Lent 2015
“One who cannot cast away a treasure at need is in fetters.”
(Aragorn in The Two Towers "Flotsam and Jetsam")
This is one of my favorite quotes in the trilogy, but really, it seems to be at the heart of much of the Legendarium. Casting away a treasure, a precious thing, seems to be the theme all the way back to the Silm. To be willing to sacrifice something that others may benefit is found in every tale: Feanor would not sacrifice the Silmarils to renew the light of the trees, and made that dreadful oath to keep anyone else from benefitting from them; Thorin was unwilling to sacrifice the Arkenstone; the One Ring cast fetters over nearly everyone in its vicinity; only Bilbo and Sam were able to let it go, though Frodo's efforts bore fruit in spite of his failure to let go, the fetters it cast over him held him even after it was gone.
Casting away fetters is part of what Lent is all about. Giving something up, giving to others. It's a lesson that Tolkien knew well.
(Aragorn in The Two Towers "Flotsam and Jetsam")
This is one of my favorite quotes in the trilogy, but really, it seems to be at the heart of much of the Legendarium. Casting away a treasure, a precious thing, seems to be the theme all the way back to the Silm. To be willing to sacrifice something that others may benefit is found in every tale: Feanor would not sacrifice the Silmarils to renew the light of the trees, and made that dreadful oath to keep anyone else from benefitting from them; Thorin was unwilling to sacrifice the Arkenstone; the One Ring cast fetters over nearly everyone in its vicinity; only Bilbo and Sam were able to let it go, though Frodo's efforts bore fruit in spite of his failure to let go, the fetters it cast over him held him even after it was gone.
Casting away fetters is part of what Lent is all about. Giving something up, giving to others. It's a lesson that Tolkien knew well.