Carol Ashey ENGL 471 Dr. Janet Land Nov.

20, 2013 Spiritual Warfare and the Lord of the Rings

The prime motive was the desire of a tale-teller to try his hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, and at times maybe excite them or deeply move themas for any inner meaning or message, it has in the intention of the author none. It is neither allegorical nor topical. (J.R.R. Tolkien, Foreword to the Second Edition of The Fellowship of the Ring, xiv) While the intent of the author may have been just to tell the story of a grand adventure to entertain others, there will always be people who will delve for the deeper meaning in everythingThe Lord of the Rings includedespecially those of the interpretive community of a Christian background. While Tolkien explicitly states that this story is not allegorical in any way, those who are of a Christian upbringing see many parallels to Christianity in this series, regardless of whether or not it was Tolkiens intention; this fact also does not make the story any less inspiring. What I am going to analyze is the scene entitled The King of the Golden Hall from the motion picture The Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers directed by Peter Jackson. Up until this point in the story, the Fellowship has split apart into three separate groups: Frodo and Sam heading East towards Mordor to destroy the One Ring, Merry and Pippin, who have been captured by Orcs as a result of a battle between the Fellowship and the said Orcs along a river, and Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli who are trailing the Orcs in an effort to rescue Merry and Pippin. After following the Hobbits trail into the land of Rohan and then into Fangorn Forest, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are reunited with the Fellowships leader, Gandalf, who had fallen

Ashey 2 during a previous battle and had been presumed dead. After the reunion, Gandalf leads his small band to the city of Edoras in the land of Rohan. The scene begins with the company approaching the city on horseback; Gandalf speaks first: Gandalf: Edoras, and the Golden Hall of Meduseld. There dwells Theoden, King of Rohan, whose mind is overthrown. Sarumans hold over King Theoden is now very strong. Be careful what you say. Do not look for welcome here. It is here that the first parallel to Christianity can be made. 1 Peter 5:8 says Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. As a person who has been brought up in the Christian faith, I was taught that the state of the world is in a spiritual battle between Good and Evil. Good and Evil is the overarching binary of The Lord of the Rings as a whole, as well as for this specific scene. The Bible verse of 1 Peter 5:8 can be applied to The King of the Golden Hall by way of Gandalfs opening lines; since the Dark Lord Sauron has manifested himself in spirit, he has used the Wizard Saruman to do his bidding, which was to create a vast army with which to take over Middle-Earth. Saruman in the case of this scene has prowled around the land of Rohan and has slowly devoured the mind of its ruler, King Theoden with the help of his minion Grima Wormtongue. This parallelism ties into what reader-oriented criticism, and specifically, what Louise M. Rosenblatt calls the transactional experience, which is where the text elicits various thoughts in the reader, be they everyday or not. Another term that applies here is Derridas logocentrism, which is stated as the belief that there is an ultimate reality or center of truth that can serve as the basis for all out thoughts and actions. (Bressler, 110) In my case, Christianity is the basis. While Good and Evil are binary oppositions according to Derrida, in Christianity, the conflict between these two is known as spiritual warfare. This manifests itself in the scene The King of the Golden Hall. Gandalf and company have entered the hall, but unbeknownst to everyone else, Gandalf has changed from being Gandalf the Grey to Gandalf the White. His

Ashey 3 intention in this scene is to overthrow Sarumans hold on Theoden, or, to exorcise him. After Grima Wormtonguewho can be paralleled to a demonis struck silent, Gandalf approaches Theoden, who after a long time of listening to the lies of Grima, appears old and feeble. Gandalf: Theoden, son of Thengel, too long have you sat in the Shadows. Hearken to me! (Theoden makes no motion; Gandalf reaches out his hand.) I release you from the spell. Theoden (laughs): You have no power here, Gandalf the Grey. (At the sound of Theodens laugh, Aragorn makes a face that of one who sees the evil power behind the man) (Gandalf throws back his grey cloak and reveals his white robes, which shine with light; Theoden starts at the light.) Gandalf: I will draw you, Saruman, as poison is drawn from a wound. (Makes a motion with his staff.) Theoden (writhes; speaks in Sarumans voice: If I go, Theoden dies. Gandalf (makes another motion with his staff): You did not kill me, you will not kill him. Theoden (in Sarumans voice): Rohan is mine. (Gandalf makes a final blow at Theoden, which releases Sarumans hold on Theoden and knocks him to the ground.) The Christian parallel made here is when Gandalf throws off his cloak and reveals himself to be stronger than previously thought. This parallels the Transfiguration of Jesus in Matthew 17: 5-7, which states: While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him! When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. Get up, he said, Dont be afraid.

Ashey 4 Since I have grown up as the child of a priest, I have heard stories of exorcism from my dad, and one of the points he has made when telling such things is that there is always resistance on the part of the demon, to leave the body of its host. My dad has also said that when he has been a part of exorcisms, the voice of the demon is heard, and not the persons. This is the same in the scene above. Saruman has possessed Theoden, and because he has been a part of him for a long while, he will not give in easily, which manifests itself in the physical writhing and the use of his own voice through Theodens mouth. A very important point my dad has made concerning exorcisms is that they must be done in private and away from the sight of others as attention is what the Devil wants. This is not the case in the scene, as it is performed in the public eye. After Saruman is cast out, Theoden de-ages and becomes his natural age and of clear mind. He becomes furious at Grima for whispering lies to him for so long and has him thrown out of the hall, where the scene continues. Grima: Ive onlyeverserved you my lord (he backs his way down the stairs) Theoden (following, sword in hand): Your leechcraft, would have had me crawling on all fours like a beast! Grima: Send me not from your sight! (Theoden swings his sword in order to kill Grima, but Aragorn intervenes) Aragorn: No my lord! No my lord. Let him go. Enough blood has been spilt on his account. (Grima gets up from the ground and flees the city) The fact that Grima leaves in this manner represents the full casting out of evil from the kingdom of Rohan. A Christian parallel here would come also from Matthew, this time from chapter eight beginning midway through the twenty-eighth verse and continuing through the

Ashey 5 thirty-second verse. In this section, Jesus heals two demon-possessed men who have approached him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. What do you want with us, Son of God? they shouted. Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time? Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons begged Jesus, If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs. He said to them, Go! So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. While Grima leaving Edoras parallels the end of the verses, the beginning is paralleled when the company enters the hall and Grima attempts to assert his authority by demeaning Gandalf, who ends up putting him in his place. Grima: Late is the hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear. Lathspell, I name him. Ill news is an ill guest. Gandalf: Be silent. Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I did not pass through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm. Horizons of expectations is those expectations each reader creates concerning what will or may or should happen next in any given text (Bressler 312) and that this is subject to change depending on the situation provided by the text. Given that I have read the books and seen the movies multiple times, my expectations for this part is that there has been a triumph a battle has been wonbut the war is not over. The King of the Golden Hall foreshadows the massive Battle of Helms Deep, which is fought later in the movie, but it also foreshadows the ultimate battle on the Fields of Pelennor in The Return of the King. The battle between Good and Evil is a long one, and proves to be not an easy one to win. Another binary that is constant throughout the movies is the themes of having hope and hopelessness. Until Gandalf arrives in Rohan, hope has been dwindling in Rohan in the faith of King Theoden since his being overtaken by Saruman and Grima. The two characters who still

Ashey 6 had hope that fortunes would turn were Theodens niece and nephew, Eowyn and Eomer. As evil and darkness gradually took over Theoden and Rohan, both Eowyn and Eomer continued to plead with their uncles true self, which they knew to be overtaken by Grima, to try to get him to come back. Literary competence is defined as an internalized set of rules that govern a readers interpretation of a text (Bressler 315) as well as the readers ability to make sense of the text. Based on my prior knowledge that Tolkien himself was a Christian and of the way the story of The Lord of the Rings goes, the text makes sense in that Good must and will triumph over Evil in the end, and also that it is worth it to have hope, even when situations are as dark and dreary as can possibly be. That even though the journey is hard and fraught with peril and death, the Goodness that is in the world is something worth fighting for. Ever since I saw the films and read the books, The Lord of the Rings has been my favorite fantasy story because it depicted a world where Good and Evil were clearly marked, and the purpose of the story was to defeat Evil once and for all, and that portrayed characters who were strong of will, heart, and mind, and who were willing to lay down their lives for the sake of saving everything that was Good and Right in the world they lived in. Indeed, my fascination with the story for its own sake coincides with the goal that Tolkien wanted for the books in the first place. He meant it to be a good story that people would want to read again and again as something to be enjoyed. Yet, at the same time, seeing the parallels to Christianity within the story makes me love it even more, regardless of the fact that it was not Tolkiens intention to do so. While the theme of the battle between Good and Evil is the main binary, to Christian circles, the story of The Lord of the Rings portrays that theme as spiritual warfare, which is more often than not raged under the radar than in the public eye. Even though the entire book can be used as an example of spiritual warfare as well as the movies, the most striking (and

Ashey 7 obvious) scene depicting spiritual warfare is that of The King of the Golden Hall in the movie of The Two Towers. In that scene, the stage is set to where good and evil are clearly defined and it is evident that one power must win. The parallels to Christianity in this scene are many. There is the figure of Gandalf, who parallels the figure of Jesus Christ by dying as Gandalf the Grey and resurrects as Gandalf the White in order to help the Fellowship complete the task of destroying the One Ring. There is also Saruman and Grima Wormtongue, who parallel to Satan and a demon whose power starts out as strong and seemingly unshakable, but is in fact unable to withstand the power of Light and Goodness, which can also be paralleled to God. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe thatand shudder (James 2:19). While I as a person have used Tolkiens works of The Lord of the Rings as a means of escapism and to take part in a grand adventure that is fantastical in nature, the parallels to Christianity within my favorite story of all time reminds me of the plan that God has for my own life, and that plan is an Adventure in and of itself, one that I must play a part in. Even though I wont always know the way to go, and the path will not always be easy, the hardships will be worth it because I have hope that the Ultimate Good will prevail and win in the end.

WORKS CITED The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Dir. Peter Jackson. Perf. Ian McKellan, Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen. : New Line Cinema, 2003. DVD. Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. Print. The Thompson Chain Reference Bible New International Version. Indianapolis: B.B. Kirkbridge Bible, 1984. Print.