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Posted on 10/06/2026 6:11:50 AM PDT by MtnClimber
J.R.R. Tolkien’s vision of a declining Gondor offers a warning for the troubled West—but also a message of hope that renewal remains possible.
The Despair and Hope of J. R. R. Tolkien
The novelist J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973) repeatedly insisted that his epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings, written from 1937 to 1949, was not allegorical.
But some scholars have argued otherwise, detecting contemporary, 20th-century influences in his storytelling.
Tolkien fought at the nightmarish Battle of the Somme in World War I. He witnessed the slaughter of the youth of Europe in the trenches that lived with him the rest of his life. In the 1930s, he despaired over both the rise of the godless Communist Soviet Union and the transformation of a once-enlightened Germany into a monstrous fascist regime.
Tolkien, a devout Catholic, was dismayed not only by the growing power of these totalitarian empires but also by the West’s urbanized industrialism and secularized modernism on the eve of World War II. In middle age, he lived through the even greater slaughter of World War II. Adding to his concerns, he finished his novel at the height of Soviet expansionism, as the Cold War began and nuclear weapons emerged.
The catastrophic decades of the 1930s and 1940s not only shaped his overall worldview but plausibly helped inspire at least some of the most dramatic elements of his novel.
In The Lord of the Rings, Gondor’s capital, Minas Tirith, is the most hallowed city of men. It remains renowned for its indomitable stone walls, its age-old defense of the west from the evil of Mordor on its eastern border, and the legacy of its great kings, who long ago galvanized alliances of free peoples to thwart totalitarian evil.
But all that is now in the past.
(Excerpt) Read more at amgreatness.com ...
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VDH ping
No VDH, Mordor.
The LGBTQRXPedo folks are turning it into Gondorreah
Is it “Gondor”, or “Gone-Door”? Because Elvis has left the building.
Oh, come on now Victor, you know damn well that is not why they are coming.
We are becoming House Harkonnen.....................
If you want a book analogy try C.S. Lewis’ _The Last Battle_ in which the “Calormenes” invade Narnia through a deception in which their demon Tash and Aslan are deemed to be the same.
The trick is pulled off by Shifting the ape who bullies Puzzle the ass.
If you can’t decipher this allegory, well.
We know what's going on and we want it to stop. Our representatives don't care we know and keep to their agenda.
The invasion would stop today if our elected representatives would take action.
Grr phone autocorrect… “Shift” the ape.
Holy jump up and set down.!! Your WAY off on that one Victor...
Yes, VDH, we are, I’m sad to say.
Exactly. They are trying to create the universal caliphate.
‘If you want a book analogy try C.S. Lewis’ _The Last Battle_ in which the “Calormenes” invade Narnia through a deception in which their demon Tash and Aslan are deemed to be the same’
That’s absolutely on the mark.
No, because Gondor ultimately was saved.
Actually we are Rome.
We used to be Rohan. Now we are indeed Gondor.
I'm sure VDH is (mainly)referring to the art of the Renaissance; Caravaggio, Michelangelo, et al, not that postmodern black woman vomit. I've seen video of that demonic 'celebration' of the opening of some tech marvel (tunnel, I think it was) - that clearly indicates post-modern decadence and moral depravity - clearly illustrating Europe's decline. All institutions become corrupt without Christianity, and without the ethos that built America.
Fewer than half of all Britons now report being proud of their country and its history, and the figures are even worse for young people. But after decades of this sort of nihilism, even Europeans are finding it hard to discover new sins of their ancestors for which to apologize.
Bam! Hammer, meet nail. Wonderfully put.
Parts of us are Hobbits, parts Rohan, parts Gondor, parts Dwarves...ur adversaries Orcs, Southrons, the Dunlendings, etc.
Our conservative leadership are a collective Saruman or Denethor....and that is the problem as it was in LOTR.
With bold leadership, our old bloodlines are MORE numerous than ever before....just not as a percentage.
Even in the building of Empires, we were always fewer..English, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese,etc than the savage writhing hordes we subdued.
I never thought I would see so many “defeatist/suicidal Denethors” and Theoden’s immersed in their Wormtongue phase.
A proper Gandalf trotting out an Aragon with some Faromir’s and Hobbits in support will still turn the tide.
The cavalry charge relief of Helm’s Deep is symbolic of Jesus returning from Heaven to claim his throne.....look to the East on the 5th day.
The other Christ figure is warrior king Aragon, willingly entering the paths of the dead and returning.
He complements the Archangel/prophet Gandalf who descended again from Heaven to share the battle after defeating the Balrog at the cost of his life....think Elijah, taken up in fire to return with Christ.
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