(Apologies to all those who have never read or seen Lord of the Rings. Some of this won’t make much sense to you.)

I usually love watching the tennis but last night one of the female squealers was on court and I can’t stand that. It drives me bonkers! A quiet oof or unk as one hits the ball is perfectly reasonable but there’s no way those prolonged woos and eees are natural. So, I did some channel surfing and discovered Movie 2 of Lord of the Rings was on! Now that’s better.

It’s one of those stories that is full of noble, courageous, heart-in-the-mouth moments but in the second movie there are a couple that stand out to me. One of them is when the Elves line up along the tower – probably only 50 or so of them – to face the thousands and thousands of orcs and other nasties that are marching towards Helm’s Deep. So brave. They see their doom heading towards them, they know there’s no hope of getting out of it alive, yet there they stand: resolute and unwavering.

I always compare it to other (real) moments in history that are similar.
i) the Alamo; where a few hundred men faced the 7,000 members of the Mexican army.
ii) the Eureka stockade; where a few miners fighting for their rights face the implacable forces of the English army.
iii) Gallipoli; where young, brave Aussie lads were sent over the ramparts to run full tilt into the merciless fire of the Turks.
Makes me cry every time.

This time, as I watched the movie, something else stood out for me. It’s when the Ents are deciding whether to join the fight against Saruman (one of the Big Nasties) and help save Middle Earth, or not. After discussing it all day they finally decide it’s not their war and they will keep out of it. One of the hobbits says, “But you’re part of this world, too, aren’t you?” The hobbit then explains to his friend that they can’t just go home and forget about it. If evil is allowed free play then eventually there will be no home to go to. When the Ents see the destruction caused by Saruman, including the death of many of their friends, they realise the futility of thinking they can just ignore what is happening and it will all go away. For evil to triumph, all it takes is for good men to look away. The Ents finally join the fight.

The whole thrust of the Lord of the Rings saga is this notion of a few brave souls taking a stand against overwhelming odds and refusing to give in. Sam tells Frodo that in the great stories the heroes are those who don’t give up – who keep on going even when it seems hopeless – because they believe in something. “What do they believe in?” Frodo asks. “That there is still some good in this world and it’s worth fighting for,” Sam replies.

At the end of Sam’s speech we all shout, YES! In your face, Sauron! In your face Saruman! In your face, orcs. You’re going down!

I believe that the great stories (and great art) remind us of the good and important things in life and inspire us to keep fighting for them. Sometimes good will win. Sometimes evil will triumph. But, we should never back down from the fight. Here endeth the lesson.