Tolkien Tuesday: "Reading "The Lord of the Rings": The Battle of the Pelennor Fields"
In a chapter as stirring and heartbreaking as any in "The Lord of the Rings," Tolkien richly engages with questions of heroism and whose brave acts ultimately matter.
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Welcome to Tolkien Tuesdays, where I talk about various things that I love about the lore and writings of Tolkien, whether in a chapter reading or a character study or an essay. I hope you enjoy reading these ruminations as much as I enjoy writing them and, if you have a moment, I’d love it if you’d subscribe to this newsletter. It’s free, but there are paid options, as well, if you’re of a mind to support a struggling writer. Either way, thank you for joining me!
Now we come at last to what has always been one of my favorite chapters of The Lord of the Rings (yes, I know I say that about literally every chapter, but you know what you signed up for): “The Battle of the Pelennor Fields.” When I first read this book way back in the mists of time, this was one of the sequences that stood out the most and to which I eagerly returned every time I reread LotR. I’m not usually one of those people who likes battle scenes, but something about the way that Tolkien wrote this entire chapter fired my young imagination with the feeling of glory and tragedy, victory and heartbreak, that are a key part of any epic fantasy saga.
For me, the most heartbreaking and exhilarating moment is, of course, Éowyn’s climactic confrontation with the Witch-king of Angmar. This terrible being has, so far, seemed to have it his own way, and it’s entirely possible that he would have even been able to defeat Gandalf had the Rohirrim not arrived to thwart his designs. In any case, he finds himself quite outmatched by this woman of Rohan, who turns his own arrogance and belief in the prophecy. No matter how many times I read it, and no matter how familiar I am with the rhythms and actions of the scene, I always want to stand up and cheer when this fantastic young woman leaps to her uncle’s defense and faces down one of the most terrifying beings in Middle-earth. While I would never go so far as to say that Tolkien was a feminist, I would argue that Éowyn’s slaying of the Witch-king–and the explicit way in which she claims her own womanhood–is arguably one of the most explicitly feminist moments in epic fantasy.
This is also one of those moments that you can never view the same after it’s revealed that Dernhelm has been Éowyn in disguise the entire time. After all, we as readers were just as much in the dark about her subterfuge as the characters, though it is one of those twists that makes complete sense in hindsight. After all, it wasn’t as if Éowyn was the type of person to simply stand by and let the men of her family ride out to war while she stayed at home to tend the hearth, however much they might have wanted her to do just that. She’s a badass, and she’s not going to let anyone, not even her uncle and king, stand in the way of her achieving the honor she so desperately desires.
I think part of the reason I love this entire sequence is because it so nicely encapsulates Tolkien’s entire worldview. While the forces of Mordor, Gondor, and Rohan clash on the field of battle, it actually falls to two of those who have been overlooked. After all, while there’s no doubting Éowyn’s bravery or the enormous impact of her slaying of the Witch-king, she might never have been able to do so had Merry fought through his own daze to strike at his mighty knee. The fact that Merry and Éowyn were left behind precisely because it was felt that they wouldn’t be able to contribute effectively to the battle makes their pivotal role all the more poignant. In Tolkien’s world it is always a mistake to assume that just because one doesn’t show the outward signs of being a great warrior doesn’t mean that one isn’t capable of them. Indeed, it’s often the least who end up reshaping the entire history of Middle-earth.
In some ways, this whole sequence is even more heartbreaking than its film version, in that Théoden dies without ever realizing that it was Éowyn who was the one who saved him. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore what Jackson does with this moment, and the scene between Bernard Hill and Miranda Otto is the kind of moment at which the films excel. And there is still a beautiful death scene, though it’s between Théoden and Merry, in which the former says he can join his ancestors without shame. His last words are a reminder of the doubt under which the King of Rohan has been laboring: that it is his fate to rule over the demise of both his house and his land. Now, at last, he can go into what awaits him in the afterlife without fear that he will be shamed, either among those who wait for him or those who remain.
One of the more remarkable things about The Lord of the Rings is just how few of the main characters actually die. Other than Boromir, the Fellowship remains intact, and even relatively few minor characters die. This, I think, is what grants the old king’s death its particular poignance, and the fact that he goes to death with his honor intact is in sharp juxtaposition to Denethor’s own descent into despair and madness. As Merry himself observes, it’s a shame that Gandalf was not present, else Théoden might not have died but, alas, the wizard was called away and had his own brave act to see to, rescuing Faramir from his father.
Of course, the battle goes on even after the defeat of the Witch-king, for the forces of Mordor are not so easily subdued, and even though the forces of the West emerge victorious from the bloody and terrible Battle of the Pelennor Fields, there is still a sense that this is but a respite. As hard as they have fought and as many of the enemy as they have managed to take with them, the brutal truth is that this is but a token force of Sauron’s true might. As so often in Tolkien, a victory is almost always met with yet another battle that must be fought.
In case you couldn’t tell, this chapter was a true delight for me to reread. Even though we know that the battle for Middle-earth is ongoing, and even though we know it all still rests on the frail shoulders of little Frodo, there’s still something inspiring about this chapter, particularly in times like this. It’s a reminder that, no matter how tempting it might be to give up, no matter how great the forces of evil and wrath might seem to be, there is always hope that they can be beaten back, that there might yet be beauty and light and a new day rising.