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This week is the first double-portion of our cycle. The two chapters, "Three is company" & "A Shortcut to Mushrooms," follow from when Frodo and Sam set out from Bag End with Pippin to their meeting with Merry near Buckleberry Ferry. On their journey, we meet a range of new creatures, from the most foul to the most fair. We see the Black Riders (The as-of-yet-unidentified Nazgûl), hunting for the hobbits. Though their origin is not explained, we see that they are terrifying and that, when they are near, The Ring's power over Frodo grows. We, like Frodo, have many unanswered questions.
So it is fortunate the hobbits run into a group of travelling Elves. Pop culture tells us that Elves are wise and good and helpful. Frodo knows less, but he knows the Elves are friends of Gandalf and can be counted upon to know many things. However, as Frodo converses with the Elves, he realizes they are not as open as he had hoped.
The Elves are indeed wise. They are kind to the hobbits - they allow them to walk with them for some time and, when they leave, they provide provisions for the hobbits. But as Sam notes when Frodo asks how he feels about Elves, having met them: "They seem a bit above my likes and dislikes, so to speak,' answered Sam slowly. 'It don't seem to matter what I think about them. They are quite different from what I expected - so old and young, and so gay and sad, as it were.'"
The Elves have a particular quirk, which is that they wish to be kind to those who are good, and yet they know so much about the terror that awaits them. Telling them would only alarm them, and in any event the Elves don't appear to wish to meddle in the lives of individuals.
'And I warn you that peril is now both before you and behind you, and upon either side.'
'You mean the Riders? I feared that they were servants of the Enemy. What are the Black Riders?'
'Has Gandalf told you nothing?'
'Nothing about such creatures.'
'Then I think it is not for me to say more - lest terror should keep you from your journey... You must now make haste, and neither stay nor turn back; for the Shire is no longer any protection to you.'
'I cannot imagine what information could be more terrifying than your hints and warnings,' exclaimed Frodo.
I am reminded of a chapter in I, Robot called "Liar!" By some accident, the roboticists create a robot that can read minds. The robot, Herbie, is still bound to the 3 laws of robotics. Herbie reads minds while going about his duties. In the course of this he discovers Susan, one of the roboticists, has fallen in love with one of her coworkers, Milton. Herbie knows Milton does not share these feelings. In reading her mind, Herbie sees that Susan's uncertainty causes her harm. The 1st law requires Herbie to intervene. However, Herbie also knows that telling Susan the truth will also cause her harm. So he lies.
Eventually the truth comes out and Herbie, realizing the damage he has done to the humans around him, self-destructs as he is trying to explain why what he was doing was supposed to be helpful. We can understand Herbie's point of view, even as we realize how ill-advised it is.
Gildor - the particular Elf Frodo is speaking with - wants to be kind to Frodo and wishes to help him, but he also refuses to get too deeply involved in his adventure. This contradiction causes him to be non-committal, which from his point of view allows him to help but also remain aloof. However, from Frodo's perspective, Gildor's lack of details allows Frodo's mind to fill in the blanks with terror beyond comprehension.
Eventually Frodo, in his frustration, says this: "'It is said: Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.' 'Is it indeed?' laughed Gildor. 'Elves seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.... But if you demand advice, I will for friendship's sake give it. I think you should now go at once, without delay.'"
When pressed and pressed, Gildor relents against the custom of his race. Similarly, when Herbie was pressed, he realized it was impossible to know the minds of humans and sustain the First Law. While Herbie self-destructed (as the robots are programmed if they ever break one of the laws of robotics), Gildor errs on the side of emotion and friendship, rather than trusting in Fate. And so we see living beings are better than robots.
That might seem like an odd thing to say in an interpretation of Lord of the Rings, where electricity is hardly present. But surely we all know people who follow rules more rigidly than the rules were designed to be followed. In a litigious world like ours, the letter of the law can trump (and distort) the spirit of the law. It is important, then, we recall the spirit of the law and try to determine its purpose, and not just read the letters.
But most of my readers are not lawmakers or judges or police. So 'law' here is too strong a word. But there are rules we must follow, and times when we must break those rules. When are those times? How can we know? It is easy to say "Speeding is OK if you're driving an injured person to the hospital." But there are times when multiple choices are equally good. And there are times when multiple choices - the only choices we have - are equally bad. What guides our judgment then?
I hope we will, when life demands it of us, make choices for the sake of friendship. Even if we have our own labors. Even if we have our own sorrows Even if we are so engrossed in our current activity that we are little concerned with the lives of other people. Even if our paths cross seldom, and when they do it is unclear if they have crosses by chance or by design. Even if we fear to say too much. Even if all that is true, I sincerely hope that we choose for the sake of friendship. I hope we should say too much, and trust too much in the judgment of our friends, than say too little, and deprive them of knowledge because we feel they could not handle it.
Friendship should always trump wisdom.
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