June 6, 2004

Reagan=Gandalf
Everett

The following was e-mailed to Jonah Goldberg, Editor At-Large of National Review Online (www.nationalreview.com) and he posted it on their mass weblog, The Corner.

AMERICA'S GANDALF [Jonah Goldberg]

From a reader:

Jonah,
This will perhaps sound cheesy, but I've always thought of Reagan as America's Gandalf. If you read the Silmarillion--and pay careful attention to passages about Gandalf in LOTR--you learn that Gandalf is a figure sent to bring hope, encouragement, and wisdom to Middle Earth as it faced it's Great Enemy:

“Other evils may come; for Sauron is himself but a servant or emissary. Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule." --Tolkien, LOTR (Bk. V, Ch. 9, p. 190).

"They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right. Winston Churchill said that "the destiny of man is not measured by material computation. When great forces are on the move in the world, we learn we are spirits -- not animals." And he said, "There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty." -- Ronald Reagan

I was about 11 years old when Ronald Reagan took office and I will never forget the enthusiasm, the courage, the childlike joy that he conveyed to, and surely instilled in, my heart.

Best wishes to you & your family,
[Name withheld]



Posted at 09:16 PM

I, for one, consider the comparison apt,* and I also see this as an answer to Strider's objection to the discussion of religion in The Forum. Tolkien did not write LotR as an allegory, but he also did not intend for LotR to exist in a vacuum. LotR was not woven from whole cloth. Rather, it and its characters were built on what Tolkien held to be fundamental principles, and different characters reflected different principles and character traits. Gandalf was able to unite the peoples of Middle Earth and brought them inspiration and encouragement in times of trial and darkness. Reagan did the same for the United States (irrespective of what his policies were) during the 1980's, much as FDR did during the Great Depression. This is why he won 49 of 50 states in during his re-election campaign in 1984.

Clearly, Tolkien did not create the character of Gandalf as an allegory for Ronald Reagan. Gandalf never made any speeches about winning one for the Gipper, but Tolkien drew on his experience and knowledge of the real world and his understanding of truth to craft his characters and his plot.

Needless to say, many authors do this. However, I suspect that Tolkien's popularity rests, in addition to his exceptional writing style and attention to detail, on the underlying themes and principles in his writing on at least an unconscious level.

P.S. I owe both Speedcorn and Ashleigh responses to their articles. I'll try to get to those as soon as possible. For now, I mourn the passing of a great man, one of the three people most responsible for winning the Cold War, along with Pope John Paul II and Margaret Thatcher. God rest his soul.