempt and delude. Men always seem to need guidance from those who care and know better. Knowing this, we see that Tolkien did suffer under the heinous atrocities of WWI but distinguished between fighting for power and material gain (War of the Silmarils, War of Dwarves and Orcs) and fighting for love and/or survival (Beren and Luthien, War of the Rings, War of Wrath).

Keeping this in mind, it’s very harsh to say that the Europeans have ever engaged in the “gradual abandonment of civilization” regardless of how senseless the slaughter without putting it into the greater perspective of the audacity and decay of Men across the world. Considering that the U.S. is about to enter another time of “senseless slaughter” on its end, I doubt we’d want to be depicted anywhere in such a crude fashion.

-- posted by isengar