“Not all his servants and
chattels are wraiths! There are orcs and
trolls, there are wargs and werewolves; and there have been and still are many
Men, warriors and kings, that walk alive under the sun, and are yet under his
sway. And their number is growing
daily.” ~ Gandalf[i]
Sauron, the
manifestation of evil, was defeated only to rise again in a rhythm that will
wind along its sad and dreary way on Middle Earth until the final day. Middle Earth is not some mythical place. Where we dwell is Middle Earth. It is easy to get lost in Tolkien’s cosmology,
in part because of the very term “Middle Earth.” The term has its origin in early English medieval
poetry. The poem “Elene” tells us,
The turning circle of the years had spun
Through the world’s winters, in the way men
count,
Two hundred and three times, and then
Still thirty more since Almighty God,
The King of Glory, had been born in this middle-
Earth of ours, light for the faithful
In human form.[ii]
The
quotation is distinctly Christian, which is fitting, as Tolkien’s cosmology is
also a Christian cosmology. In order to
understand the background of Sauron we have to look in Tolkien’s
“Silmarillion.” What we find is a
Catholic Angelology, which may be distressing to some. Tolkien was a Roman Catholic and an active
Christian. Illúvatar is the All-Father. He
is served by the Valar; the angels around the throne of Illúvatar, who can
assume human form in order to serve the children of Illúvatar, the Elves and
Men.
One of
the Valar, Melkor, is jealous of the creative power of Illúvatar, and is cast
out by Illúvatar for his overweening pride.
The Elves name him Morgoth, the Dark Enemy of the World.”[iii] The Valar correspond to the Archangels. Who
is Sauron? The Maiar, a lesser order corresponds to the lesser Angels. Both Sauron and Gandalf are Maiar. Like the Valar they are able to assume human
form. Sauron serves Morgoth the Dark Enemy
of the World, and Gandalf serves Illúvatar.
Among
other things Gandalf is the Guardian of the Shire. He functions as a guardian angel. The Shire is
the land of the hobbits. They are
unaware that their beloved Shire is protected by Gandalf and by others who
serve Illúvatar. Sauron, as a fallen
Maiar, seeks to dominate Middle Earth and has is eye on the Shire. If you love Tolkien’s writings and you don’t
like this interpretation of Illúvatar, the Valar, and the Maiar, and are
annoyed by the possible identity of Sauron and Gandalf, you have to ask
yourself just whom do you serve?
In
“That Hideous Strength” C. S. Lewis tells us that the struggle between King
Arthur’s Logres and the Britain of Mordred is only England’s particular struggle. Arthur and Logres represent the kingdom of
light, and Mordred and Britain represent the kingdom of darkness. That same struggle between good and evil goes
on in every land. Note the verbal similarity
of Mordred and Morgoth and Sauron’s land of Mordor. In the Lord of the Rings and in our age of
Middle Earth, evil is rising once more and Sauron, the projection of Morgoth,
is swelling and pushing toward actualization and dominance, only to be beaten
down with horrendous struggle; then he bides his time and gathers his strength
as he waits to rise once more.
I was listening
to a very intelligent optimist the other day telling us that the moral
condition of our society is not as desperate as it was fifteen years ago, and
backing up his opinion with some observations drawn from business where in his
opinion there is less sexual harassment now than there was a number of years
ago. To me that seems a little starry-eyed
rather than realistic. At the very least
he has mistaken a temporary lull in one area of battle for a general
retreat. I heard a note of victory but
the note was thin and just a little squeaky.
Take
heed to J. R. R. Tolkien’s revelation in the story told by Gandalf, “Some here
will remember that many years ago I myself dared to pass the doors of the
Necromancer in Dol Goldur, and secretly explored his ways, and found thus that
our fears were true; he was none other than Sauron, our Enemy of old, at length
taking shape and power again . . . Yet at last, as his shadow grew . . . the
Council put forth its strength and drove him out of Mirkwood . . . The he gave
way before us, but only feigned to flee, and soon after came to the Dark Tower
and openly declared himself.[iv]
Sauron
is rising again in Middle Earth, not just in Logres and Britain, not just here
in the United States, but across the whole of Middle Earth. I heard some school boys in Egypt on BBC News
the other morning. The BBC News team was
filming a story in a Koran school and the instructor was asking the boys what
they should do with the Christians. Boy
after boy, with excitement and jubilation, said, “Kill them! Kill the Christians! Kill them!”
We are sheltered here; this great nation is for a while protected like
Frodo’s beloved Shire, but Sauron has his eye on us, and Mordor is spreading
its tentacles into our Shire and the servant of Sauron, Sharky, has moved into
Bag End.
It is starry-eyed
optimism that bothers me. We are insular
and that is dangerous and we go about our daily business in the Shire with
incredible naiveté, not recognizing the fundamental difference between the
kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light.
The kingdom of darkness, this present world, is unutterably opposed to
the kingdom of light, because light brings death to darkness, and the kingdom
of darkness cries out, “Rage, rage, against the coming of the Light.
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