WTT/WTB: One WIzard, Preferably Grey

"Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
None for the Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie,
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them,
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."
-- The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien

Day 52. I fear I am going insane. The reading part is easy enough, but being disciplined in blogging does not come naturally. Fortunately, reading the Lord of the RIngs trilogy does not leave one wanting for material. I have taken to jotting good quotes from the books I read in order to structure my blogging. As I wrap up book one, The Fellowship of the Ring, I realized that all my quotes, save the opening Elvish poem, are all Gandalf's.

Now, I am presuming that everyone who would care to read this post would have already known who Gandalf is. If not, then why waste your time reading me when you are missing out on the best piece of literature written in the modern era. Really. And as Gandalf is the touchstone of this literary dynasty and has been immortalized in Peter Jackson's series of movies, and is really now a cultural icon, what more ought I have to write about this venerable phronemos? Ha!

The world is in need of a good wizard. Not some kid with an owl and coke-bottle glasses. I mean Gandalf. Wizardry should be used to bless beer, beat down Nazgul, and defend civilization. Tolkien knew what was what. Which should be no surprise, given his life and calling. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was a veteran of the First World War, a philologist, and die-hard Catholic gentleman. He was also a man of honor and duty, and by all accounts a romantic. It is instructive to read how he met and married his wife. Tolkien was a complex dude, and he required a complex protagonist.

It is not often that a work of fiction, high fantasy even, can actual offer up practical advice for modern times. But try this: "Many that live deserve death, and some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Do not be eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the wise cannot see all ends." Or this: "... he that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." What captures my fancy with Tolkien's Grey (So Far) Wizardry is it is not spells and incantations, but actual wisdom, practicality, fortitude, and leadership. You'll notice these traits would serve us well in the halls of power now-a-days, yet you'll not notice them in those same hollow halls.

The Fellowship takes the hand-off from The Hobbit, and sets the stage for the greatest battle in all of literature. WIth all due respect to the Iliad and Beowulf, LOTR kinda steals the show. Not just a great story of a great battle between Good and Evil, it is a great tapestry of stories of people. The character studies put on by JRRT are superb.

I took my three children to the public library on Friday. I let them pick books, by whatever mysterious aesthetic a 2, 3, and 4 year old use. I have read many of the new kid's books. Almost all are trash. Some are just so vapid as to make me indignant. Others grind their axes so hard that sparks seem to fly from the shelves (E.G.: Boy chose "The Last Polar Bear" in which we learn that Global Warming has murdered all the Ursa north of Anchorage. Yah son, we suck. But not as much as this book's impact upon your literary development! HAHAHA) I cannot wait to read the Trilogy to my children. I will point to Saruman, and say watch out, for there are Sarumans with us still, and to Aragorn or Gandalf and say to my son, that is how we ought to act. And to Arwen for my daughters. Tolkien had seen war, and practised love, and seen wisdom. He saw society begin its turn to a post-modern age. His myths and fantasy were influenced by this, and we would do well to learn from it. They are intrinsically great stories, and extrinsically true stories.

So I continue my quest. I have had one question as to the integrity of my methods. Specifically how it is that I reject most of our disposable, digital culture, but use the medium of the blog. I don't reject the ability of our digital age to reach people and communicate important ideas. Hence the blog. I do reject the consumerism/relativism/progress for the sake of progress that is typical of most mass media, hence no television. A valid question fair reader. It might be a fine line, but it is the line I walk.

So, in closing America might need to hit Craigslist and make a posting WTT/WTB. I listen, read, watch the weasels we have accumulated as our leaders at all levels of government. We argue policy, not principle. We arrange interests, instead of debating ideas. I read Tolkien. I compare. I hang my head in shame, no longer wondering at our sad state of affairs. Because we can bitterly bemoan our governors, but they and their systems are only a reflection of ourselves.

Tomorrow, the Two Towers. Gotta just grin and get my "Book on"!

N.B. to all those who watched the LOTR movies and think you can skip the reading. Two words for you- Tom Bombadil. Nuff said.