The Writing Life
The nature of Gandalf’s character is revealed when he refuses the Ring. When Frodo offers the Ring to Gandalf, Gandalf says:
Do not tempt me! For I do not wish to become like the Dark Lord himself. Yet the way of the Ring to my heart is by pity, pity for weakness and the desire of strength to do good. Do not tempt me! I dare not take it, not even to keep it safe, unused. The wish to wield it would be too great for my strength.
Perhaps one of the most laudable and noticeable characteristics of Aragorn is his patience. He is long-suffering. He believes in a promise that seems unlikely to come true:
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken:
The crownless again shall be king.
Gollum, despite his murdering ways, perhaps is one of the more relatable characters in The Lord of the Rings. He does not have the patience or steadfastness of Aragorn. He is not a lofty-minded elf. He is not concerned with the affairs of others. He thinks of only two things: the Ring and himself.
Treebeard has become one of my favorite characters in The Lord of the Rings. He has a way of speaking that I just enjoy. I don’t know if it’s the inflection I imagine in his voice, if it’s the way he acts once he makes a decision, or if it’s his seemingly limitless knowledge and sense of humor about that knowledge. Everyone knows that Treebeard is ancient, but they can’t quite pinpoint how ancient he is. They only know that his memory far surpasses that of Gandalf, and Gandalf seems relatively old during his days in Middle-earth.
I spent part of my summer rereading The Lord of the Rings. It was a great adventure. I never tire of traveling through the Shire or Lothlorien or even Mordor and reading about the hobbits, wizards, elves, dwarves, and men. They are settings and characters that have sunk deep inside me.
When life hands you lemons, the usual response is to make lemonade or to squirt lemon juice in someone’s eye. I say to forget the typical responses. Try something new.