Inspiring Words from Gandalf

2004-12-08T20:07:00.000-02:00

Here is one of those moments where you think about why things have fallen upon you. Sometimes you think, "Why is it that things have happened to me and not someone else?" I think this way a lot. Why is it I grew up a certain way while others had better lives. I found this line from Fellowship of the Ring to be very comforting. It's not one of those things that tells you it will get better but more like, you are not the only one but right now you have a job to do:

"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and 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 us. . ."

I don't quite know what to do with such an idea but it's obvious that when things get bad, instead of wishing the situation had not befallen you, it is more wise to do with the experience what you will to succeed and grow from it. Then perhaps things will be better or at least you will have made your mark on the situation or the world. Such amazing wisdom from these tales. You could follow it's instruction and be a good person all your life. I swear I hate myself for receiving more from it than the Bible.

Tolkien on Life and Living

2004-12-07T01:40:00.000-02:00

You could go a hundred years and never hear such beautiful things as was created and inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien. The language of hope is spread throughout his books along with a lesson about life and living. It seems that all the characters whether they be in the story for a year or a day have their part. This portion of The Two Towers says it best:

"Yes, that's so," said Sam. "And we shouldn't be here at all, if we'd known more about it before we started. But I suppose it's often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of sport, as you might say. But that's not the way with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually - their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn't. And if they had, we shouldn't know, because they'd have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on - and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end. You know, coming home, and finding things all right, though not quite the same - like old Mr. Bilbo. But those aren't always the best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in! I wonder what sort of tale we've fallen into?"
"I wonder," said Frodo. "But I don't know. And that's the way of a real tale. Take any one you're fond of. You may know, or guess, what kind of tale it is, happy-ending or sad-ending, but the people in it don't know. And you don't want them to."
"No, sir, of course not. Beren now, he never thought he was going to get that Silmaril from the Iron Crown in Thangorodrim, and yet he did, and that was a worse place and a blacker danger than ours. But that's a long tale, of course, and goes on past the happiness and into grief and beyond it - and the Silmaril went on and came to Eärendil. And why, sir, I never thought of that before! We've got - you've got some of the light of it in that star glass that the Lady gave you! Why, to think of it, we're in the same tale still! It's going on. Don't the great tales ever end?"
"No, they never end as tales," said Frodo. "But the people in them come and go when their part's ended. Our part will end later - or sooner."

I think it is a beautiful testament about life. It is not about one single life, one single presence affecting the world. Many it took to create that presence and many it took to receive it's worth. "But the people in them come and go when their part's ended." I think about how soon my part in this tale of Earth and Life shall end. Sometimes it is a frightening thing, but death, as one friend put it, is just change.

In thinking about the Lord of the Rings movies, the scene that this part takes place in is amazing. Sam gives mostly the whole speech and the encouraging words. He says a few things differently. I don't have Return of the King yet. I am waiting for the special edition, but in this scene I was almost put to tears. All that matters is that you keep going. It was a powerful message; a shining light in a time of darkness. And as Frodo himself said (in the movie) "I want to hear more about Sam. Frodo wouldn't have gotten anywhere with out Sam. These scenes were so beautiful. Upon watching them after the initial "Lord of the Rings is so cool" phase, I started to truly see something in these films that touched my heart. After reading the books I felt excited about the granduer of it all, but now I am going back and re-reading those books (add it to my pile of books I'm 'reading') to see how Tolkien inspired it all. I am truly jealous of such a brilliant mind as his and such brilliant minds that put the films together. They were somewhat different but altogether inspiring.

Of Lomé Adonnen

Inspiring Words from Gandalf

Tolkien on Life and Living