The Return of the King

We finished The Return of the King last week. I’ve been rereading the trilogy, supplementing with the audiobook and sharing it with my daughters. And I was ready for it to be brought to its conclusion. But it has been a great experience to revisit these tales.

I have to admit that there are a couple of things that made me uncomfortable this time around. There is a lingering over evil that seems almost prurient at times: the threats of the orcs when they argue, the use of human heads as cannonballs, the overall disgusting and deformed nature of all things related to Sauron. Even the landscape is utterly befouled by the touch of the Dark Lord. It’s essential to the story for Tolkien to spell out the profane effects of Sauron’s will to destroy and dominate, but at times it seems to go on for so long that I wondered at it.

Another thing I wondered about at times, though I hesitate to admit it, is the relationship between Frodo and Sam. It doesn’t really fit the mold of males adventuring together, but seems to belong more to the domestic hearth. It made me think about how all authors are working with familiar categories, and when they seem to mix them my signals jam as a reader.

Nevertheless, Return is a satisfying conclusion to the tale of Middle Earth. I’ve enjoyed the stories of character emerging: Aragorn, Frodo, Sam, and Gandalf all are called to rise to formidable challenges, and all respond with valor. Aragorn is revealed as truly kingly; Frodo is wise and brave; Sam is the ultimate self-sacrificing friend; Gandalf is transformed from mere grey to dazzling white as a protector of the order and a keeper of mysteries.

Most of all, what I love about this conclusion to Tolkien’s epic (and sometimes eccentric) narrative is the crushing defeat of evil. After we finished the story, I let the girls watch selected excerpts of the movie: the ring falling into fire, Sauron’s tower collapsing, the reunion of friends. The girls loved the huge eagles, Sam’s heroic “I can’t carry the ring, but I can carry you!” scene, the joyous reunion of the fellowship. But at the very end, when Frodo and Gandalf and Bilbo depart with the elves, there was protest. “No more elves??!!?” Younger Daughter exclaimed tearfully.

It’s true. Something is lost; a level of mystery and glory departs from Middle Earth. But what remains is a restored order, the lordship of humankind. As the eagles proclaim after Sauron has been defeated,

Sing now, ye people of the Tower of Anor,
for the realm of Sauron is ended forever,
and the Dark Tower is thrown down.

Sing and rejoice, ye people of the Tower of Guard,
for your watch hath not been in vain,
and the Black Gate is broken,
and your King hath passed through,
and he is victorious.

Sing and be glad, all ye children of the West,
for your King shall come again,
and he shall dwell among you
all the days of your life…

The biblical ring of such passages can’t be missed. Tolkien’s Catholic imagination was well furnished with such images and language. He brings it all to bear here in ways that draw a parallel between the Middle Earth of the pages and the world outside the book, which is, for Tolkien and for other Christians, still in the middle of an unfolding story of restoration.