sustainability and politics

At a field of Orcs before the burning city of Minis Tirith, King Theodan commands his men to “ride now!” he then blows a horn so hard it shatters. Theodan leads his men in the courageous charge into battle. (Tolkien 820) In The Lord of The Rings selfless leaders take the best actions for Middle Earth because selfless policies are often the most sustainable. Theodan is an example of a selfless King, both the Two Towers and The Return of the King are filled with scenes like the Rohirrim’s charge in the battle where Theodan inspires his people to go to battle. Denethor’s reign contrasts heavily with Theodan’s because the Steward of Gondor frequently rules out of need for personal gain. The contrast between these two leaders shows how good policies are rooted in selfless motivation.

            The charge of the Rohirrim at Minis Tirith is reminiscent of their final charge at helm’s deep. It is again an example of the Rohirrim going against a force that far outmatches them with a near certainty of defeat. However the Rohirrim go into the charge regardless because of their leadership. Theodan commands that the horn of helm’s deep be blown and describes how “All that heard that sound trembled. Many of the Orcs cast themselves on their faces and covered their ears with their claws. “ (Tolkien 528) Theodan is a very inspirational king as such makes a point to lead his men into battle, especially when he knows he may be leading them to doom. Theodan is described majestically in this scene, Tolkien writes “His horse was white as snow, golden was his shield, and his spear was long.” (528) Theodan embodies the classic romantic depiction of a hero, riding on noble stead in gleaming armor with a mighty weapon against evil.  In fact so cowered was Saruman’s army by the sight of the Rohirrim and their leader than when the charge began “[The riders] drove through the hosts of Isengard like wind among grass.”(528) Notice how the riders of Rohan are compared to a scene from nature, yet another example of how their actions are meant to sustain middle earth. Theodan is selfless by leading his men in this charge and in doing so inspires them to win the battle.

            Denthor however does not inspire the people of Gondor when Mordor besieges Minis Tirith. Instead, bereaved by the illness of his son he became ineffective and pessimistic. Filled with regret Denethor exclaimed “ I sent my son forth, unthanked, unblessed, out into needless peril, and here he lies with poison in his veins. Nay, Nay, whatever may now betide in war, my line too is ending, even the House of the Stewards has failed.” (805) Denethor appreciates his mistake however he is also unable to lead his city when it needs him most.  The Lord of Gondor is too concerned with the end of his line to ensure that the city he is sworn to rule does not also perish. Theodan also lost a son and knew that his line would end should he die at Helmsdeep. A key difference between Theodan and Denethor is their ability or inability to maintain belief in their causes in times of peril or certain defeat and to inspire their people with that same belief.

            The Lord of the Rings highlights to relationship between selflessness and sustainable politics. Denethor is debilitated by his own loss and leaves the leadership of his city of other people. Theodan in sharp contrast leads his men from the front of the charge and inspires them with both words and his own visage to have courage  even when against overwhelming forces. The means Theodan uses to inspire his people are the same that Robert Scruton suggests when he says the motive of sustainability spreads “by spreading to the point of transparency the solid stuff of person-to-person sympathy.” (208) Theodan is able to reach his people through rhetoric. Today we have means of spreading ideas easier than ever before, inpiration is more attainable than ever.

 

Scruton, Robert. Green Philosophy. Great Britain. Atlantic Books, 2013. Print.

 

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Two Towers. New York. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 1994. Print.

 

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Return of the King. New York. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 1994. Print.

 

 

Cloaks, Mithril and Fire Demons

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The Lord of the Rings

The first impression of the Elves that readers receive in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is the Wood Elves that Frodo and his hobbit friends meet in the forest. These Elves lead the Hobbits back to a beautiful hall that seems to be made into the forest with beds made of trees and padded by soft grass and ferns. (Tolkien 86) The Elves in The Lord of the Rings represent a culture that attempts to be advanced while treating nature respectfully and celebrating it’s aesthetics while the Dwarves represent a culture that seeks only aesthetics. The Elves in The Lord of the Rings are among the most advanced races in the story yet they also live in touch with nature. The Dwarves in Moria mined mithril one of the most rare and beautiful substances in the world yet as a result were destroyed.

            The relationship that the Elves of Lothlorien have with their environment can be noted by close examination of the cloaks they give the fellowship. (370)When the fellowship is leaving Lothlorien they are given special cloaks made by Lady Galadriel and her maids. The cloaks are “of the light but warm silken stuff that the Galadhrim wove.”(370) When he first sees his cloak Pippin asks, “Are these magic cloaks?” to which an elf answers, “I do not know what you mean by that.” This exchange shows the difference between the Hobbit society and the Elvish society, to Pippin these cloaks seem magic because they were:

           

            Grey with the hue of twilight under the trees they seemed to be; and yet if they were moved or set             in another light, they were green as shadowed leaves, or brown as fallow fields by night, dusk             silver as             water under the stars.”

 

Hobbits live in a much less advanced society than the elves so the beautiful things that Elves are capable of making seem “magic” or “unnatural”. In truth the breathtaking aesthetic of the cloaks are inspired by nature and the Elf leader says they have the “hue and beauty of all these things under Lorien that we love.” This sentiment is special because it shows the relationship that the elves draw between sustainability and aesthetics. The Elves find beauty in nature and try to replicate that beauty with things like the cloaks they give to the fellowship. Even as the Elves create advanced and beautiful things they manage to remain an agrarian society because the things they create are inspired by nature. The elves sustainability isn’t just about preserving the environment, they also see themselves as “guardians of its beauty”. (Dickerson 99)

            When Gimli describes the efforts to mine mithril from Moria and the penalty that came of those efforts he reveals a common conflict between aesthetics and sustainability. (Tolkien 317) Gimli stated, “The Wealth of Moria was not in gold and jewels, the toys of the Dwarves; nor in iron, their servant.” Instead Gimli states that the Dwarves mined into the very depths of Moria for mithril, which was worth “ten times its weight in gold”. However Gimli says that eventually the Dwarves “Delved too greedily and too deep and disturbed that from which they fled, Durin’s Bane.” Gimli is describing the Balrog that would later chase the fellowship out of the mines and kill Gandalf. The Dwarves story is a cautionary tale for societies that can too greedily chase aesthetics without pause to wonder if they have a right to or not. The Dwarves of Moria were far too industrial and separated from the natural world and their karmic gift was the Balrog.

            The Elves and the Dwarves in The Lord of the Rings are both advanced societies that value aesthetics. However the Elves lives sustainably while the dwarves allowed their quest for aesthetics to bring about their destruction.  Real life Human society has both sustainable and greedy aspects, the national park service is certainly sustainable but it is contrasted by unsustainable behavior like fossil fuel dependency. As an advanced society Humans must decide if they’d rather emulate the Elves or the Dwarves.

 

                                                Work Cited

 

Dickerson, Matthew. Evans, Jonathan. Ents, Elves, and Eriador. Lexington. The University Press of Kentucky, 2006. Print.

 

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Fellowship of the Ring. New York. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 1994. Print.

 

Of Kings and Marriages

Peter Unrein

            At the end of the first creation story God tells man to “fill the earth and subdue it” (gen 1-28). In Lord of the rings nature has a will of it’s own and takes an active role in the story, for example chapter five features the Old Forest which shifts to ensnare the hobbits in Old Man Willow’s trap. In the Lord of the Rings nature is not under man’s dominion therefore the Bible and the Lord of the Rings take opposing views on the relationship of man and nature. In the bible’s creation stories man is commanded to “conquer” the earth by God. (Davis 59) However in Lord of the Rings “The mission of people dwelling the world is to acknowledge the goodness of the earth, fulfill its purpose and assist in its restoration from evil.” (Dickerson 24) The biblical Earth is meant the serve humans, In Lord of the Rings Middle Earth and its inhabitants are meant to serve each other. Sustainability requires that humans recognize a responsibility to the earth.                                                                                    

            Upon making humans God commands them to subdue the earth and the creatures on it and gives to farmable plants of the earth to sustain them. The Biblical vision of nature is of a gift to mankind from God. God also gives wild vegetation to the animals of the earth that would self-sustain by eating wild plants.(Gen 29-30) In a way God sets up a hierarchy; God finishes creation by making the original food chain. God clearly and explicitly places human beings at the helm of creation. This role however is not purely hierarchical. Ellen F Davis notes “Life created in God’s image is meant to conform, with other forms of life, into a single harmonious order.”(Davis 57) The Bible’s creation story gives man a role of dominion over nature. However this role is one that comes with responsibility to sustain the efficiency and function of creation as a king would sustain his people.

            The relationship between Middle Earth and it’s inhabitants is much more even than the one described in the Bible. In the Lord of the Rings people have an obligation to sustain creation, but creation has an obligation to sustain people as well. This relationship is markedly different then the one set forth in the bible because it is a contract between two equal parties, not a constitution between a subject (nature) and their king (man). In the Lord of the Rings nature is shown to have a terrible but benevolent power. The ancient forest that the hobbits of Buckland have offended represents the wrath that nature can unleash; indeed Frodo’s quest almost ends quite abruptly at the hands (or boughs if preferred) of the Old Man Willow. (Tolkien 107-114) Nature in Lord of the rings is not however, an inherently wrathful force. Tom Bombadil is “an incarnation… of environment itself.” (Dickerson 19) This understanding of Tom’s role reveals that nature is incredibly powerful and well intended. Tom saves Frodo and his companions from The Old Forest and barrow wights, arms them, clothes and shelters them, and demonstrates complete control over the ring even making it disappear and reappear, all with complete ease. Tom as well as the Old forest represent the power and will that Middle Earth has and shows that nature in Lord of the Rings plays an active role in how the story unfolds.

            Man’s relationship with nature in the Bible is that of a monarch to his subject therefore it is an entirely different relationship than the contract that exists between Middle Earth and it’s inhabitants. Both views provide an outlook favorable to sustainability. If one views man’s role towards nature as that of a king then one can understand why it’s important to be a caring King obligated to care for his subject in part so that his subject can continue to serve him. One can also understand sustainability from the view that Man and nature are in a marriage and must nurture the other’s needs.  

                                                                        Work Cited

Davis, Ellen F. Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture. New York. Cambridge University Press, 2009. Print.

 

Dickerson, Matthew. Evans, Jonathan. Ents, Elves, and Eriador. Lexington. The University Press of Kentucky, 2006. Print.

 

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Fellowship of the Ring. New York. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 1994. Print.

Plato and The Stoics

Plato believed in the idea of Forms. Forms are the perfect immaterial aspects of each thing in the world. Plato’s idea was that there exists a perfect form of beauty, truth and justice etc. Imperfect representations of these perfect forms are all one can see in the natural world. This idea is probably best understood by imagining circles. If one tries to draw a circle over and over again they will eventually have a very round circle, but it won’t be absolutely perfect, some slight deviation from the path will occur. Just like a perfect circle, perfect beauty can’t be found in the physical world. Things are considered beautiful because they can be compared to the perfect aspect of beauty. Humans, nature, and human interaction with nature will be imperfect because nothing in the observed world is perfect.

           

When examining nature Plato took a teleological standpoint. Plato felt that nature was a force that trends toward good. Plato felt that nature in a way had a “goal” much like humans do. In Plato’s opinion nature is not only good but is a force that seeks to be good. Plato therefore believed that by studying nature through cosmology one could learn how to better one’s self. Plato also saw man’s relationship with nature as reciprocal. Plato believed that for man to craft something, the material it would be made from had to be receptive to the model assigned by the builder.

 

Stoics believed in a very powerful God. The God of the stoics was one that they referred to as Fate. In the stoic tradition the universe started as only fire and from that fire different elements and eventually the known world came forth. The stoics believed this change to be cyclical and that the world would eventually return to fire. While in existence however, Stoics believed that God controlled everything in the world down to the small details.

 

The stoics believed that there were both active and passive forces in the universe. Nature or God being the most active force would govern all of the actions of the passive matter in the universe. The Stoic vision of the universe stated that all of man, matter and nature were subject to the rule of fate set forth by the nature of the universe. Human beings in the Stoic view didn’t have a dominion over nature but were instead controlled by the same force as nature.

 

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-metaphysics/#3

http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/24382-plato-s-natural-philosophy-a-study-of-the-timaeus-critias/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoics

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stoicism/#Phil

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleology

Wood Carving Reflection

When I first picked up the wood today I had a clear picture in my head of the small boat that I wanted to make. I didn’t expect to find that the wood would have so much say in the process. I found the wood deciding what direction I would have to pull or push the blade. The carving knife was not something I saw as an actor in this relationship but as the medium through which the carver and the wood communicate. The knife allows the carver to tell the wood what it would like the wood to do and the wood can either comply or provide resistance. I by the end of the hour had found that I hadn’t made nearly as much progress as I’d hoped. The canoe I had hoped to make still very much resembled a block of wood, one whose corners had been rounded down. I see the carving as a mode of sub-creation. The wood was a part of nature and had a purpose in nature as a part of a poplar tree. After it was taken from nature it was shaped into a block and given to me. Now I have the task of finding a new purpose for the wood that has been separated from its origins. The carving process is a very slow process that will allow me to find the right shape for the wood, a shape that the wood and knife will allow me to create. This relationship between the carver and the wood can be related again to the biblical understanding of creation and Man’s role as one with dominion over earth. The carver represents man and he can assign a form to the wood, but the wood must agree to that form for it to come out well. If the carver tries to carve against the grain, and make cuts that the wood won’t allow, then the final form will be malformed. Ultimately the carver wants to assign a form that the wood will accept. This actually relates to sustainability because humans want to use the environment in ways that keeps it healthy. Humankind’s goals are better achieved when accomplished with the consent of nature. Technology like the carving blade allows human beings to accomplish these goals but that technology gives humans the power to accomplish without consent.