Tolkien, Eliot, and the Power of Story

<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW208653030 BCX4"> <p><span data-contrast="none">Attempt to instruct a group of 12-year-old kids about the importance of duty, honor, perseverance, and friendship by means of a lecture, and the most likely result will be glazed eyes and tuned-out ears. If instead of a lecture, however, the lesson began with, “There once was a tiny creature called a Hobbit, whose name was Frodo. He had hairy feet and a magic ring, and whenever he put that ring on his finger, he’d disappear. But each time he put the ring on, the Ring exercised a dark power over him and attracted the attention of the Dark Lord Sauron.”</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><em><span data-contrast="none">That</span></em> <span data-contrast="none">story, the plot of J.R.R. Tolkien’s</span> <a href= "https://colsoncenter.christianbook.com/the-hobbit-lord-the-rings-vol/j-r-r-tolkien/9780345538376/pd/538376?event=ESRCG"> <em><span data-contrast="none">The Lord of the Rings</span></em></a><span data-contrast="none">, is more likely to capture the attention and the imagination of kids, as it has tens of millions before them. And, along the way, they’d learn about duty, honor, perseverance, and friendship. This is the power of great stories.</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">The best stories are not merely well told, they also wrestle with ultimate ideas. Tolkien remains popular today because his stories</span> <span data-contrast= "none">stand the test of time. They stand the test of time because they</span> <span data-contrast="none">engage with us at the deepest levels of the human condition.</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">More than 2,000 years ago, Damon of Athens wrote, “Give me the songs of a people, and I care not who writes its laws.” Christian m