DB

Being a fantasy nerd, you would think that I have had some type of exposure to Lord of the Rings. It is the basis of modern fantasy, after all! Besides reading The Hobbit and eventually watching those movies, and then watching the Rings of Power TV series, I have not watched the original trilogy or read the books.

Trying to read those books as a kid was tough. I didn’t care for the pages on pages that talked about what a hobbit was, and how they cared to go about their day. It felt like an anthropological study, or a biology field guide. That was then, however, and maybe my tolerance for that sort and type of worldbuilding would be different nowadays.

I did not merely tolerate the films–I enjoyed them. And those were the extended cuts! It is beautifully shot, with gorgeous landscapes and the dreamy feeling that you were being transported to a world that was unlike our own. If it is faithful to how people have experienced the books. I can see how people fell in love.

I think that what touched me the most of the films, altogether, were the hobbits. Their encounter with war, coming from simple lives, was deeply human to me. And, I think that it helps that I came in to the film with the knowledge that the Lord of the Rings was inspired by what Tolkien saw in the Great War.

It is the courage that small people find in war, despite its terribleness, that spoke to me the most from the films. There were portions and lines that spoke of the longing for home. There was a line of Faramir’s that really touched on the humanity of an “enemy” that struck me:

“The enemy? His sense of duty was no less than yours, I deem. You wonder what his name is, where he came from. And if he was really evil at heart. What lies or threats led him on this long march from home. If he would not rather have stayed there in peace. War will make corpses of us all.

With a conflict that large, and with stakes like the end of the world, it can be hard to zoom in and focus on interpersonal character stories. I think that is where Lord of the Rings both fails and succeeds. Every relationship and interaction is smeared in the soot of war: the friendship of the Fellowship and the struggle of Frodo as he and Sam make their way to Mount Doom. The struggles that we feel in our own lives are not stained with the same sense of inevitable mortality or dread. In that way, it can feel impersonal, distant, and with a dreamlike familiarity. It is like seeing Middle Earth, seeing the revelries in their taverns, and feeling that kinship for a moment. There are passing places where we can truly know those experiences, and many others where we only know the adjacent feeling–a feeling that is not touched by war.

I think that for all of its successes, the Lord of the Rings succeeds by showing me that what I perceived as a failing or a weakness isn’t really that at all–it’s just a different dish.

The fun of Legolas and Gimli

Throughout the films, unlike the hobbits, Legolas and Gimli do not have the longing for home in the same screen time dedicated for wistfulness that the hobbits do. They feel like they are veterans of wars, and exotic in a way that can feel a little alienating. Yet, they are very human in the things that they enjoy: song, dance, celebration, and the company of friends.

Beyond their prowess in battle and their shared companionship, they do not have a large shift in character that the others of the fellowship experience. In many ways, Lord of the Rings is a story about the transition to the age of man, and the burden that small folk will take on for the sake of others. It isn’t a story about how Legolas wants to finally lay down his bow to forsake battle forever, and it isn’t a story about how Gimli wants to stop relying on alcohol to hide from the terrors that haunt his dreams. Those stories don’t exist–I made them up.

Instead of conflicts like those, instead of personal challenges that they are trying to conquer, Legolas and Gimli are there to support their friends. They enjoy the company that they share, and they step up to follow Aragorn into his dealings with the very scary land of the undead. They don’t have those stories of acting in spite of their smallness, or finding courage in adversity. They are there for those fun scenes where they jab at one another, and to share in the laughter with the other characters. And for that, I love them a lot!

Legolas and Gimli may not be the main dishes or main characters in the way that Aragorn and the hobbits are, but they are very much a part of the tale and along for the ride. And in my gaming group, and across different tables, you see that. You see people that are along for the ride, and who may sit back and watch a lot. Maybe they’re timid, or maybe they’re shy, or maybe–that’s just how they have fun.

And that’s alright! Not everyone needs to have or wants to have a grand character arc. We just have to give them room in our fellowships, show that they are welcome, and be ready with snacks. Not everyone wants to be a main character–you just have to ask.

Because if you asked Legolas and Gimli to accompany you on a journey, they would readily give you their bow and axe. And that’s enough.