Notes & Comments 151

“Grace of the Valar”: towards completion. This experience

The Lord of the Rings Movie1 of two world wars brought Tolkien
face to face with the greatest evils of
Film critics and many Tolkien fans our time, and especially with the great
responded to the three-part Lord of the temptation of our time, that of tech-
Rings movie directed by Peter Jackson nological power, which he dramatized
(2001, 2002, 2003) with ecstatic in the form of the One Ring.
praise. Some claimed it as the cine-
matic equivalent of Beethoven’s Ninth Grasping the ring
Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem or
Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Ludicrous It is notable that movie audiences
praise of this sort aside, there is a cer- seem to have had no difficulty at all in
tain magic about the films—a provi- recognizing the nature of the Ring,
dential convergence of the newly although the film’s portrayal of it
developed CGI technology with bril- might easily have been confusing. It is
liant acting, music and cinematogra- supposed to be a Ring of supreme
phy, all at the service of a story pos- Power, yet the only “powers” we see
sessing unrivalled mythic resonance in it grant are those of invisibility and
the modern world. extended life. It brings the creature
For J. R. R. Tolkien’s story was Gollum only misery during the centu-
an imaginative response of a cultured ries that he possesses it. In the book
European soul to the two World we have the sense that, once mastered
Wars that mark the bleak “coming of by its wearer, it would impart to him
age” of the modern experiment. a great portion of the Dark Lord’s
Tolkien served in the first War, in the magical power over nature and other
trenches of the Somme itself, and it wills. We are told that the wearer of
was there that his imagination began the Ring will be able to see and con-
to explore the darker possibilities of trol those who wield the three Elven
Faery. His son served in the second Rings whose destiny is entwined with
War, and the letters between them its own. In the movie, however, the
written at this time reflect both the wearer of the Ring of Power appears
intensity of their relationship and the to become instantly vulnerable—
slow progress of The Lord of the Rings because highly visible to those he
would most wish to avoid. In the
flashback where we see its maker,
1
This paper is the revised version of an Sauron, wearing the Ring three thou-
appendix that appears in Stratford Caldecott,
The Power of the Ring: The Spiritual Vision
sand years earlier, we find it neither
Behind The Lord of the Rings (New York: rendering him invisible nor seemingly
Crossroad, 2005), 125–32. An earlier version enabling him to quell the vast army of
also appears in Flickering Images: Theology and Elves and Men assembled against him.
Film in Dialogue, ed. Anthony J. Clarke and
Paul S. Fiddes (Oxford: Regent’s Park Indeed the Ring is cut from his hand
College, 2005), 193–205. by Elendil’s sword. Much later,
152 Stratford Caldecott

Frodo’s possession of the Ring cannot twelve-volume “History of Middle-

prevent Gollum biting it from his earth,”2 Tolkien himself explains the
finger. Yet we see the corrupting ambiguous power of Sauron’s Ring.
effects of the temptation to claim the For him it is the archetypal Machine,
Ring in each of the main characters and it possesses all the false allure of
who come into direct contact with it, technology in the modern world. In
and we perceive it through their eyes his story Tolkien explores two differ-
as an infinitely desirable thing, the ent types of technology, two different
concentrated essence of all that is most understandings of science, through the
lusted after in Middle-earth, like the contrast between the magic of the
forbidden fruit proffered by the ser- Elves and that of the Enemy: the goal
pent in the Garden of Eden. To the of the former is Art, whereas the aim
characters in the movie, the Ring of the latter is “domination and tyran-
seems to offer not power but the idea nous re-forming of Creation.” Tech-
of power. It promises something it nology always offers more power than
can never deliver. it delivers, and its real effect is to make
Thus the movie preserves some of us increasingly dependent upon itself,
the symbolic meaning attached to the and therefore in reality less powerful
Ring, if not quite all. The Ring of in ourselves. Sauron irrevocably places
Sauron is perfectly smooth, bearing no a measure of his own spirit into the
stone. The writing that appears upon Ring: the Ring enables him to bend
it when heated (“One Ring to rule his minions to his purpose, but as he
them all… and in the darkness bind does so his personal power is dimin-
them”) is invisible at room tempera- ished, “spread out” among those he
ture. It is a circle of gold representing controls. The loss or destruction of
the self-loved Self, impregnable to the Ring therefore means a loss of
others, cut off from genuine relation- control, even of his own bodily shape.
ship, closed. No wonder it makes the The film picks up on the theme of
wearer invisible to others, unreachable “bad technology” and plays on con-
by light! Also it is a ring never re- temporary environmental awareness
ceived but always taken; not placed by pitting the wizard Saruman—an
upon the finger as a gift, but claimed
for oneself. As such it seems ironic
that the prop used in the movie was a 2
See, for example, Letter 211 in The Letters
wedding ring that belonged to one of of J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Humphrey
the film crew; for the One Ring in Carpenter, published by George Allen &
the story is the very antithesis of a Unwin in 1981, and the discussion of
technology in my Secret Fire: the Spiritual
wedding ring: it is the symbol and Vision of J.R.R. Tolkien (DLT, 2003), 44–49.
agent of isolation and domination The History of Middle-earth, vols. 1–12, edited
rather than communion. by Christopher Tolkien, was published by
In his Letters and at various places Allen & Unwin and HarperCollins between
1983 and 1996 (see especially the volume
in the posthumously published entitled Morgoth’s Ring).
 Notes & Comments 153

ambitious pawn of Sauron, engaged in but instead she made Galadriel simply
genetic experiments and the destruc- weird, and a bit sinister. In general the
tion of nature to fuel his factories other Elves appear more insipid,
—against the Ents, the tree-people, smug, and pompous than the strong
who exact their spectacular revenge yet ethereal, serious yet fun-loving
upon Isengard in the second movie. Elves of Tolkien’s masterpiece. We
see them mainly at night or in twi-
The failure of the film light, whereas Tolkien finds them
often (and certainly in Lothlórien)
Yet it is important to note that the delighting in the broad light of day,
film is flawed in many important brighter and more colourful than
respects. Tolkien himself would un- anything in the world we know. The
doubtedly have loathed it. The action Shire, too, is slightly mishandled by
is noisy and unrelenting, the emo- the filmmakers (although the recon-
tional scenes often sentimentally over- struction of Bag End is convincing
wrought. Major characters have been enough). Probably only an English
distorted. Perhaps the most obvious director could have understood quite
example is Frodo himself. Infantilized how the balance of humour and seri-
like the other Hobbits, Frodo has also ousness was to be maintained in the
been stripped of almost all the strength case of the Shire. It was, after all,
of character and inner nobility he supposed to represent the world of
demonstrates in the book. At one real life within the novel, and
point he allows Gollum to turn him Tolkien’s telling caricatures of rural
against Sam, at another he exposes the English folk were gently affectionate.
Ring to the Nazgul (in a gratuitously For Jackson, the caricature element
invented scene set in Osgiliath— prevails, the Shirelings become too
amusingly Sam rightly protests, “We clownish, and much of the complex-
are not even supposed to be here!”), ity of Tolkien’s exploration of the
and at the Crack of Doom he contin- English psyche is lost. This matters
ues fighting with Gollum, almost most at the end of the third movie,
falling into the fire himself. Other when the Scouring of the Shire (the
characters suffer almost as much or necessary culmination of Tolkien’s
more at Jackson’s hands—not story) is omitted completely, and the
Gandalf, perhaps, nor Boromir, who Travellers return to a homeland that
are quite well realized for the most has been completely unaffected by the
part, but Faramir, Elrond, and even great events away down South.
Aragorn in some respects bear little Of course, much can be said in
resemblance to the characters in the mitigation of these failings. Several
book. Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel was scenes correspond closely to the book.
a misjudged performance—perhaps I think, for example, of Gandalf’s fall
she was trying to inject some other- in Moria, Gollum fishing in the For-
worldly mystery into the character, bidden Pool, the death of Boromir,
154 Stratford Caldecott

the lighting of the beacons along the earth. Across that Sea the angelic Valar
White Mountains, the Ride of the preside over the Land of the Blessed,
Rohirrim, and the wonderful final and the music of the Sea echoes a
scene on side of Mount Doom as the Great Music that was before time, and
fires engulf Frodo and Sam and the was the archetype of time. The light
Eagles descend. Some of the most of the stars that falls upon the waves is
moving moments in the film involve beautiful in part because light and
visual and musical images originating music are deeply akin in Tolkien’s
with Jackson and his team rather than cosmology: vibrations in time that
Tolkien—and yet which appear to be convey the harmony of the One that
genuinely in the spirit of the original is secretly Three.
story. For example, when Aragorn The film is about death, but it is
rides into Edoras, a pennant detached also about a man achieving his destiny
by the wind flutters down to fall at his through self-mastery and service of
feet, as if in silent tribute to the future others, and that man is clearly
King. Another example is the mo- Aragorn, who moves from being a
ment when Gandalf finds Theoden somewhat peripheral character when
grieving for his son. The arrival of the we encounter him in The Fellowship of
Elvish reinforcements at Helm’s the Ring to a much more central role
Deep, and the battle itself with its in the second and third parts of the
unlooked-for (eucatastrophic) finale movie. This is not, however, the
are a mixture of Tolkienian and Aragorn of the novel, but a more
Jacksonian inspiration that work well. modern character, initially much
It seems clear that Jackson’s team, more confused, and in the end less
especially Fran Walsh and Philippa majestic. He begins in a state of rejec-
Boyens, had a profound respect for tion, having renounced his claim to
“Professor Tolkien” (as they call him the kingship long ago, fearful of his
in the accompanying documentary) own weakness, which is the weakness
and wished to be faithful to his legacy, of men and of his ancestor Isildur.
even if they did not succeed in every The Ring would not now be a prob-
respect. The closing song “Into the lem for Middle-earth (we surmise) if
West,” beautifully sung by Annie Isildur had not taken it for his own,
Lennox, captures Tolkien’s concern against the advice of Elrond. Thus the
with death and the tragedy of history. War of the Ring is Aragorn’s war in a
It accurately conveys the “mood” of very personal sense, and not just be-
Tolkien’s story, shot through with cause by it he may win the throne of
Christian hope, and could only have Gondor. The definitive rejection of
been written by a lover of the book. the temptation represented by the
The Great Sea, with the sound of its Ring is his task, even more than it is
ceaseless waves and the crying of the Frodo’s. The combined will and self-
white gulls, represents for Tolkien the sacrifice of Aragorn and Sam jointly
spiritual world that enfolds Middle- carry Frodo to the threshold of his
 Notes & Comments 155

mission. Aragorn even lets Frodo and name—Estel—means just that, and
Sam go off alone at the falls of Rauros they preserved it with great care and
at the end of the first segment, when subtlety. They wanted to show the
he could easily have stopped them. man struggling to rise to the level of
He gently closes Frodo’s hand around his destiny. More than in the novel,
the Ring. For though the Ring is the force that impels Aragorn into his
Aragorn’s by right of conquest, as the ultimate transformation is the love of
heir of Isildur, Frodo is taking it Elrond’s daughter Arwen. In the
where he cannot, with his permission novel, the nuptial theme between
and support. (The viewer may be men and women, between Men and
forgiven for wondering why Aragorn Elves, is delicately present and
does not take it to Mordor himself, if foundationally important, though the
he is capable of resisting its appeal romance with Arwen was largely
after all. Here we may say in Jackson’s relegated to an Appendix. It is to the
defence that he has borrowed from credit of Jackson’s film that this re-
Tolkien’s Faramir, who successfully ceives greater emphasis, even to the
refuses the temptation of the Ring extent of adding a taste of “Marian
when he meets it in Ithilien.) Though intercession” to Arwen’s role in the
the rejection of the Ring is Aragorn’s story (for example at the Fords of Isen
task, Frodo must bear the Ring itself: where she prays for the “grace of the
this is why Aragorn’s unexpected cry Valar” to descend on Frodo, and
“For Frodo!” during the final charge when in Rivendell the book falls from
at the Black Gate, though Tolkien her hand as though to recall images of
would certainly never have put such a the Annunciation). In Jackson’s ver-
modern expression into his mouth, is sion, it is Arwen’s faith in the destiny
(arguably) appropriate in the context of her lover, and in her destiny with
of the film. Jackson interweaves the him as the mother of his child, that
struggle of Frodo and Sam up the side “mothers” him into existence as King.
of Mount Doom with the events at One of the most poignant scenes in
the Black Gate in a way that suggests the third movie is that in which
that for him these are intended to Arwen, in the process of departing
form the two halves of a single psy- from Middle-earth, having accepted
chodrama. Aragorn’s decision to break off the
In fact, the filmic version of engagement, has a vision of their
Aragorn’s tale, though a radical distor- future child and rides back to confront
tion of the book, may also have been and contradict her father in Rivendell.
more appropriate to our present cul- Arwen’s heart-piercing vision is a
tural situation. The film-makers did moment of supreme beauty—perhaps
not change the story or the character one of the most powerful “pro-life”
carelessly. They had observed the moments in cinema, and appropriately
theme of “hope” that Tolkien had so in light of the centrality in
woven around Aragorn, whose Elvish Tolkien’s legendarium of the marriage
156 Stratford Caldecott

of Elves and Men. Yet her destiny is the film, like the book, had proved so
linked with Aragorn’s in a more com- incredibly popular. “Because it is a
plex way than Tolkien ever suggested. true story,” he replied simply. It is
She becomes mortally ill, having re- indeed a true story, not a “fantasy” at
nounced Elvish immortality, which all, despite the CGI monsters and
forces Elrond to recognize the need to other special effects. At its heart it is a
re-forge the shards of Narsil into re-telling in mythical mode of the
Andúril, the Flame of the West. With One True Story, the “Fairytale that
the sword of kingship finally in his becomes Fact” in the Gospel. The
hand, knowing that the life of Arwen Lord of the Rings (both book and film)
depends on the destruction of the is a story about light and darkness,
Ring, Aragorn is at last able to over- heroism in the face of what Théoden
come the fear of his own weakness calls “overwhelming hate,” life af-
that had been holding him back, and firmed in the face of death. It is the
musters the authority to summon the story of our civilization, and the great
Dead to fight at his side in the battle speech of Aragorn to the Men of the
for Minas Tirith. West before the Black Gate—entirely
an invention of the film-makers, yet
A true story fully in the spirit of the book—is a
direct challenge to our own time to
J. R. R. Tolkien created a myth- stand fast and give battle for the sake
ology, not just for England as he had of our civilization (of which Gondor
originally intended,3 but for the whole represents the mythological ideal). We
modern world. “Mythology,” in the too need the “King” to take his
sense Tolkien gave it, is not merely a throne. For then we can go back to
pack of lies dreamed up by men too our own polluted landscape, with its
primitive to be acquainted with scien- mean brick houses and its small-mind-
tific truth. It is a way of capturing ed officials, its devastated orchards and
truths that cannot be adequately ex- missing avenues of trees. We can
pressed except in story, and which return endowed with the authority of
need to be communicated on several servants and friends of the King, to
levels at once. Peter Jackson has re- commence our own task, the task
tained enough of the original story to which awaits us here at home: the
achieve an impact on the popular “scouring of the Shire.”
psyche that few film-makers could As already mentioned, this impor-
hope to emulate. tant final climax of the War of the
The actor Viggo Mortensen, who Ring—the purification of Hobbiton
plays Aragorn in the film, was asked in by the returning heroes—was sadly
various interviews why he thought omitted from the film (even from the
extended version). It could have been
included, if Jackson had realized its
3
See Letter 131 in the published Letters. importance and been prepared to
 Notes & Comments 157

sacrifice some of the overlong fight throughout The Lord of the Rings. The
and monster scenes, along with other film, too, conveys glimpses of tran-
indulgences such as the embarrassing scendence through nature. Two tiny
“bedroom romp” when Frodo has scenes that admirers of the book will
returned from Mordor. be glad to see restored to them by the
Nevertheless, Tolkien’s message DVD make the point well: the crown
survives this amputation remarkably of flowers on the fallen head of the
well. The Lord of the Rings embodies a old King’s statue illuminated momen-
sense of reverence for the living tarily by the dying sun in Ithilien, and
whole to which humanity belongs. the lovely moment when Sam notices
That “whole” may be taken in three a star shining through the cloud-
senses: it is the world of Nature, the wrack of Mordor, speaking of a
world of Tradition, and the spiritual beauty high above the world that evil
world of Providence. Modernity, in can obscure but never touch. Tolkien
its negative aspect, is a rebellion knew that monotheism, and ul-
against these three worlds. Despite my timately Christianity itself, is perfectly
strong criticisms of the movie series, I compatible with a strong sense of a
believe Peter Jackson’s team captures sacred presence within nature, and
enough of these concerns in the indeed provides the only secure basis
movie to remind us of something that for believing in the inherent value of
had almost been lost to our civiliza- the natural world (which the God of
tion. Let me consider each, briefly, in Genesis repeatedly pronounces
turn. “good”).
Reverence for the world of Nature is Reverence for Tradition runs directly
present not simply in the care with counter to the modern obsession with
which her moods, her weathers, and equality, and is perhaps the least well
her elements are lovingly described served by Jackson’s movies. As
throughout the novel, and of course Chesterton wrote, Tradition is the
vividly represented in the film, but in “democracy of the dead,” in which a
their portrayal as spiritually animated, group of the living are not allowed to
sometimes (as in the case of the Ents overrule their ancestors just because
and Eagles) even speaking with hu- they happen to be alive.4 Customs and
man language. Yet this is no godless cultures are hallowed by time,
“bucolic paganism.” Tolkien’s Elvish
equivalent of the “Old Testament,”
The Silmarillion, makes it clear that 4
This famous phrase of Chesterton’s
Middle-earth is the creation of Eru occurs in the second chapter of Orthodoxy
Ilúvatar, the God beyond all gods, (1908), “The Ethics of Elfland.” “Tradition
whose care extends to the smallest means giving votes to the most obscure of all
details of the great drama even when classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of
the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the
it is exerted through the mediation of small and arrogant oligarchy of those who
creatures. Hints of this are scattered merely happen to be walking about.”
158 Stratford Caldecott

whether for good or ill. In the novel that cannot be broken without conse-
(though not the film), when the Men quence. The great army of the dead
of Gondor under Faramir’s command will fight to regain its honour in the
eat together, they first stand in silence service of the King.
and face the West: looking “to Reverence for the spiritual world un-
Númenor that was, and beyond to derlies the reverence Tolkien shows
Elvenhome that is, and to that which for Nature and for Tradition. The
is beyond Elvenhome and will ever world of Nature and the world of
be.” Living in remembrance of the Culture have a significance beyond
past, celebrating it, rehearsing it, is an themselves. They possess a form, a
essential part of keeping any culture meaning. They reveal something, a
alive and growing—or of renewing it beauty, that lies not simply beyond
when it has almost failed. Thus when them, but within them. The world is
Aragorn is crowned King, he echoes a story, as a master story-teller could
the words of his forefather Elendil as not but recognize. Stories have a be-
he stepped on to dry land from the ginning, a middle and an end; and
ruin of Númenor thousands of years they have a Teller. There is a pattern
before: “Out of the Great Sea to to the Story of the World beyond the
Middle-earth I am come. In this place knowledge or grasp of the characters
will I abide, and my heirs, unto the who play a part within it, as Gandalf,
ending of the world.” In the film, the Aragorn, Sam and Frodo in their
actor sings the words to music he has various ways become aware at differ-
himself composed, so close is his iden- ent points in the adventure. Every
tification with the part. All the more event that takes place, no matter how
pity, then, that the film-makers insist trivial or seemingly accidental, has a
on placing immediately afterwards in purpose within the whole, and forms
Aragorn’s mouth an unnecessarily a thread or a colour within a tapestry
clumsy extra speech about “rebuilding that is being woven by the choices
our world.” and decisions we make or are forced
From first to last, the civilizations to make moment by moment.
of Middle-earth, whether these be the It is not merely, as Aragorn says to
warrior-societies of Rohan and Éomer in the book, that we walk
Gondor or the peaceable farming and both in legends and in the broad day-
trading communities that make up the light because “those who come after
Shire, are built up through remem- will make the legends of our time.”
brance and custom. It is a modern Rather, some things are meant to
mistake to think that great personali- be—as, for example, we are told in
ties can grow without being rooted in both book and film, Bilbo was “meant
the rich soil of the past, in the mem- to find the Ring, and not by its
ory of great deeds and in fidelity to Maker.” The whole pattern is obscure
promises made across the generations. until it can be viewed sub specie
Civilization is founded on covenants aeternitatis. It may not be clear to us
 Notes & Comments 159

why we are here, what we are ac- lished letters, for example, Tolkien
complishing on earth, or what we are refers to what he calls the “tragedy
doing wrong, for we have not yet and despair” of our reliance on tech-
entered the world of vision that lies nology.5 In the story, this tragedy is
“out of memory and time.” But when vividly illustrated in many ways, not
we do, our faith tells us that even the least by the corrupted wizard
most apparently pointless suffering will Saruman, with what Treebeard (the
be seen to have a sufficient reason and voice of Nature) calls his “mind of
a place in the whole. metal and wheels.” (To emphasize the
point, Jackson has Saruman meet his
A call to arms death impaled on the machinery of
Isengard.) In the modern world, with
Nature, Tradition and Religion its ecological disasters and its factory
are all under attack in the modern farms, we have seen the devastating
world. If Tolkien has succeeded in and dehumanising effects of Saruman’s
evoking a nostalgia for these things in purely pragmatic approach to nature.
the world of the imagination, that is The English Romantic move-
not escapism but therapy. There are ment, from Blake and Coleridge to
three possible responses to such nos- the Inklings themselves, believed
talgia. One is retreat. That would be there must be an alternative. At the
the true escapism, the escapism of the end of his wonderful essay on educa-
grim “realist” who wants to bury his tion, The Abolition of Man, C. S. Lewis
face in the modern world to hide writes of a “regenerate science” of the
from the deeper truths stirred into life future that “would not do even to
by The Lord of the Rings. Another minerals and vegetables what modern
response is to rekindle the embers of science threatens to do to man him-
this triple reverence in our own lives, self. When it explained it would not
by trying to preserve Nature, by re- explain away. When it spoke of the
specting the worthy Traditions of our parts it would remember the whole.”6
culture (call this, if you like, a “dis- The goal of our present science, by
cerning conservatism”) and finally by and large, is power over the forces of
deepening our spiritual life. For Cath- nature. (Of course, the quest is also for
olics and Orthodox this will mean a understanding, but since Bacon the
participation in the sacraments that identification of knowledge with
celebrate and renew the meaning of power has become ever more com-
the Story.
The third response, which is
equally necessary if we have been 5
Letter 75.
“awoken” by Tolkien, is to discern
6
the ways in which our modern way of The Abolition of Man or Reflections on
education with special reference to the teaching of
life undermines the second response, English in the upper forms of school (London:
the return to Religion. In his pub- Fount, 1978), 47.
160 Stratford Caldecott

plete.) According to Lewis, the “ma- more of Tolkien’s vision of humility

gician’s bargain” tells us the price of and spiritual greatness was not success-
all such power: nothing less than our fully translated to the screen, but we
own souls. The conquest of nature should be profoundly grateful to Peter
turns out to be our conquest by na- Jackson and his group for the ele-
ture, that is to say by our own desires ments that were. The landscape of
or those of others; and the one who cinema has been changed for ever. G
aspires to be the Master of the world
becomes, in the end, a puppet.7 STRATFORD CALDECOTT is the direc-
Tolkien always insisted that his tor in Oxford of the Center for Faith and
fantasy was not an allegory. Mordor is Culture for the Thomas More College of
not supposed to be Nazi Germany or Liberal Arts, and the editor of its interna-
Soviet Russia. “To ask if the Orcs tional journal Second Spring.
‘are’ Communists is to me as sensible
as asking if Communists are Orcs,” he
once wrote.8 But at the same time he
did not deny that the story is “appli-
cable” to contemporary affairs, indeed
he affirmed this.9 It is applicable not
merely in providing a parable to illus-
trate the danger of the Machine, but
in showing the reasons for that dan-
ger: sloth and stupidity, pride, greed,
folly and lust for power, all exempli-
fied in the various races of Middle-
earth. Against these vices he set cour-
age and courtesy, kindness and humil-
ity, generosity and wisdom, in those
same hearts. There is a universal moral
law, he demonstrates, but it is not the
law of a tyrant. It is the law of love
and mercy—the one and only law
that makes it possible for us to be free.
Our world is shown too many
images of evil, and too few of heroic
and attractive goodness. It is sad that

7
Ibid., ch. 3, esp. p. 43.
8
Letter 203.
9
Ibid.