8. "Not for them to decide"

'Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and grows again.'
     'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' said Frodo.
     'So do I,' said Gandalf, 'And so do all who live to see such times.  But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us' (FotR 60).

This quote might be recognizable because it is featured prominently in the movie; interestingly enough, and to my surprise, it appears much earlier in the book (in chapter 2, "Shadows of the Past"), than in the film, where a condensed version of the whole conversation between Frodo and Gandalf takes place during a respite in the fellowship's journey through Moria.

I think Gandalf's wisdom here about "the time that is given us" rings true; what's missing, though, seems to be a sense of the constancy of dark times, when "the Shadow takes another shape and grows again."  Even if some shadows are bigger than others, doesn't every generation see in its own time a shadow to fear and to brave?


"Tolkien 365" is a (hopefully) daily reflection on a quote from the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, beginning with The Lord of the Rings and branching into his other writings as opportunity and inspiration allow.  Comments are especially welcome.  Page references are from the hardcover American Second Edition, published by Houghton Mifflin.