So much in Tolkien “hits different,” to use a popular catchphrase of the day. I think because it comes from a place of deep wisdom, so deep it is simultaneously jarring to the ear (no politician could ever utter such words) and timeless, as true today as it was in 1954 … or 1754, or will be in 2354. You are struck dead in your reading tracks, and perhaps like I do, pause to take a photo of the page.
Asks Eomer:
“How shall a man judge what to do in such times?” “
“As he ever has judged,” said Aragorn. “Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear; nor are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among Men. It is a man’s part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as in his own house.”
Doing something evil out of expedience does not make it any less wicked.
Here’s another, this time from Gandalf, speaking to Pippin about the hazards of looking into the seeing stones known as the Palantiri. Insert whatever autonomous technology you’d like here:
“Perilous to us are all the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves.”
I’ve finished The Two Towers and have begun The Return of the King. I’m treasuring every page of the journey and taking my time with it.
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| Anyone else take pictures while reading? |
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