I am a bit late, but no fear! This week we begin The Two Towers, whose first chapter is "The Departure of Boromir." It would be interesting one year to do an analysis of the chapter titles, since Boromir departs not once in this chapter but twice. Once when he dies and once again when Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas place him in a boat and send him on the river, since they have no time for a proper burial and a pyre would likely be ruined by the Orcs and Uruk-hai who remain in the area. This week we'll focus on that decision, though it's more a jumping off point.
‘Then let us lay him in a boat with his weapons, and the weapons
of his vanquished foes,’ said Aragorn.
‘We will send him to the Falls
of Rauros and give him to Anduin.
The River of Gondor will take
care at least that no evil creature dishonours his bones.’
"What part of Middle Earth history is the Lord of the Rings telling."
"The end of the Third Age."
"The end of the Elves."
"And the rise of Men."
"What will change in Middle Earth when Men dominate what Elves once did?"
"Elves understand what is perfect. They see all imperfections and resent them. But Men live in those imperfections, and are content to manage them."
"And so we see it here. Where the Elves believe Orcs coming through a river lessens the river, Men understand this is not so. Water washes, and while it may not wash completely, it washes nonetheless, and we should appreciate that. Boromir's bones could be found by orcs, and we know the river will be, but that doesn't diminish the righteousness and protection of the ceremony for Boromir."
"Because Men tolerate imperfection, does Middle Earth become worse?"
"From the point of view of the Elves."
"From whose point of view will Middle Earth become better?"
"Probably everybody else. Men can make mistakes and should be forgiven if they repent. Elves can't."
"They also don't. Or at least we don't have examples of Elves making mistakes in our text."
"But the Creative Wizard came up with a few in other texts. Fëanor and Celebrimbor, who started so much trouble. Eöl and Maeglin, with their family difficulties. But you are right they do not repent. Fëanor made the Silmarils, and led the rebellion against the Valar. He died without recovering the Silmarils, and of course doesn't reverse the rebellion. Celebrimbor made the Rings of Power, and while he valiantly resists torture at the end of his life by Sauron who was looking for the Rings, he does not repent. Eöl, who tried to keep his family isolated from the world, is killed by his son Maeglin before repenting. As for Maeglin, on top of such patricide, he tells Morgoth how to find the city of Gondolin in return for a chance to marry Idril, his cousin, a marriage which was forbidden under Elven law."
"So we have stories of Elves failing. But none of Elves repenting."
"All of those stories are old. We can imagine the culture among the Elves that has developed by this time. All failure leads to only destruction. There is no tradition of returning to the fold, or repairing what had been broken. It is perfection or naught."
"They are too stringent and demanding. You must walk the path, but there are no guardrails at the edges or nets over the edge. Dwarves and Hobbits and Men cannot live this way."
"An age of Men will allow more to prosper. Those who falter are not damned."
"Though it is called the Age of Men, it is really for all, in that way. Men may rule, but their rule will be more understanding of everybody else. Not judgemental, as the Elves."
"They're Jews!"
"Excuse me?"
"The Elves. They are like Jews. Not modern Jews, but in the way they were seen by early Christians."
"What in the Shire are you talking about? Tolkien refused all claims of allegory."
"Surely not *all*, since the other quote in that reference is that his work is 'Religious and Catholic'"
"Well, that doesn't make it allegory."
"Sure, but. Well, listen. The Elves are separate. They are Chosen. The Elves are meant to be the light to all the others, guiding them from their own folly. They are ancient. Their law is unforgiving. Their fallen heroes remain fallen. Accuracy aside, this is how we'd expect a Catholic as the Creative Wizard to understand the Jews in the time of Jesus. Like in Middle Earth here, back then (in, may I add, the Middle East) was the beginning of a new era."
"So Sauron is Caesar?"
"No, the allegory definitely doesn't go that far. But if Men are better rulers of Middle Earth because they embrace redemption and will work fairly with all races, there is certainly a basic Christian understanding of things there as oppose to the old particularism of Judaism, which the Elves represent. The point is, Elves think when orcs go through a river they foul it up - Men understand the river will win out, even if they agree it would be better the Orcs not go there at all. The intent behind sending Boromir down the river supercedes the chance it could eventually maybe possibly lead to something undesirable.' A pot whose kasher has been violated no longer needs to be destroyed or buried."
"What about us?"
"We should embrace the Age of Men, of sin and return (and sin again). To demand perfection is to invite failure and resentment. The Elves may be admirable, but they are not role models."
"How can we admire but not follow?"
"As we can admire a painting or sculpture or wonderful piece of music. We can appreciate, we can know there is a higher level, and perhaps sometimes hope for such perfection in our life. But we cannot live our life that way. It will only bring us grief, and we will approach the end of our lives as the Elves, thinking only of where we failed and how the world will deteriorate. But the humility of forgiveness will allow us to pass peacefully. The world is not withering away, and we with it, but rather full of cycles of life, rising and falling, and though ours may fall, those we leave behind still have great heights to see."
"The ethics of dying well?"
"If we all must die - if our age must end - why not try to do it well?"
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