Tolkien Tuesday: Reading "The Lord of the Rings": The Pyre of Denethor"
As the Steward Denethor gives in to his pride and madness, Pippin does everything he can to save Faramir from his father's pyromanic derangement.
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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!
Having now made it through the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, we come back to The Lord of the Rings to find ourselves in the midst of another, more private, battle, as Gandalf tries to save Faramir from his father’s madness, which would see the young man burned alive along with the Steward of Gondor. Even though this is a relatively brief chapter, it’s nevertheless a pivotal one, both for what it reveals about the extent of Denethor’s decline into tragic madness and for how much of a role Pippin plays in rescuing the innocent Faramir from a gruesome death at his own father’s hands.
Poor Denethor. Much has been written about the contrast between his actions and personality and those of King Théoden who, as we’ve seen, is able to overcome the shadow of doubt to ride to battle, even though doing so means his death. Denethor’s fatal flaw is, of course, his hubris, and it is his pride that paves the way to his own downfall. After all, this is a man who has ruled over Gondor for several decades and, in his suspicious mind–no doubt grown even more poisoned and suspicious by his use of the palantír–he has come to believe that Gandalf wishes for nothing more than to throw him down so that he can raise Aragorn up in his stead. The worst part about this supposition is that there is at least a grain of truth in it, at least so far as Aragorn is concerned. The crown really does belong to him, and he intends to take it. It is, then, perhaps a little fortunate that Denethor ends up being consumed by his own pyre rather than living through what would be an ugly and bitter power struggle with the rightful king (not that Gondor isn’t familiar with such strife).
There’s something particularly ironic about Denethor’s invocation of sight and his supposed ability to see far beyond what Gandalf or anyone else would believe. By this point we already know that Sauron is able to wield significant influence through his own palantír, and if someone like Saruman could find himself snared by that sinister will, what chance did the Steward of Gondor have when faced with the same indomitable will? He might have the blood of Númenor flowing through his veins, but even he is no match for the Dark Lord himself, for all that he might wish it were otherwise.
Denethor, in the end, cannot escape the fact that, for all of his vaunted lineage and time as a Steward, he really is a lesser sort of man. Gandalf makes this clear when he tells him that only the heathen kings laboring under Sauron’s shadow threw themselves on their pyres in their pride and despair. Even more unfortunately, Denethor cannot escape the limits of his own vision. When, in answer to Gandalf’s question about what the world would look like if his vision and desires were brought to pass, the only thing he can say is that he wishes they were what they were as they have always been. The constrictions of his own conservative–one might even go so far as to say reactionary–view of the world are such that he simply can’t find a place for himself in the new Age that is taking shape. Like so many other such people, including those in our world, he would rather burn it all down rather than attempt to live in a world that he no longer understands and in which his own vision is no longer the one that is given primacy.
From the moment that Denethor and Gandalf met way back at the beginning of The Return of the King it was clear that the two were destined for a conflict. Sadly, theirs is a conflict that has consequences far beyond just the rescuing of Faramir. While it is certainly a good thing that he is saved from a fiery death, one can’t help but wonder whether Gandalf might have been able to prevent some of the terrible things that happened on the battlefield (assuming, of course, that he was able to withstand the full might of the Witch-king). As it is, Denethor manages to do a great deal of damage with his actions, and his own stunted vision manages to overcome the palantír itself, which subsequently shows little more than his hands withering in flame.
For a long time, I felt conflicted about Pippin’s role in The Return of the King. I always felt that he seemed to get the short end of the stick, for while Merry, Sam, and Frodo all had more explicitly heroic actions to their names–striking the Witch-king, helping Frodo (and briefly bearing the Ring), and going to Mount Doom, respectively–it seemed that the young Took was always to be left on the sidelines. Having re-read this chapter, though, I now see that Tolkien, unsurprisingly, is far subtler than I give him credit for being. While Pippin’s deed may not have quite the same wow factor as those of his compatriots, it’s nevertheless an important one, particularly since without him not just Faramir, but also Beregond, might well have his life.
This chapter, like “The Scouring of the Shire,” demonstrates how even victory on the field of battle doesn’t necessarily lead to a lasting peace. Even though Faramir is saved from burning, the realm has still lost a mighty leader with Denethor’s death. Just as importantly, the fact that he fell under the sway of Sauron–even without fully realizing what was going on–shows the extent to which the Dark Lord is able to corrupt even the mightiest. His power lies not just on the battlefield but also in the mind and the fact that he is able to turn the palantír to his own foul purposes is yet another indication of just how vast his influence and might has grown and how much Gandalf and the others have to contend with as the grapple with the aftermath of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
However, while Denethor is certainly the tragic villain of this chapter, there’s something sad about the fact that, when it comes right down to it, he doesn’t want to be separated from Faramir. Having spent so much of the latter’s life disparaging him, it’s devastatingly apt that the father only realizes, too late, how much his son has meant to him. Yet, in the end, it’s Denethor’s pride that wins out over all other considerations and, as so often in Tolkien, pride damages not just the one who gives in to it but everyone around them.
That’s all for this week. We’ll be back next week with more writings on Tolkien!