Among authors, J.R.R. Tolkien holds a position of singular preeminence. This preference arises not merely from an appreciation for the genre of fantasy—often too superficially dismissed—nor solely from the symphonic quality of his English, though such mastery reflects his stature as an extraordinary philologist.
The profound impact of Tolkien’s work stems from an ability to resonate with the deepest intellectual and spiritual dimensions of the human experience. This is perhaps most evident in the pedagogical setting; when the pivotal passages of that literary masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, are read aloud to students, the emotional weight of the text is such that it can cause the very voice to tremble.
More than any other work of literature, The Lord of the Rings has awaken in the students questions concerning the meaning of their existence and the theme of responsibility, the latter intimately expression of our free will. Every character in this epic is the result of choices made according to the inner voice of their conscience, for good or for ill. And each one has a fundamental role, without which History could not unfold.
In “an age without heroes,” as the great playwright Bertolt Brecht wrote, J.R.R. Tolkien conceives as the heroes of his modern epic a group of hobbits (halflings, as they are depicted) devoted to the pleasures of a peaceful rural life, far from troubles, unaware that Evil exists and exerts its power. They live in homes that are holes in the ground, as if these were maternal wombs meant to protect them. And the hobbits, the antiheroes, will choose to grow and step into History, undertaking the journey that will lead them to fulfill a mission that no one else could carry out in their place: the destruction of the Ring of Power. I am not using the word mission improperly: the choice becomes a natural entrusting to the call of an inner voice which requires a personal answer:
No one answered. The noon-bell rang. Still no one spoke. Frodo glanced at all the faces, but they were not turned to him. All the Council sat with downcast eyes, as if in deep thought. A great dread fell on him, as if he was awaiting the pronouncement of some doom that he had long foreseen and vainly hoped might after all never be spoken. An overwhelming longing to rest and remain at peace by Bilbo’s side in Rivendell filled all his heart. At last with an effort he spoke, and wondered to hear his own words, as if some other will was using his small voice.
‘I will take the Ring,’ he said, ‘though I do not know the way.”
This is the passage in which Frodo begins his journey into responsibility, moved by a force that Tolkien himself calls love, as he writes in one of his letters: “Frodo undertook his quest out of love – to save the world he knew from disaster at his own expense, if he could; and also in complete humility, acknowledging that he was wholly inadequate to the task.” The profound Catholic faith, which was essential and fundamental for J.R.R. Tolkien throughout his life, cannot be separated from The Lord of the Rings, even if the author deliberately does not make it explicit: he leaves the reader free to enter his world and understand its symbols. Nonetheless, Frodo’s responsible choice, driven by a force he himself cannot identify, guided by
the desire to bring the Good where the Evil triumphs, clearly highlights a message dear to Tolkien, which he clarifies in another letter: “the ennoblement, or sanctification, of the humble.” This last feature creates a connection with Alessandro Manzoni’s The Betrothed.
Can a small creature be decisive for the salvation of the world we live in? According to Tolkien this is possible. Frodo represents every human being, all of us, called to carry out a task appointed to us and which, therefore, depends on our free will, on our responsibility to be accomplished. It seems to too ambitious a goal, almost utopian, for our ordinary existence. One might even be tempted to push the thought away, so as not to be troubled or even annoyed by it. Yet, Tolkien believed that great acts of heroism happen in the everyday life of each of us, where we are called to translate our responsibility into action: “Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.” And always for Love.
ACTIVITIES
- Define an event which will make you say, like Frodo: ‘I will take the Ring though I do not know the way.”
- How can Love really be determinant in our daily experience?
- Tolkien was truly and profoundly convinced that even the smallest person can change the course of History. Do you agree? Give reasons
