Icon by @ThatSpookyAgent. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. The X-Files. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
tolkien fans are insufferable because you’ll agree to watch the movies with them and then seven hours in they’ll say “omg my favourite character is about to appear!” and it’s a fucking siege weapon
I will not stand by while Grond, Hammer of the Underworld is slandered in such a way!
I thought tumblr was safe from Grondposting
GROND!
GROND
GROND
GROND
GROND
GROND
GROND
GROND
GROND
GROND
GROND GROND GROND!
grond is when you gotta change discs on the extended edition. grond signals snack breaks and a refill of the wine. grond is an omen of good fortune and some respect should be put on his fucking name
“omg i love your necklace where did you get it” oh it’s not a necklace actually it’s an amulet with an evil force trapped inside that could destroy the entire world if it were ever to be unleashed but thanks
I’ve read/listened to this story probably hundreds of times, but I still find things in it that I’ve never thought about before.
Today it’s the brief exchange between Pippin and Beregond after Denethor finally loses his shit.
Beregond bowed his head to hide his tears. ‘They said that he was dying,’ he sighed, ‘and now he is dead.’
‘No,’ said Pippin, ‘not yet. And even now his death might be prevented, I think. But the Lord of the City, Beregond, has fallen before his city is taken. He is fey and dangerous.’ Quickly he told of Denethor’s strange words and deeds. 'I must find Gandalf at once. … The Lord has given me leave. But, Beregond, if you can, do something to stop any dreadful thing happening.’
'The Lord does not permit those who wear the black and silver to leave their post for any cause, save at his own command.’
'Well, you must choose between orders and the life of Faramir,’ said Pippin. 'And as for orders, I think you have a madman to deal with, not a lord. I must run. I will return if I can.’
And that is such a pivotal moment, and it’s literally the only reason Faramir survives. Beregond is the one who holds off the too-obedient servants until Gandalf comes. And he does that because a little hobbit told him, with obvious exasperation, that there are orders that should not be obeyed.
Which is such a vital thing to put into a book that in most other places prioritises and praises order-following and Glorious Immolation On The Altar Of Duty (and reasonably so - Frodo’s entire arc is basically ‘It’s not fair that I’m the one stuck with this, but I am, and if I don’t do this everyone dies so I accept that I’m probably going to die trying because I can’t NOT try to save everyone’, which is genuinely heroic and amazing). And it’s exactly the sort of thing I’d expect from someone who went through WW1, who must have learned from experience that some orders are just wrong, whether by carelessness, or ignorance, or simple failure to understand what’s really happening.
Pippin is a hobbit, the people Tolkein wrote to represent The People, ordinary young men plucked away from their farms and homes and peace to fight in a war many of them didn’t really understand. He might be pretty high status for a hobbit, but he’s still a hobbit. And he looks up at this big career soldier and tells him ‘fuck our orders, orders from a suicidal madman are bad orders and screw that’ and goes to get another ‘officer’ to deal with the one who’s trying to kill people. That is such a sensible, practical, regular person response to a commanding officer who’s doing something crazy and dangerous to the war effort as a whole. I love it.
Honour and duty are all very well in their place. But I love that Tolkein took this moment to say ‘listen, self-sacrifice in service to the greater good is fine, soldiers sometimes have to do that, but you do actually have to engage your own brain and think about what you’re doing. There are orders that shouldn’t be followed.’
ALT
ALT
