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The
Lord of the Rings
The Fellowship of the Ring
New
Line Cinema
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Theme:
"Things that are given to Frodo"
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Insights:
The Lord of the Rings has been
called "the book of the century", and certainly
its popularity and longevity would make this an appropriate
appellation.1
This three volume work by J.R.R. Tolkien directed by Peter
Jackson has at long last come to the cinema screen .
The first installment, The Fellowship of the Ring,
was released in December 2001. The other two films, The
Two Towers and The Return of the King are
scheduled to be released in December 2002 and December 2003
respectively.
There
have been volumes written about J.R.R. Tolkien - about his
life, his books, and the world he created known as Middle
Earth. The insights offered herein are not meant to be a
commentary on Tolkien or any of his works. They are
simply insights gleaned from the motion picture, which in
some cases does not exactly follow the events in the
book. In order to make them simple and concise, they
are arranged around one theme only - "Things that are
given to Frodo".
Who
is Frodo?
Following
the introduction to the film, which relates all we need to
know to set the stage for the story to follow, the first
person we meet is Frodo Baggins, the hobbit. We meet
him in a place called the Shire, a setting of beauty,
freedom, innocence, and joy; not quite unlike Frodo
himself. Who is Frodo? While certainly being the
film's main character, he is not necessarily its hero.
Frodo is the Ring-Bearer, the Bearer of a Burden he wished
had never come to him; and it is in that burden that we the
audience identify with him. We see him like a child,
who having lost his innocence, must now set out on the Road
of Life. So, from the opening scenes, we are drawn
into his story, his journey, and his quest. Who is
Frodo? He is one of us.
The
Ring (Corruption)
The
first thing that is given to Frodo is the Ring. This
is the one ruling Ring forged by the dark lord Sauron in
ages past. It is a ring of absolute power.
Devised by evil, it corrupts all who possess it. It is
the Burden that Frodo quite innocently picks up, and from
that moment, his life is changed forever. Now he
becomes the Ring-Bearer. He must leave The Shire and
enter the outside world - the dark world.
Loyal
Servant
The
second thing given to Frodo is his loyal servant and
companion, Samwise Gamgee. Frodo will not travel the
Road alone, but will have this faithful, humble yet
courageous heart to accompany him. It is Sam who will
demonstrate his great love for Frodo by being willing to lay
his own life down. This is so beautifully depicted in the
movie by his going out into the water after Frodo (John
15:13). The scene of his hand reaching for the light
symbolizes his purity of heart. Although in name and
appearance he seems to be the very least, he is truly the
hero, the Christ-like one.2
Escape
Merry
and Pippin, Frodo's two hobbit friends, offer the necessary
touch of humor needed in a film with so much darkness.
More importantly, they give to Frodo a means of
escape (I Corinthians
10:13). Two times in the film,
once at the beginning of Frodo's journey and again at the
end, they willingly give themselves up for the sake of their
friend. They may be small in stature, but their brave,
courageous hearts are enormous.
Protection/Healing
The
next thing Frodo receives is a protector with healing hands
and the most powerful sword. When we first meet him at
The Prancing Pony in Bree, he is called by the name,
"Strider". (Notice how the darkness increases
dramatically outside the Shire.) His real name is
Aragorn, heir of Isildur and heir to the throne of
Gondor. He is the King of men, now cloaked in
disguise. With his fiery, flaming eyes, he reminds us
of another King (Revelation
1:14b). One of the most
beautiful scenes in the movie is the scene of Strider
standing watch over the hobbits at the ancient watchtower of
Amon Sul.
Grace
A
very powerful and stirring scene comes when the Elven
Princess Arwen flees the Ringwraiths with the wounded Frodo.
Having been stabbed by a Mordor blade, Frodo is in danger of
becoming a wraith himself. He is in desperate need of
getting to Rivendell and the House of Elrond, for only the
elfish medicine can save him. Arwen takes Frodo from
Aragorn, out races the wraiths, and crosses the river.
Turning, she confronts the powers of darkness. This is
an incredible scene of light vs. darkness, good vs. evil,
and beauty vs. corruption. Having defeated the wraiths
by calling forth the river (reminiscent of the Red Sea -
Exodus 14:27-28.), Arwen turns to Frodo who is falling
into "shadow". "Don't give in, not
now!" she cries. Wrapping him in her arms, she
prays, "What grace is given me, let it pass to him. Let
him be spared. Save him."
Fellowship
In
Rivendell while Frodo recovers, a council of all the free
people of Middle Earth is convened to decide what must be
done with the Ring. We get another glimpse of Frodo's
childlikeness when he volunteers to take the Ring to Mordor,
even though he does not know the way. Immediately, the
bickering of the council ends, and Frodo is given a group of
companions to accompany him. It is important to see
what each one offers Frodo. Gandalf offers to help him
bear the Burden (Galatians
6:2). Aragorn offers a
sword to protect him, Legolas his bow, and Gimili his
ax. Boromir, who has shown his weakness for the Ring,
offers Frodo his pride, "Gondor will see it done",
thus revealing the weak link in the fellowship. The
three hobbits, Sam, Merry, and Pipin, who have already
committed themselves to Frodo, bring the number of the
Fellowship of the Ring to nine3.
Armor
Just before
departing Rivendell, Frodo is given two pieces of armor by
Bilbo Baggins. He gives him his trusty sword,
"Sting", that glows when orcs are near and a vest
made out of Mithril, which ends up saving Frodo's
life. Outwardly, Frodo looks like a simple hobbit, but
as Gimli says, "There is more to this hobbit than meets
the eye."
Sacrifice
Frodo's life and
the rest of the fellowship are saved by the sacrifice of
Gandalf. In one of the most visually dramatic scenes,
Gandalf stands up to do battle with an ancient demon, a
Balrog (a scene reminiscent of David and Goliath4).
Having defeated the demon, Gandalf turns and is unexpectedly
drawn into the pit by the demon's fiery whip.
Sacrificing himself for the sake of the fellowship, his body
falls into the abyss in the shape of a cross.
Light
From the Lady
Galadriel, Frodo receives a crystal phial containing the
light of Earendil5,
which is to be a light in dark places when all other lights
go out. She tells Frodo that even the smallest person
can change the course of the future.
Freedom
Aragorn gives Frodo
his freedom to leave the fellowship. In a
very moving scene, Aragorn tells Frodo how he would have
gone with him into the very fires of Mordor. Unlike
Boromir, he does not try to take the Ring, but once again
becomes Frodo's protector as he battles orcs while Frodo
escapes.
Frodo, the
Ring-Bearer, bears the Burden, but he obviously does not
bear it alone. Everything that has been given to him
with the exception of the Ring is a symbol of Christ.
Symbolism was important to Tolkien because he thought more
like a medieval man than a modern one6. The medieval
world was a Christocentic world where signs and symbols were
used to point to something beyond the world. The Large
Story (The Christ Story) was everywhere, and men knew how to
interpret it in the language of symbols. Passing
through the modern era, we have lost not only the ability to
interpret the symbols; we have lost the Large Story as
well. As the film narrator so beautifully states,
"The world has changed.......Much now lost and none
alive who remember.....History became legend, legend became
myth...."
The one question
that requires meditation is why at this moment in history is
the message of The Lord of the Rings films being released to millions
of people?
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One Ring to
Rule
2001
(The Fellowship of the Ring) |
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The Two
Towers
2002 |
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The Return of the
King
2003 |
Scripture:
Isaiah
9:1-7
Notes:
-
J.R.R.
Tolkien, Author of the Century by Tom Shippley
-
"Samwise is a translation into Old English of
his name in Hobbitish and means 'Half-Wit' (which is fitting
for a shrewd, honest, heroic figure considered a fool by
the great and powerful)." Tolkien and The
Lord of the Rings ˇ pg 99 ˇ Colin Duriez
-
The number
"nine" is very
significant. In the film there were nine Kings of
Men with their rings that fell under the power of Sauron
and his one ruling ring. These kings became the
Nazgul or Ringwraiths. The
number nine spiritually can represent the fruit of the
Spirit. There are nine fruits of the Spirit listed
in Galatians
5:22-23 and nine gifts of the Spirit listed in I
Corinthians 12:8-10. Therefore, the nine
individual members of the Fellowship coming together in
oneness is a picture of the unity of the Spirit.
Perhaps this is why the breaking of the Fellowship was
so essential to Sauron.
-
I Samuel
17:31-58
-
Light of
Earendil: "In the Silmarillion, Earendil is a
central figure with associations of Christ
himself. His star in the sky was a sign of the
providence of Iluvatar providing hope." Tolkien
and The Lord of the Rings ˇ pg 90 ˇ Colin
Duriez
-
"Western
civilization began to worship power when it began to
doubt significance. The reason Lewis, Chesterton,
Williams, Tolkien, and Thomas Howard fascinate us so
much is that they still live in the medieval world, a
world chocked-full of the built-in, God-designed
significance. That's why they all think
analogically, sacramentally, imagistically. For
them everything means something beyond itself.
Everything is not only a thing, but a sign full of
significance. Modernity, confining itself to the
scientific method as the model for knowing reality,
deliberately induces in itself what Lewis calls a
dog-like state of mind, full of facts and empty of
significance. Point to your dog's food, and he
will sniff your finger. Show a baby a book, and he
will try to eat it rather than read it. Show
modern man a lion, and he will try to tame it and make
money out of it in a circus, and smile superiorly at the
quaint old medieval who saw it as the King of Beasts and
the natural symbol in the animal kingdom of the great
King of
Kings."
C.S. Lewis For The Third Millennium by Peter
Kreeft ˇ pg 58
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