Denethor or Aragorn

At a conference I attended some time ago, all participants were asked to draw up a picture of the future of the church. Looking back on the conference, whose title was “Women’s Power and Men’s Power. Potentials and Obstacles of Equal Participation in the Catholic Church” and many other current challenges in the Church and the world, I came up with an image that describes not so much the future as the current situation in which we find ourselves if the future described by other participants is to come to pass.

My image boils down to the question: Are we Denethor or are we Aragorn? I think this is a question for each and every one of us in view of the situation as it appears to many, including myself, at the moment, threatening and supposedly hopeless.

Are we Denethor, the governor of Gondor, who prefers to entrench himself behind the walls of Minas Tirith in the face of the hopeless threat facing him and his people in the form of the armies of Sauron. He wanted the Ring, not to use it except in the greatest of emergencies, but to keep it out of its owner’s reach, lest it fall into his hands again. He would never have taken the risk of sending the ring to Mordor to destroy it. Far too much risk compared to the supposed safety of humanity’s great fortress. From his secure tower he coordinates the defence and when it is about to collapse and his second son also seems to be at the mercy of death, when the security he has insisted on until the end is falling apart, he burns himself at the stake.

Denethor never stands in the front line, does not fight alongside his soldiers for the safety of his people, although he points out to Pippin that he always carries a sword. He dares nothing, he always chooses the safest option and prefers to leave everything as it has always been, because that is how it has always worked until now.

Aragorn is the exact opposite of Denethor. Although as the rightful king of Gondor he is just as much a ruler as Denethor, Aragorn is always in the front line. He fights for his people and does not let others fight for him.

But more important than this to my picture is that Aragorn takes a gamble. He puts his life on the line because he sees a small chance. He, too, could be safe, could re-coordinate the defence of Gondor. He would probably not be able to stop the end of humanity, but he would buy himself and his people some more time in safety. Instead, he abandons all security and moves out to Mordor, where he is defenceless against the enemy. He does this not out of recklessness, but because he has a small spark of hope. He hopes that Frodo will succeed in destroying the One Ring and thus break the power of Sauron. He does not know whether Frodo is not perhaps long dead, whether the Ring is not long back in the hands of the enemy. And yet Aragorn risks it, because he has hope and because he wants to do everything to protect his people and all the free beings of Middle-earth.

Are we Denethor, despairing in the face of the seemingly hopeless situation and preferring to bet everything on the safety we still have at the moment, or are we Aragorn, hoping for a better future and daring to do something to contribute to it?

In the following I have compiled a few more quotations from The Lord of the Rings which illustrate a little of what I have described above and still contain many aspects which I have not mentioned and which I would like to invite you to discover:

I know you! You always play the noble, magnanimous, gracious and kind like a king in ancient times. That’s good for someone of high birth, when he’s in power and at peace. But in the hour of need, nobleness is easily paid for with one’s life.

Denethor to Faramir, The Lord of the Rings, Part Three, Book Five, Chapter Four: The Siege of Gondor

Neither of these. But certainly he would not have risked this thing under any circumstances in an venture that only a fool could hope would succeed, with the danger that we would all be plunged into ruin if the enemy regained what was lost. No, it should have been kept, hidden in deep, dark places. Not needed, mind you, except in dire need, but out of reach of his grasp, as long as he did not win such a final victory that all else need no longer concern us, because we would then be dead.

Denethor to Gandalf about his plans for the One Ring, The Lord of the Rings, Part Three, Book Five, Chapter Four: The Siege of Gondor

All what-ifs are idle. The thing is now in the Dark Land, and only time will tell what fate awaits it and awaits us. Time will not be long. In the one that remains, all should be united who in their own way fight the enemy, and preserve hope as long as they can, or, if they can no longer, the courage to die in freedom.

Denethor at the end of his argument with Gandalf about the One Ring, The Lord of the Rings, Part Three, Book Five, Chapter Four: The Siege of Gondor

No, not yet, Mr Peregrin! He will only come when everything has been decided, to savour his triumph over me. He lets others fight for him. That’s what all great men do when they’re clever, Mr. Halfling. Why else would I be sitting here in my tower, brooding, watching, waiting and even letting my sons wear themselves out?

Denethor, The Lord of the Rings, Part Three, Book Five, Chapter Four: The Siege of Gondor

My lords […] hear what the governor of Gondor [Denethor] said to me before he died: You may yet triumph on Pelenpnor for a day, but against the power that now approaches there is no victory. I will not urge you to despair as he did, but ask you to consider what may be true in these words. […] You have only the choice between several evils; and it would be wisest to garrison all your fortresses as strongly as possible and await the attack there; for in this way the time until your end would be a little prolonged.

Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings, Part Three, Book Five, Chapter Nine: The Last Consultation

Ah! That’s what I want to know! Aragorn? His time is dawning. He is strong and steadfast to the core, Pippin, brave, determined, headstrong and willing to put much on the line if need be. That could be the reason.

Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings, Part Three, Book Five, Chapter Four: The Siege of Gondor

“If this is not a joke,” he [Imrahil] cried, “the greatest in the history of Gondor: we have seven thousand men, hardly as many as the vanguard of the army of Gondor alone had in the days of its power, and with them we run against the mountains and the impenetrable gate to the Black Land! Surely this is like a child threatening an armoured knight with a lightning bow. If the Dark Lord knows as much as you say, Mithrandir, will he not, instead of frightening, merely grin and crush us with his little finger, like a fly about to sting him?”
“No,” said Gandalf. “He will try to catch the fly and take the sting. And among us bearers of names, each of which is worth more than a thousand armoured knights. No, he will not grin.”
“Nor will we,” said Aragorn. “If it is a joke, it is one too bitter for us to laugh at. No, it is rather like the last move in a great game of chess, and for one of the two sides it brings defeat.”

The End of Counselling, Part Three, Book Five, Chapter Nine: The Final Counselling

“We do not have the ring. Wisely or foolishly, it was sent away to be destroyed, lest it destroy us. Without it, by war power alone, we cannot overcome Sauron. But we must at all costs remove his Eye from where the real danger lies. Victory we cannot win with weapons, but with weapons we can secure the Ring-bearer’s only chance, however slim. As Aragorn began, so must we continue. We must challenge Sauron, dare the highest stakes. […] We must offer ourselves as bait, at the risk of his devouring us. […] We must walk into this trap with our eyes open, of good courage, despite bad prospects for ourselves. […]” For a while they were silent. Then Aragorn said, “As I have begun, so will I continue. We now come to the narrow ridge where hope and despair look alike. He who falters falls. Let no one now reject Gandalf’s advice, whose long struggle against Sauron is finally coming to a decision. Without him all would have been lost long ago. Still, I demand obedience from no one. Let others decide as they will.”

The Lord of the Rings, Part Three, Book Five, Chapter Nine: The Last Consultation