"There and Back Again"
I have always loved books, particularly fairytales, beginning as a child when I could not get enough of people reading to me. Through the years when I started reading on my own and voraciously devoured books, and into adulthood, books have been steadfast companions. My favorite genre has always been fantasy, which makes sense given my propensity for fairytales as a child.
There is a consensus among CS Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and George McDonald that fairytales and fantasy are equally, if not more so, suited for the adult mind as they are for children. Stories, whether they be fables, fairy tales, or some other type of account, have always been used as teaching aides for children. Like Tolkien, I believe that literature is a wonderful tool that anyone, including adults, can use to help navigate through life. J.R.R. Tolkien was not a fan of his work being considered allegorical, or regarded as some sort of interpretation of actual events in life, but rather sought for it to be applicable. Even though my struggles are certainly not of a magnitude at all comparable to those in Middle Earth, I have found much in The Lord of the Rings to shape a frame of mind that has helped me achieve success, happiness, and peace in this life. As the elf Gildor tells Frodo when he asks where he will find courage, "Courage is found in unlikely places,"1 and I believe courage is most certainly necessary to navigate the challenges of life.
My love for Tolkien began with The Hobbit, and a quotation that has remained in the back of my mind since I first read the book as a preteen. "There was nothing now to be done but tighten the belts round their empty stomachs, and hoist their empty sacks and packs, and trudge along the track…"2 This is neither the first time, nor the last, that this sentiment of tightening one's belt and carrying on appears in the story. I was struck by how what might be construed as a harsh reality is pretty much the best advice that exists during any of life's many difficulties. As much as one may complain, feeling as though he or she cannot or does not wish to go on, the only real thing to be done is to brace oneself, i.e. tighten one's belt against the weight lost to starvation, and carry-on with whatever burdens one has. I suppose this mindset has largely been my approach to dealing with the varied hardships life has thrown at me. Though I may mourn and moan as much as the soft hobbit Bilbo Baggins for a time, in the end I simply do what needs to be done in order to survive, and I believe I have grown tougher for my trials, just as Bilbo did.
As Frodo begins his own journey, he recalls Bilbo saying, "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door… You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to."3 And that is life, one never knows what will happen and we are often swept away from the life we planned for and intended on living. I certainly did not leave for our vacation with any thought of literally having my feet swept out from under me, but so it went. Although the road has not always been easy, it has also brought me to many good things, and rather than letting my accident leave me as a victim to it, I fought to regain my footing and found much good further down the road.
It seems that Tolkien achieved his objective in writing something applicable to my life. There is boundless wisdom I have found in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, that has not only helped me with living in the face of the adversity created by my accident and spinal cord injury, but also for the daily toils of life which plague us all. Even the often foolhardy Pippin offers words of wisdom when he argues that, "Short cuts make long delays."4 Another example occurs when Faramir says, "Do not scorn pity that is the gift of a gentle heart."5 Gandalf even supports my long held belief in the value of a good cry, for he says, "I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil."6 This puts it far more eloquently than I ever could, for although I believe there is value in a good cry, perhaps not all tears are good, though certainly neither are all tears evil.
Though I could ruminate on the wisdom of so many things printed on the pages of these books, I will restrict myself to a few final thoughts. In the first book of the Fellowship of the Ring, Sam demonstrates a deep sense of fortitude when he argues to be included on the quest to destroy the one ring, that most of us could benefit from applying to our daily lives. "I know we are going to take a very long road, into darkness; but I know I can't turn back. It isn't to see Elves now, nor dragons, nor mountains, that I want — I don't rightly know what I want: but I have something to do before the end, and it lies ahead, not in the Shire. I must see it through, sir, if you understand me."7 As our lives march ever onward towards their ending, it is important to recall some of Bilbo's wisdom as he moves forward into retirement so to speak: "Don't adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story."8 While Gandalf's reply to Bilbo discussing the starting and finishing of adventures humbles us all, for each have a small part to play in this life and on this earth, but that does not negate that they might be a part of something great, "But you know well enough now that starting is too great a claim for any, and that only a small part is played in great deeds by any hero."9
J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987), 93.
J.R.R. Tolkien. The Hobbit (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997), 161.
Tolkien. Fellowship of the Ring, 83.
Tolkien. Fellowship of the Ring, 97.
J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987), 242.
Tolkien. Return of the King, 310.
Tolkien. Fellowship of the Ring, 96.
Tolkien. Fellowship of the Ring, 244.
Tolkien. Fellowship of the Ring, 283.