Book Review (by Big Sister): The Lord of the Rings

 Author:  J.R.R. Tolkien 

Rating: 5/5  

Genres: Adventure Fantasy, Speculative fiction, Fiction, High fantasy, Chivalric romance, Adventure novel

One of the greatest works of fiction of all time, The Lord of the Rings is one of my favorite books.  It is usually called a  trilogy, because it is split into three parts:  The Fellowship of the  Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.  It also has  a prequel, The Hobbit.

This amazing, incredibly written story has endured for many  years and “...will go on and on.”*  C.S Lewis wrote: “...none so relevant to the actual human situation, yet free from allegory.”  The Lord of the Rings is no ordinary fantasy story.   It expresses such things as courage, faithfulness, joy, friendship, wisdom, beauty, and the true meaning of love.  

The story begins in the peaceful region of The Shire, where a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins is about to celebrate his eleventy-first birthday, and his adoptive heir Frodo (who shares Bilbo’s birthday) is about to turn 33- his “coming of age.”

After the party, Bilbo plans to leave his cozy hobbit hole and go on another adventure, leaving everything he owns to Frodo-- even the extraordinary Ring he found deep under the Misty Mountains. Not only could the Ring make you invisible, but it also bestowed long life upon its owner.

But when it came time for Bilbo to go on his journey, he found he could not bring himself to leave the Ring.  Something seemed to draw him to it.  Only with the firm but kind help of Gandalf the wizard was he able to give it up.
He may have struggled, but in giving up the Ring,  Bilbo had done something no-one had ever done before.

*

The life of a hobbit is wonderful. They have large families, good fellowship, and enjoy simple pleasures such as gardening, singing, enjoying the beautiful countryside and, of course, eating.  Their cozy, family-oriented life never fails to give me warm fuzzies.  

Many years past.  Frodo had lived happily in the Shire his whole life, yet now he felt a strange restlessness, and a desire to follow in the steps of Bilbo.

Meanwhile, Gandalf had been searching over all Middle-Earth for more information on Bilbo’s ring, and had discovered its true identity.  The ring was the Ruling Ring of Power, and if the Dark Lord, Sauron, got his hands on it, all would be lost.

Gandalf knew that the ring had to be destroyed, and he also knew that he was unable to take charge of it himself.  So he asked Frodo to take it to the dark land of Mordor, with the aim of throwing it in the Cracks of Doom, and thus destroying it --and the Dark Lord-- forever.

Soon later, Frodo, along with his faithful friends Samwise and the inseparable Meriadoc and Peregrin, set out for the town Rivendell.  The friends had hardly left when they met the terrifying Dark Riders, accomplices of the Dark Lord.  The riders were searching for the ring.

Yet even with the awful Dark Riders on their heels, the company reached Rivendell more or less alive.  There they met Gandalf, and with the help of the Elven king Elrond formed the Fellowship of the Ring:  Frodo (the ring bearer), Samwise (along with his beloved pony Bill),  Meriadoc and Peregrin, Gandalf, an elf named Legolas and his good friend Gimli the Dwarf, Boromir (a man from the town of Minas Tirith), and the mysterious Aragorn (also a man).

From Rivendell, the Fellowship continued their journey to destroy the One Ring, travelling deep under the Misty Mountains,  through mysterious forests, on the great, rushing river of Anduin, and across endless, green plains.  They battled orcs, wargs and other fearsome creatures, and met many new friends, such as the elven-folk of Lothlorien, or the extraordinary tree-men of the forest.

I would like to add something I noticed about two of my favorite characters, the hilarious and ever-cheerful pair, Meriadoc Brandybuck (‘Merry), and Peregrin Took (‘Pippin’).  They have a story that is important to most of us.  Pippin and Merry both felt as if they were rather useless members of the Fellowship, and more like luggage than anything.  Yet in the end they both played parts that were crucial to the success of the mission.

This I found encouraging.  Many Christians who live normal lives can wonder what use they are to God.  Merry and Pippin’s story shows that “normal” people are important!

Far from Rivendell, the company was split, leaving some of them chasing after an evil band of orcs, and Frodo and Samwise travelling on to Mordor alone- or so they think, until they notice a shadowy figure following them...

The friendship between Samwise and Frodo to me defines the true meaning of love.  Sam would gladly have given his right arm, or even his life, for his master. And Frodo, weighed down by the ring as he was, depended utterly on his support.  Neither could have completed the task alone.

And as the Ring Bearer and his faithful friend continue their difficult journey, the rest of the Fellowship are battling to defend the city of Minas Tirith against the dark hordes of Sauron.  And Aragorn is preparing himself.  For Minas Tirith has been without a king for many years, and Aragorn is the rightful heir to the throne.

Footnotes: *Naomi Mitchison

William Wilberforce, by Alice

 On February 24th, 1793, a letter was written by a tired eighty-eight year old man, addressed to William Wilberforce.

 “Dear Sir,” it read. “Unless God has raised you up... I see not how you can go through with your glorious enterprise in opposing that execrable villainy... You will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils; but if God be for you, who can be against you?  Are all of them together stronger than God?  O, be not weary in well-doing.  Go on, in the name of God and in the power of His might, till even American slavery, the vilest that ever saw the sun, shall banish away before it.”

It was the last letter that tired old man ever wrote.  Just a week later, John Wesley was dead.

***

William Wilberforce was born sickly and almost blind.  His father, a merchant, died when he was just 9 years old; his mother, poor and unable to care for her young son, consigned him to the care of his Aunt and Uncle in Wimbledon.  There he received an education and adopted his relatives’ strong Evangelical views.  He regularly attended church, where he was often inspired by the preaching of John Newton.

At the age of 17, Wilberforce found his way to Cambridge University where he met and became close friends with the future Prime Minister, William Pitt.  Together they considered political careers and frequently watched House of Commons debates from the gallery.  While at Cambridge, Wilberforce engaged himself in little other than the playing of cards, gambling and intemperate drinking.  He had, however, a bright and cheery disposition and was admired by all his colleagues and those who encountered him.
In 1780, Wilberforce was elected to Parliament at the young age of 21.  In 1784 he became the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire, his home town.

After being converted in 1785, he made a radical change in his lifestyle and habits.  He became a conservative Christian, dedicated to prayer and spent much time in the Word.
Wilberforce met the Abolitionist Thomas Clarkson and a group of anti-slave-trade activists not long after his conversion.  Thomas Clarkson had an enormous influence on William, convincing him to take on the cause of abolition.  As a result, Wilberforce became one of the leading English Abolitionists and headed the Parliamentary campaign against the British slave trade.

William Wilberforce devoted his life to the cause of abolition and the work God called him to do.  As well as campaigning against the slave trade, he advocated legislations to improve the working conditions for chimney sweeps and textile workers, and engaged in prison reform.  He recognized the importance of education in alleviating poverty, and provided financial support for the establishment of Sunday Schools for the poor.  Yearly he gave away thousands of pounds; he paid off others’ debts and gave portions of his wealth to clergymen to distribute in their parishes.  He believed that those with wealth had a duty to give a significant portion of their income to the needy.

In 1797 Wilberforce met Barbara Spooner, a young anti-slavery supporter who was 18 years his junior.  They married after just two weeks of courtship and had six children.

William battled fiercely for many years to end the trade of slaves.
Finally, in February 1807, the bill to abolish the trading of slaves in the British Empire was passed.  This, however, did not release the millions of Africans already enslaved.  It merely ended the transporting of ‘cargo’.

Wilberforce fought for the next 27 years to free slaves in the British Empire.  He retired from Parliament in 1825 due to his failing health, only to return a few years later to lead yet another campaign against the slave trade.

After many years of hard work and perseverance, the bill was finally passed in 1833 to free slaves in the British Empire.

William Wilberforce died just 3 days later and was buried near his friend William Pitt in Westminster Abbey.

“When people speak of great men, they thing of men like Napoleon - men of violence. Rarely do they think of peaceful men.  But contrast the reception they will receive when they return home from their battles. Napoleon will arrive in pomp and in power, a man who’s achieved the very summit of earthly ambition.  William Wilberforce, however, will return to his family, lay his head on his pillow and remember: the slave trade is no more.”

-Charles Fox, from the film ‘Amazing Grace’

“You may choose to look the other way but you can never again say that you did now know.”  - William Wilberforce

Portrait of William Wilberforce by Karl Anton Hickel, c.1794

Dragon by the Nile, by Big Sister: Part 2

Halima woke next morning with a feeling that something was wrong, and it wasn’t the fact that Kosey was sleeping on her neck. It didn’t take her long to remember what it was.  The dragon.  What had Mensah said?  As big as a pyramid, with eyes like pools of fire and teeth like obelisks.  She shuddered, wishing that it had been killed then and there.

The dragon plagued Halima’s mind all day, and she dreamt about it that night.  The tale of the “Nile Monster” was on everyone’s lips. It even reached the ears of  Pharaoh, who, it was said, told his men to be on the alert for it.  But  as weeks passed and the dragon was not seen, people began to wonder if the infamous reed-cutter had merely made up the tale.  Eventually, talk turned to other things.  The dragon was all but forgotten.  Even Mensah, who had talked of nothing else for weeks, lost hope that the dragon would ever be found.

*

Halima wriggled her toes, revelling in the feel of the cool Nile mud on her hot and dusty feet. She brushed a fly away from her eyes, then bent down and hoisted a large clay jar of water onto her shoulder.  She turned to go, then froze in terror.  The jar fell to the ground with a wet thud and broke into two neat pieces.  The water trickled away, but Halima didn’t notice.  She was staring at a long-necked, four-legged beast with a pair of large yellow eyes. Eyes like pools of fire.

It was the dragon.

For a few awful seconds nothing happened.  Then the dragon, instead of rushing forward and devouring Halima, began to munch calmly on some reeds.  Halima let out a gasp of relief. The dragon was not going to eat her!  And as she looked more upon the creature, a smile played about her mouth, a smile which turned into a laugh. The pyramid-sized monster everyone had been talking about was closer to the size of an ox, and it was eating reeds with blunt, herbivorous teeth.

Halima took a tentative step towards the long-necked beast, wondering if it would let her touch it.  Imagine telling Mensah that she had touched a dragon! The dragon didn’t seem in the least concerned, so she slowly moved towards it until it was in touching distance.  Halima’s heart was in her mouth.  Slowly, carefully, she reached out her arm and touched the dragon’s cold, scaly hide.  It looked at her curiously.

“Hello,” whispered Halima.   The dragon reached out and touched her forehead with its nose.   Then suddenly it turned, and made a strange sound. And to Halima’s great surprize, a reply, hardly audible, came floating from the other side of the Nile.   There wasn’t just one dragon-- there was two!

Halima’s dragon didn’t hesitate before it plunged into the water and began swimming to the other side, stirring up a cloud of mud and soaking her with spray.  She watched it grow smaller and smaller, till finally it reached the other side to join its companion.

Halima knew somehow that she would never see the dragon again.  She wondered if her family would believe her tale.  Her younger brothers would, that was for sure.  And even if no one did believe her, thought Halima, she could go about her life with the knowledge that she was the only person in Egypt who had touched a dragon.

NOTE: The description of the dragon in this tale is based upon that of the Europasaurus holgeri,  a ox-sized sauropod.

Dragon by the Nile, by Big Sister: Part One

Mandisa!  Stop pulling Kosey’s tail!”  cried Halima.  Her baby sister just giggled, and grabbed a handful of the cat’s yellowish fur.  Kosey put his ears back flat against his head, then wriggled free and sprang out the door, where Halima’s mother had just a appeared. She looked at Halima’s hot, frustrated face.  “I’ll watch Mandisa now,  and you can go get some bread,” she said, handing Halima some coins.  “You may as well take Dakarai and Amil.”  Dakarai and Amil were the youngest of Halima’s four brothers. They had to stay at home, while the older two, Nakhti and Mensah, were old enough to work in the fields with their father.

Halima was soon trotting down the dusty road towards the marketplace, the warm damp hands of her brothers held tightly in hers.  By the time they got home it was dusk, and Halima’s brothers, along with her father, had returned from the fields. Mensah, who at ten years of age was two years younger than Halima, was bursting with news.  

“Have you heard about the dragon?”  he asked, his eyes shining with excitement.  Halima shook her head.

“Well, I’ll tell you then.  A man named Gudu -or was it Habu?- was cutting reeds when a huge dragon rose out of the depths of the Nile! They say it was the size of the great pyramid, had eyes like great pools of fire and gigantic teeth sharper than arrows.”  Mensah paused for effect.

 “What happened?”  Halima’s eyes were wide.  This was not like Mensah’s usual stories of robberies or new babies.

“Just as it was about to eat the man all up, he  threw his scythe in its mouth and ran away as fast as he could to warn everyone.  But when they went to search for it.... it had disappeared into thin air.  So the dragon is still alive-- and somewhere in Egypt!’’

Dragon by the Nile, by Big Sister: Prologue

The air shimmered beneath the hot Egyptian sun.  It was noon, the hottest time of the day, and few people moved about the marketplace of Menes.  The cloth-seller, a little man with a wide mouth, wiped his hand across his damp forehead.  He had just  settled down comfortably for a lunch break when a man, wild-eyed and covered in mud, came hurtling into the square and flung himself into the cloth-seller’s stall.

 The cloth-seller  gave a shout of dismay and dropped his lunch.  His lovely cloth was all covered in mud!  The cloth-seller, pale with rage, began to sputter dire threats. “Out! Out or- or I’ll feed you to the crocodiles!” People began to hurry over to see what all the fuss was about.

“Alright, alright, what’s going on here?”  The rather large figure of Sekani the baker shoved his way into the stall.

“This man has just muddied my cloth!” wailed the cloth-seller.

“What happened, eh?” Sekani asked the man.

“I saw... I saw... Ra save us!” was the man’s only reply.  Sekani turned to crowd of people.  “Anyone got some beer?” Beer was soon supplied,  which  revived the man enough to be able to sit up and stop shaking- almost.

“Now,” said Sekani, “what’s your name? And what caused you to be so frightened as to rush about like a madman-” Sekani waved his arm over the muddied cloth- “destroying things?”

The man gulped.  “M-my name is Manu.  And I was frightened because I saw a dragon!”

Sekani laughed.  “A dragon? Impossible.  No one has seen one of those for hundreds of years!”  He looked at Manu curiously.  “However, you obviously saw something, so do go on.”

Manu complied. “I was cutting reeds on the bank of the Nile when I heard a strange sound behind me, turned to look- and lo! Rising from the Nile’s water I saw a huge creature with enormous yellow eyes and skin like that of a crocodile.  It opened its mouth, and I saw rows and rows of huge, white teeth--”

“It must have been a dragon! What else could it be?” gasped the cloth-seller.

Sekani frowned.  “I have a Jewish servant who is always telling stories,” he said slowly.  “About so-called dragons.  Previously I ignored them as ridiculous, but if what you say is true...” he paused.

The cloth-seller’s eyes were starting from his head.  “Go on, go on!”

“He said they were big enough to hold an entire man in their mouth, and that they had a tail like a- what was it? Some sort of tree...not olive or palm... ah yes, I remember! a tail like a cedar tree!”