Hope at Helm's Deep

For some reason I can’t get enough Lord of the Rings. I read all of Tolkien’s books when I was in high school, read them again in my college years, then forgot them until the movies came out. Now I’ve seen all three films several times and I own the extended-edition DVDs. The drama and richness of the world Tolkien created still leaves me in awe. That Peter Jackson was able to visualize it so perfectly is equally amazing.

Anyway last night I was flipping channels on TV and found The Two Towers playing on TNT. When the people of Rohan retreat to Helm’s Deep and begin preparing their defense, I always think of the Alamo. Outnumbered defenders, knowing there is little hope of survival, bravely preparing to fight to the end.

Then comes the waiting. The waiting must be the worst part. They see the Orcs coming, they hear the noise of soldiers marching and weapons clanking. The defenders know Death is near, yet they stand firm.

Jackson illustrated Rohan’s desperation as common folk become soldiers. Women and children are sent into the caves for safety. Old men and young boys – all those old enough to carry a sword, which isn’t very old – are pressed into service. King Theoden fights his own inner despair but keeps a brave front for his men. Aragorn shows a boy how even a dull, tarnished sword can be deadly in skilled hands. Unfortunately the boy’s hands are not skilled.

Then the battle begins. Many die and defeat seems inevitable, when Gandalf appears with the cavalry. The Orcs flee and Rohan is saved. It occurred to me last night that this is not unlike our fight to save our own civilization. Why was Rohan in trouble in the first place? Because their leadership spent years under a spell, allowing Darkness to take control. Those few who would remain loyal were called traitors and expelled. Ultimately the spell was shattered, but the damage was done.

We in the West have allowed many of our own leaders – political, cultural, spiritual and intellectual – to fall under a spell. They no longer know the Truth, and they try to destroy those who do. A small remnant devoted to Truth does what it can in the face of evil. At times the battle seems lost. Good men die. Innocent children, who should not be part of the war at all, fight bravely before they fall.

Yet the battle is not lost. As Aragorn told the boy with the tarnished sword: There is always hope. I’ll go one step further and say that we have more than hope. We have already won the war. Soon, dawn will break and all will see the Power for which we fight. We do not yet know exactly how Victory will appear; yet we know that it will appear.

There is a Reason for our hope. This we must never forget.