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A Return to Middle Earth: The Platypus Reads Part LXXVII

My wife and I are drawing toward the close of our second trek through "The Lord of the Rings" together.  As with all great works, returning to Tolkien's masterpiece rewards the reader with fresh insights.  Here are a few things that have stood out to me this time:

1. Gimli the Patriot  The defining aspect of Gimli Gloin's son is that he is a patriot.  A new generation of dwarves has shown up on the scene in Middle Earth since "The Hobbit"; a generation who grew up after the successful reconquest of Erebor and the resounding defeat of the goblins at the Battle of Five Armies.  Gimli stands as a type for this new generation in his fierce dwarven pride and generally more optimistic outlook on life.  Thorin and co. pass right by Moria without a second glance, having experience a Pyrrhic victory in the Dimril Dale.  For Gimli, the whole journey from Caradhras to Mirrormere is a sacred pilgrimage.  His song of Khazad-Dum is more than just an elegy, it is a nationalistic hymn.  If you need a little help seeing it that way, listen to the performance of the piece by The Tolkien Ensemble.

2. Sauron's Body  Sauron's body is diffused across Middle Earth in a dark parody of the Church.  Think about it.  Sauron is never seen in bodily form in the work.  He manifests himself through his servants.  Sauron has an eye in Barad-Dur.  His mouth speaks with Aragorn at the Black Gate.  There are only nine fingers on the black hand, and nine Ring-Wraiths that do its will.  Sauron attempts to make his his nine pseudo-fingers into a full ten with the corruption of Saruman, who Gandalf calls "a finger of the claw of Mordor."  This spiritual body is bound together with the power of the Ring, which sometimes seems a second eye of Sauron, sometimes a wheel of dark Pentacostal power.

3. I am Lancelot; Lancelot as he Should Have Been  Others have drawn comparison between King Arthur and Aragorn (though I think the comparison is more fitting in the case of Frodo).  Read over the passages that deal with Aragorn and Eowyn and then read Tennyson's "Lancelot and Elaine."  Lancelot is the perfect knight, worn out in acts of service, but his problem is that his will is weak.  Aragorn is powerful, humble, and flawlessly courteous, but his will is so powerful that he can wrench the Palantir from Sauron and leads the Grey Company through the Paths of the Dead.  Lancelot's weakness of will is why he can never be king and why he ought to have married Elaine.  Aragorn's strength of will makes him fit to be king and the reason he is able to marry Arwen.

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