ExclusiveTolkien’s beloved fantasy saga encourages us to treat fellow Americans fairly

Epoch Insights with Tiffany. My name is Tiffany Brannan. In the Life and Traditions section of the latest issue of the Epoch Times, there's an article called A Tale to Reignite Hope. It begins with some statistics about things happening in our country today. U.S. rates of depression have reached new highs, and there's been more and more hopelessness around But this isn't just a sad story about depression and other statistics. It mentions that discouragement constitutes a piece of the universal human experience. We see it a good deal in great literature. But the opposite of it is hope, and we must draw hope from things we see around us. A good deal of that is entertainment, such as great literature. The subtitle is Tolkien's Final Story in His Epic Fantasy Trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King. Many articles, both in print and online, of the Epoch Times have been written and published about something related to the Lord of the Rings. If you aren't very familiar with this, you might wonder why a paper which is dedicated to traditionalism is delving into some fantasy trilogy. Why would it bother with such silliness? However, I would recommend that you look at some of these articles and go a little deeper, because I used to think that it was just like Harry Potter or Star Wars or House of Dragons, Game of Thrones, something like that. But when I learned a little bit more about it, I realized that Lord of the Rings is so much more than any of those other series I just mentioned. In fact, it has ancient roots, if you really delve into it. The Return of the King was the third movie in the trilogy that was made in the early 21st century, just as it was the third book in Tolkien's trilogy of books. It remains one of the most successful films ever made, having been released in 2003. It won all 11 Academy Awards, for which it was nominated. Why is that film so popular? Well, I think that that's because it was the conclusion of this great story. I would say that the movies didn't capture even a fraction of the true depth, beauty, and spirit of the books. To just read them, one might guess that they were written perhaps in the Victorian era, maybe earlier. They certainly are classic fairy stories on one hand, because of the elves and the dwarves, but also almost a medieval tale of knights and kings fighting great evil. Not surprising, because J.R.R. Tolkien was very inspired by works like Beowulf in writing it, and Celtic legends, as well as Germanic legends, all European folklore. Because he himself was a great linguist, he spoke many languages and studied the culture of other countries in Europe, as well as the British Isles. But it was actually written in the 1950s. The whole Hobbit Lord of the Rings Middle-Earth saga began with The Hobbit, which he wrote in the late 1930s. Originally, it was a story he told his children, but they would catch when he would change the details, so he realized he needed to write it out. And then he spent the next 20 years perfecting the epic trilogy, which would serve really as the sequel to it. You can see the spirit and the nature of the man Tolkien in his work. He was a great family man, a very devoted husband, who loved his wife so much, Edith, that he immortalized her as a beautiful elf maiden. And he was a very devout man of faith. He was a devout Catholic who was so traditional that he was rather upset when they stopped using Latin in all forms of the mass. He was so traditional that he didn't always agree with having refrigerated food, because he liked the traditional old English style of just using the old cellar. And I think you can see, if you're familiar with The Hobbits and the depiction of Hobbiton, that that was Old England, the world which he felt was being lost in the modern industrial age. He truly was a Victorian gentleman. He fought in World War I, and as he was writing Lord of the Rings, he saw the world which he knew and loved slipping away in the modern age. In fact, he was a great traditionalist who loved nature as something which God had made. He believed it was a place which man should cherish, so that it's our home, rather than exploit. And you can see in his books that Tolkien describing an evil place, no trees grew there, but he was describing it as a place which had been misused and abused by an evil tyrant, cutting down all the trees to fuel his evil designs with the great fires. In the opinion section of the Epoch Times, there's an article called 16 Things Individuals Can Do to Help Bring America Together. As I was reading through this list, it occurred to me that every one of these points can be illustrated by a character, a situation, or a plot point in one of the Lord of the Rings books. For instance, point number one is choose someone you disagree with and start a dialogue. Make friends, even if neither of you changes your mind. In Lord of the Rings, a fellowship of nine different people has to come together to bring the ring of power to Mordor, where it can be destroyed, where it can be destroyed in the fire Rather than a group where everyone agrees or everyone is the same, this is a very diverse group. There are four hobbits, one elf, one dwarf, two men from very different backgrounds, and one wizard. They aren't friends when they start out, as a matter of fact, some of them are prejudiced toward each other. Most of the others have never even seen a hobbit before, and they call them the halflings in a rather derogatory way. But they learn to work together, which brings us to point two, find common ground, avoid epithets, and presume goodwill on the part of others unless and until their actions suggest otherwise. The common ground, which all these people find, is a common enemy. They all have to work together to accomplish a goal for the good of all of them, for the good of Middle-earth, the place where they all live. Because they have to come together to accomplish this goal, they all become companions and eventually friends, because they realize each one of them has distinct qualifications and characteristics which make him beneficial to the whole group. Number three, embrace America as an imperfect, unfinished product, and one whose future depends on respect for those principles that made it largely free and exceptional in the first place. No country is without flaws, and few countries in world history have accomplished as much for life and liberty as America. The principles of America and our ideas about freedom are the very basis of the peaceful Middle-earth life which the more peace-loving groups of races there enjoy. In Hobbiton, the simple life which the hobbits have of farming and community, feasting and enjoying each other's company, is very similar to the American dream of owning your own land and simply enjoying your life with your family in a peaceful way. Number four, think twice before using political connections and influence to get something you can't secure voluntarily from others in the marketplace. Cronyism diminishes respect for both you and for the free enterprise system it corrupts. There is a king, King Theoden of Rohan, who becomes engulfed in politics because he listens to the advice of a corrupt advisor, the stereotypical corrupt politician, regardless of what party. He's someone who panders, who gives bad advice because he's serving another master, not just his own interests, but an evil wizard, Saruman, who is using him to control this king who otherwise would have been noble. Number five, judge every individual by the content of his character and the merit of his actions, not by the group to which he was assigned, by birth, origin, faith, color, or politics. By fighting alongside each other and journeying together, each realizes that the other is a noble character and a fine man worthy of being honored, so they develop a lasting friendship which lasts for the rest of their lives. Number six, elevate the importance of personal character in your life. No society can flourish if it denigrates virtues such as honesty, humility, patience, responsibility, tolerance, courage, gratitude, self-discipline, and respect for the lives, rights, property, and choices of others. I especially like that the two lesser hobbits, Merry and Pippin, are far more noble in the books, whereas they basically are to being comic relief in the movies, showing that each one can have a strong character. Choose liberty over power and persuasion over force. Find ways in which you can leave the world not only a better place but a freer one as well, for life without liberty is both unthinkable and unlivable. Gandalf, who is the wizard, and Elrond, a wise elf lord, reject the seemingly logical advice that one of them or some other wise being should use the One Ring, the Ring of Power, for good. If it's such a powerful tool, why shouldn't a wizard like Gandalf wield it and quell the evil forces? Why shouldn't he use it for good? Gandalf and Elrond are wise enough to know that that would be a form of force, a form of controlling others, and it has very seductive powers because power quickly makes a greater or more intelligent person want to be the boss of people who are perceived to be less intelligent or less powerful. Number eight, live your life as though politics is but a corner of it, not consumed by it. Recognize the incalculable value of intact families, vibrant and voluntary associations, community engagement, loving relationships, and institutions created and sustained outside of the divisive realm of politics. The hobbits are the happiest people in Middle-Earth because they aren't concerned about having kings or fighting wars, trying to be great and powerful. They simply want to live a peaceful life with their families and their friends, and they realize that a life of feasting, singing, and dancing is far greater than trying to hoard gold or be powerful. Ask yourself every day, am I good enough for liberty? Then dedicate yourself to self-improvement if you can't honestly answer yes. Reforming the world starts with reforming oneself. Individual characters must prove themselves and transform themselves to be reformed during the journey. Many great men, such as Boromir, are tried by being close to the ring, and they realize that they might think they're great warriors or noble, strong characters, but when tested, they realize that they themselves might be their greatest enemy, and they must fight with themselves before they can defeat anyone else. Defend the free speech of all people. If you catch yourself attempting to intimidate, shut down, or frighten others into submission, shake it off before the impulse turns you into an antisocial monster. Cancel nobody except those who insist on canceling others. Gandalf the wizard tries to be fair to everyone. When he realizes that Saruman, who he thought was a great ally, another wise wizard, has turned evil, everyone wonders why he doesn't destroy him when he has the chance. However, he asks him to give up his evil ways and to join him in the cause for good, to defeat the dark lord Saran. Of course, Saruman doesn't accept, but even then, Gandalf doesn't destroy him. He allows him to live in his tower, even though he's powerless there, because Gandalf doesn't believe in destroying or canceling others. Revere truth and the honest search for it. Never let truth be obscured or destroyed by claims that it doesn't matter, or that it is nothing more than a subjective whim of the moment. There was no such thing as his truth or her truth, only the truth. This is an interesting point, and it's one which we see so much these days, people saying, embrace your truth, live your own truth. And as this points out, truth is not subjective. As a matter of fact, it's even grammatically incorrect to say, sort of true, or extremely true. It's either true or it isn't true. There are other things which might sound like the truth, but which can really be deceptive, just as we see Gandalf and Lady Galadriel, a wise elf lady, seek truth, even if it's uncomfortable and other people don't understand them. Number 12. Seek diversity of opinion. Minds that try to stigmatize or close the minds of others, or that pretend that color, sex, and religion are all that matter, are enemies of the diversity that matters most. When Frodo and his group are in Rivendell, the home of the elves, they don't just listen to one person's counsel. As a matter of fact, their journey is delayed by months because Elrond wants to seek the counsel of others. They send out messengers and ambassadors throughout the land to gain counsel from others and do research, to consider things. And again, we said they chose to have nine people from very different backgrounds for a distinct reason, so that those differing opinions could come together to have a wise group of people with different thoughts. Number 13. Love peace more than you love force. Conflict, compulsion, and intolerance. Work toward a society in which individuals choose to do right because they want to, not because they're forced to. While Saruman and Sauron want to create war and conflict, believing that people should be forced into following the will of superior being, Gandalf and the other wise leaders simply want to create a free, peaceful world where all peace lovers can enjoy life and live in harmony with each other, not fighting or squabbling. Number 14. Reject nihilism, cynicism, and pessimism. People of goodwill and character can shape the future for the better. It's never too late or too soon to start. In the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring, as he realizes that his Uncle Bilbo's ring was no mere toy, the great gravity of it begins to prey on him and he becomes rather distraught and, you could say, cynical and almost nihilist at the thought of it. He says to Gandalf, I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened. Gandalf wisely cancels him. 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. I think that this is a very Christian viewpoint and that's something which Tolkien as a man of faith could see. A lot of this is an allegory for religious themes as well as based on his experiences with World War I. And rather than becoming cynical or pessimistic, saying there's nothing good about the world, why do I have to live in this time? We must realize that there are good things we can do in this time and there's an important reason why we're here and we need to share that hope with others. Number 15, learn from history. Don't rewrite it. Lessons from the past can make us better people in the future. Don't get all caught up over an old statue. Never allow the poison of presentism to corrupt your perspective. Stories, and especially songs, are the main way that history is passed down in Middle Earth, similar to how it was in the world before the printing press and before writing became commonplace. People would sit around the campfire or around the hearth in the evening and sing songs to tell of the old legends. A lot of that is what inspired the very stories of the Lord of the Rings. We mustn't let them die because they continue to shape us today and we see that a lot of the ways that our group, the Fellowship, is able to succeed is that those who don't know about what happened before become more knowledgeable and enlightened as they're told the old stories in the history of what happened before so that they learn from the past and don't repeat the dangerous mistakes. Finally, number 16, celebrate the uncommon. It is the uncommon to whom we owe the greatest debt. Those who speak truth to power, invent, and innovate turn failure into success and add value to society. No one should encourage a child, for example, to aspire to nothing more than commonness. Respect and encourage the exceptional. The stories of Lord of the Rings glorify those who have done great things even if they're a common hobbit of whom no one has heard or a simple person. They realize that they're part of a great adventure but the people of old and the stories which they loved didn't feel like they were in a story. They simply were going about their lives and they didn't know whether it would turn out well or ill. They only continued on and they didn't know whether it was to be a good ending or a sad ending. This brings me back to the original article we were discussing about Return of the King and a story of hope. This article mentions a word which Tolkien himself coined, eucatastrophe. It's similar to the catastrophe which we know, which literally means in Greek to unravel. It's an event which happens at the climax of a story or a poem and it's the thing which, perhaps when everything seems like it's all right, will unravel the plot and perhaps result in tragedy. Eucatastrophe is the opposite because eu, e-u, means good or happy. So by adding that it becomes a good catastrophe, a happy catastrophe, a surprise happy ending, something wonderful which happens at the last minute. Such as in Lord of the Rings when the eagles come to bring the hobbits back home at the end or there's so many other examples in fairy stories. But it's so interesting how you can see that while stories which involve magical creatures can seem to have a bit of a black magic or almost satanic slant, that is not the case in Lord of the Rings. There's always a good triumphing over evil. Above all, I love Lord of the Rings because it talks about the beauty of nature and the natural world. I especially love reading it outside when taking a walk in the beautiful nature. There's another article here in the Life and Tradition section called Children at Play, talking about the importance of children being outside, running around, spending time in the fresh air and for families to spend time together away from screens and outdoors and the beauty of nature. This summer perhaps you and your family could enjoy reading Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit if you never have. You can sit outside in your backyard or go for a walk, go to the park and enjoy reading about these beautiful tales of nature but which also give us strong moral examples for how to defend truth. They make us realize that no matter what evil things happen around us, there always is hope.