An Evil Seeing

Tags: Greek, Tolkien, Lord of the Rings

My last post was about Luke 11, verses 1 through 13. Click here to read it. Part of it investigates the differences in two Greek words with similar meanings. Here I want to use those words to talk about two objects in The Lord of the Rings.

Uncorrupted evil

The Greek word κακός refers to something that is inherently evil. Its nature is fundamentally flawed and destructive. Such a thing has no redeeming qualities; if it can be used, it absolutely cannot be used in a good way.

If you’ve read The Lord of the Rings, an example might spring to mind. The One Ring fits this description perfectly. It’s the work of the Sauron, and in some ways the Ring is Sauron. His evil influence defines it. In no universe could it be used for good. If that were the case, it wouldn’t be the Ring anymore.

Put to ill use

The Greek word πονηρός refers to something that is evil because of the effects that it has. In the verses in Luke that I’m pulling from it refers to people (Jesus’ disciples). I understand πονηρός as meaning harmful rather than evil in a moral sense.

The One Ring fits the definition of our first word so well, I wonder if we can’t find something in Tolkien’s writings to fit the second. Some other ancient artifact that, although not inherently corrupting, was still destructive to its user…

My mind goes to the palantir that Denethor used. It’s a magical item that allows the user to see across great distances and communicate with those who possess other palantiri. As steward of Gondor, Denethor used it to gain information on Sauron’s troop movement, but he only ever saw what the Dark Lord intended him to see. Consequently, Denethor became consumed by hopelessness and ultimately immolated himself.

This quote from The Return of the King encapsulates the palantir’s role in the narrative:

“The knowledge which he [Denethor] obtained was, doubtless, often of service to him; yet the vision of the great might of Mordor that was shown to him fed the despair of his heart until it overthrew his mind.”
— Gandalf, The Pyre of Denethor

The palantiri are not fundamentally evil, and Aragorn mentions that he plans to use them as king. Denethor gathered valuable information using his palantir, information he could not have obtained otherwise. But the fact remains that it was responsible for his madness and eventual death.

Should he have used it?

Archetypal artifacts

The One Ring is interesting because it’s a fundamental, primordial evil that must be opposed at all costs. I think it’s a pretty good stand-in for lots of what Christians mean when we say sin. When it confronts us, the only correct choice is to reject it. I’d make the claim that The Lord of the Rings is most compelling when we believe that we face this sort of decision regularly.

The palantir, on the other hand, is intriguing to me because it can serve as a blueprint for a much different kind of decision. Denethor’s use of it may have been prudent, but it was undeniably harmful. Sauron turned it to his will, but a valid use still exists. Aragorn rehabilitated it.

I wonder if we face this kind of situation regularly as well. What things are both useful and harmful to us? Do we recognize them? How do we react to them?

We need not share Denethor’s fate.