# A Hobbit Journey  ## Metadata - Author: [[Matthew Dickerson]] - Full Title: A Hobbit Journey - Category: #tolkien #heros-journey ## Highlights - One of the most basic ethical principles practiced by the wise of Middle-earth is that it is never acceptable to defeat an enemy, no matter how cruel that enemy is, by resorting to the cruel practices of the enemy. Evil means will not defeat evil; if you overthrow Sauron by becoming Sauron then you haven’t really won a victory. ([Location 513](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=513)) - That Sauron himself does not understand this—in other words, that this is a principle associated with good rather than with evil—is illustrated in the fact that the hopeless (or “fool’s hope”) strategy of destroying the Ring actually succeeds. Sauron cannot imagine that his enemy will not try to defeat him by using his own weapon against him. That evil cannot comprehend this strategy illustrates that it is a good strategy. ([Location 521](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=521)) - And so the real glory of the scene at the Battle of Pelennor Fields is not the glory of a physical battle, whether of victory or defeat, but the glory of those who choose to use whatever strength they have to resist evil. ([Location 1011](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1011)) - Thus, though he falls slain in the physical battle, he is victorious in the moral battle to choose well. ([Location 1014](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1014)) - While her uncle is so afraid of death that he has become shameful, she is so afraid of shame that she seeks death. ([Location 1029](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1029)) - “Do not scorn pity that is the gift of a gentle heart, ([Location 1054](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1054)) - Not only does Tolkien’s female character commit herself to “be a healer” and to “love all things that grow and are not barren,” but Faramir himself is also committed to the same goals. “Let us cross the River,” he says, “and in happier days let us dwell in fair Ithilien and there make a garden. All things will grow with joy there” (VI/v). To say that in Tolkien’s narrative Éowyn ought to give up battle only because she is a woman would miss the depth of the author’s portrayal of both Éowyn and Faramir and the extent to which the author’s narrative really does deglorify war. ([Location 1081](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1081)) - In fact, the great desire of Sam and Frodo, and even of Merry and Pippin, is to give up their swords, return to the Shire, and take up peaceful pursuits such as gardening. In short, Tolkien does not portray it as solely a womanly virtue to abandon the glories of the battlefield and to turn instead to the house and garden and the pursuit of peace, but as a manly virtue as well. ([Location 1085](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1085)) - Tolkien is sympathetic to the frustration of this steely lily flower but rejects her notion that men’s work is the only kind worth doing.” ([Location 1093](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1093)) - “Éowyn outgrows her hero-worshipping crush for genuine love. She and her husband . . . will rule a deserted region as prince and princess. The lily finally gets to bloom in a real garden where both courage and nurturing skills count.” ([Location 1094](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1094)) - In looking at what Tolkien does not do in his depiction of war—he does not glorify war or violence—we have also seen some positive things that he does accomplish. ([Location 1158](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1158)) - Looking at the relationship between the individual and community from a different perspective, when Gandalf goes to Rohan and rescues Théoden, he does not simply restore an individual king but an entire kingdom. ([Location 1176](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1176)) - Galadriel does not tell the members of the Company that hope remains as long as each individual is strong and brave, but rather that “hope remains while all the Company is true” (II/vii, emphasis added). In other words, their commitment to one another and to community is more important than their individual strength. ([Location 1181](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1181)) - Those who are wise know the old proverbs and the wisdom they contain. And those who lack wisdom are shown to be foolish in that they don’t know or don’t believe old proverbs, or else they use pseudo-proverbs that either don’t actually say anything or that say something false. ([Location 1207](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1207)) - Wisdom, simply defined, is the ability to make good decisions and judgments. It is the ability to discern between various choices of action. A part of wisdom may come from knowledge, and those who are wise certainly learn from experience and know the value of knowledge. Yet wisdom is distinct from knowledge. There are some who have considerable knowledge and yet leave the path of wisdom, as do both Saruman and Denethor. ([Location 1217](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1217)) - Despair, or folly?’ said Gandalf. ‘It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. It is wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope. Well, let folly be our cloak, a veil before the eyes of the Enemy!’” ([Location 1276](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1276)) - But Gandalf values something more than victory, at least if victory is defined in a military sense. Anything that can grow fair, or bear fruit or flower, has worth. ([Location 1320](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1320)) - War may be a necessity in order to protect “worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands,” but it should never be the goal. ([Location 1321](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1321)) - “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends” ([Location 1348](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1348)) - Bilbo’s wisdom is a wisdom that loves peace and pursues it. It is a wisdom that would lead to a merrier world. ([Location 1449](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008PRGE8W&location=1449))