I bid you stand, Men of the West!
What a lovely relaxing day I had staying home from work (flexible working hours rock!) and watching The Return on the King on my kick ass home theatre system.
Anyway, there I was listening to Aragorn's speech outside the Black Gates.....
Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers!
I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me.
A day may come when the courage of Men fails…. When we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship.
But it is not this day.
An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of Men comes crashing down.
But it is not this day.
This day we fight!
By all that you hold dear on this good earth I bid you stand, Men of the West!
That last phrase got me thinking. Men of the West. Holding off a vast horde of pure evil. And the more I got thinking, the more I realised just how accurate to today's events that was (and the movies in general). Allow me to explain.
We can do the easy one first.
The forces of Mordor represent islam. Sauron is Allah. The Witch King of Angmar is Mohammed. The trolls are the Imans and the Orcs your savage, brainwashed masses with no respect for life. You also need to remember that Orcs used to be Elves. And this was once true of muslims. Back in the Dark Ages, while Europe was little more than tribes of barbarians jockeying for position, it was the muslim lands that were the centerpiece of art, culture, and learning. Jews were welcomed for their teachings and both Jews and Christains were free to make pilgrimages to their holy sites.
For just as those Elves became corrupted and turned into Orcs, so it is with muslims.
There can be no appeasement of them. Their only goal is conquest, enslavement, and destruction of the free peoples of Middle Earth.
Gondor is Israel. They are the closest to the Evil. That have fought the evil alone for a long time and they have lost more men than anyone else to this evil.
Rohan is the USA. For just as Theoden was paralyzed by Saruman into inaction, so it was with the USA under KKKlinton. But now an awakening has occurred and just as the greatly outnumbered Riders of Rohan swept aside the lines of Mordor, so too can the USA sweep aside the legions of Mordor.
I thought about putting the English in with Rohan but I think they are more like the Elves. For a long time it was their power that held the world together, but over the years it has waned and been surpassed. However, they still know the good fight and will take part in it however begrudingly.
I will put China and India in with the Dwarves. A powerful force who could lend immense support in the battle against Mordor but prefer to keep to themselves out of mistrust of Men and Elves, only taking action against those directly assaulting them.
The Dunedain represent us Australians. A small force but gallant fighters. We do much to keep our immediate region safe and though we are few in number and thus limited to how big a contribution we can make, we will fight for freedom where we need to.
Saruman clearly represents the traitorous Left, allying itself with the evil of Mordor. It's only concern is getting more power and it will destroy anything and everything in its path to get it.
For completion sake I will say the Ents are those in charge of the US military and all decent and loyal politicians for when they become angry enough, there will be nothing that can stand against their righteous rage.
Now we come to the Hobbits. They simply have to represent all the free peoples of the world. Some of them will fight. Some of them won't. But should they set their will to something, nothing will stop it. For just as Frodo and Sam were able to destroy that ring, should the free peoples work towards ridding our world of that evil, there will not a be force sufficient in number that they can raise to stop it.
We are in a fight for our freedom, our lives, our world, our very existence. How much more simply can it be put apart from
"BY ALL THAT YOU HOLD DEAR ON THIS GOOD EARTH, I BID YOU STAND, MEN OF THE WEST!"
What do you reckon? Am I a great visionary or have I just stated the obvious? Email me and tell me what you think.
© by Tiberius Alatheus 2004