Lord of the Rings - Part I
Did you get withdrawal symptoms last Christmas without one of those “Lord of the Rings” movies to challenge and push you again from Tolkien’s Middle Earth? I did. Tolkien’s books, however, still hold major truths never captured in Jackson’s movies. The movies were great - I admit - but Jackson missed some of the deepests truths of Tolkien’s stories. In this two-parter, let’s look at two of these.
The Houses of Healing
When watching the movie as you get to the end, Aragorn is crowned king. Why? Is this something he inherited? Was he that good at slaying all the bad guys? Was he some kind of leader - if so why did they think he was? The answer lies in the Houses of Healing with the words spoken by Ioreth. The Houses of Healing were omitted from the movie, and the meaning of Ioreth’s words was missed when Jackson barely mentions the Houses of Healing in the extended version of the movie - without her words.
In the book version, after the battle three of our heros lay dying in the Houses of Healing after the battle. The city has been destroyed by the enemy and even the gates are torn down. Aragorn, who they expected to be the coming King, has left for the Paths of the Dead with his few followers, a place from which no human has ever returned alive. No one has heard from Frodo and his friennd Sam (little haflings less than four feet tall) since they left for the dark territory to throw the ring in the volcano from which it was forged, saving Middle Earth. Denathor, the Steward of the City (there had been no King for a long time) had given up hope and committed suicide. Denethor had also tried to kill his son, Faramir, who now lies near death in another of the Houses of Healing. Lady Eowyn, another of our heros, also lies dying.
It is at this point Ioreth, eldest of the women who served the houses, looks on the sad situation and weeps as she says :
Would that there were kings in Gordor, as there were once upon a time, they say! For it is said in old lore that the hands of the king are the hands of a healer.
Unknown to them, however, Aragorn has returned and is now camped at with his men just outside the city. Soon he has entered the Houses of Healing and heals all three of our heros.
Tolkien repeats Ioreth’s line again in the book, almost as if it is the drumbeat of the heart of his message. Finally comes the big moment that Aragorn is crowned as King. Now Ioreth is shouting the line, only to be drowned out by the trumpets before she can complete the line. This forces the reader to complete the line in his or her head, and in so doing take ownership on it. (Tolkien is tricky here!) Jackson, in none of the film versions, ever uses this key line.
Jesus is King. He is King not only because he has authority, but He is also the healer. Ioreth, the wise old wife in the Houses of Healing, carries the message of the book. Jackson never gives that line to you.
(for more infomation, see Carl’s book In Pursuit of Healing at http://creatingnewworlds.org/catalog.htm)
To get Tolkien’s true story, look to the book for the third film: The Return of the King. In part II, we will look at the second major slip.