Reviews (15)

Author's reply

There are indeed horrific aspects to Tolkien's world, which he played down not because he wasnt' capable of writing about them in a horrific way (as the stupider kind of critic sometimes say), but because his book is essentially decent, and thank God for that, say I. Marring God's creatures is the worst work of the Devil, and that's what I was trying to bring out.

Author's reply

Glad you like the story - though not a pleasant subject, really. I think there's a lot more to Saruman than merely being Sauron's sidekick. He seems to have been 'good' for many years before yielding to the lust for power. And unlike Sauron, he can still persuade unsuspecting or weak-minded people that he really is good, a power that Sauron lost centuries ago. He was thoroughly nasty within, though, and a heartless manipulator. I don't think Faramir was torturing himself by going back to the scene. Rather he was paying his respects, like people who attend remembrance ceremonies for the war dead, or visit the site of Nazi concentration camps. Faramir has too much sense to be morbid. As for the Warden, I think Faramir would have told him all the details. It would take something really drastic for a healer to provide a means of killing people. It's rather like the euthanasia debates of today: some people think it should never be allowed, others think it can be crueller not to allow it. There's no final answer though I suppose Tolkien, as a Catholic, would have been against it. I really think Faramir was right, though. It was the women's choice. I think that if I were in their position I would have done the same.

Author's reply

Horrors don't have to be dragons and giants, do they? And I think the heroes probably did get nightmares, but they learned to live with them. Personally I don't believe that experiencing horrors necessarily destroys people mentally: that's a myth encouraged by the 'counselling' industry. But there are some horrors that are insurmountable, and I think these poor women were beyond 'counselling'. Thanks for the review, Cairistiona!

Author's reply

Thanks, Nimloth. Yes, something of that sort logically had to happen. I think it's interesting that Saruman did this particular evil and not Sauron - Sauron may be the great tyrant, but Saruman is the great corrupter. I've just been reading a book that suggests that Sauron engaged in 'genetic engineering' to produce the original Orcs. The author seems to be confusing Sauron and Morgoth, but that doesn't matter too much to the argument because they are both 'the Enemy'. I don't think what Morgoth did can be called 'genetic engineering' - the concept didn't exist in Tolkien's time anyway - but one wonders what did have to be done to make an Orc (who would breed orcs) out of an Elf. To Tolkien, evidently, the important theological point is that 'the Shadow cannot make, it can only mock'. Only Eru/Iluvatar can 'make' a living, rational creature.

Author's reply

That sort of thing is beyond sentiment, I think. You might as well get sentimental about concentration camps, which partly inspired this story. You have to get angry, ut justly angry, and do something about it. Sadly, for these women it was too late, but at least a stop was put to Saruman's activities and he got what he deserved.

Author's reply

I'm sure they did, Edlyn! Elves (and a few very special people like Frodo) can pass into the West, but I think that for Men (and women) there was ultimately something better. That's certainly what Aragorn believes.

Author's reply

Thanks Cathleen!

Author's reply

I wonder if Aragorn would have tried to heal them. When dealing with Eowyn he says quite clearly that he has power to heal her body, but not her despair of mind, and if she isn't saved from her despair then she will die. I think he'd realise that there are some horrors that you just can't recover from. I couldn't help asking myself what I would do in those circumstances, and I don't think I could bear to go on living after such experiences. That's why I made the women choose as they did.

Author's reply

Ugly it certainly is. Tolkien steers clear of sexual matters in his books, and I think they're all the better for it, but he must have been aware of what Saruman was doing. I think some readers believe that Celebrian suffered something similar when she was 'tormented' by orcs, and that's why she left Middle Earth despite Elrond's healing of her body. This seems quite likely, and if it did happen, evidently even an elf-queen couldn't stand it. And she would have suffered less than these women.

Author's reply

It's not a pleasant topic, but it has been troubling me so I had to write it out. One presumes there must have been such things as orc females, unless orcs are immortal like the elves they were perverted from. Since Azog the Goblin is the father of Bolg in The Hobbit, it seems that the creatures must have some sort of family life!

Author's reply

Thank you, Barbara! For many years I didn't think about it much at all, but once the implications struck me I couldn't get the idea out of my mind.

Author's reply

Thanks, Linda! It certainly isn't the most uplifting side of Middle Earth, but since the story was written during and after World War II, I think Tolkien would have had such horrors at the back of his mind, although he wisely didn't wallow in them.

Author's reply

I knew somebody would raise that thoughtful objection, Raksha, and I might have known it would be you! You're quite right of course, and I think Faramir did speak to every victim individually to make sure they weren't being peer-pressured into killing themselves (we know it can happen quite easily), and to give them every chance of choosing to live. I didn't go into this for fear of making the story too long. But would any of them want to, after that? I don't think I would. I suppose it all comes back to old, old euthanasia question: euthanasia is hedged about with moral perils, but to condemn someone hurt beyond healing to live, when they only want to die, seems to me to be the last refinement of cruelty. Tolkien, as a devout Catholic, would doubtless disagree. It's not the same thing as Denethor's suicide, though: that was a matter of purel pride and selfishness, and there was a lot that Denethor could have done to help his city, had he lived. Saruman is in many ways more repellent than Sauron, both because he's a traitor and because he is so much closer to ordinary humanity (or wizardry?). There may be something darkly splendid about the distant menace in Barad-Dur, but there's nothing splendid about what Saruman chooses to become. You can do an awful lot of evil in a small mean way.

Author's reply

There must be many ways of telling this story, Larner. I think in some ways Saruman is worse than Sauron, because unlike Sauron he knows how good people think and act, and can turn this against them - as when he entraps Gandalf in 'The Fellowship'. And he betrayed the cause, of course. At least Sauron was consistent in evil and you knew where you were!

Author's reply

As I said to Racksha, I don't think the parallel with Denethor is too close, but it must have belonged to the same dark area of Faramir's mind. Denethor's despair is of a different sort, though: he refuses a life in which he could still have done some good. Gandalf defines despair as the attitude of someone who can see the end beyond all doubt. Denethor might have thought he had done so, but he was wrong, as he'd have realised if he'd listened to Gandalf, or even reminded himself quite simply that his son was still not dead and his city was still not taken. That kind of despair is simply rejecting salvation, and is the sin against the Holy Ghost for which there is no forgiveness. I think these women truly did see the end - of any life worth living - beyond all doubt and were merely seeking an end to suffering. That's forgivable - I hope! I always wondered why Faramir and Eowyn's wedding took place so long after their betrothal. Perhaps Faramir had to put some nasty experiences behind him first.