The Last Ringbearer (60 page)
Read The Last Ringbearer Online
Authors: Kirill Yeskov
However, diversity of opinions doesn’t mean that those opinions lack clarity; quite the contrary. I see fantasy as a genre with very strict rules (only the classical “closed” detective story has stricter ones). Among those rules (such as medieval space-time structure of the world and medieval structure of the spiritual world, meaning a conflict of Absolute Good with Absolute Evil) Pereslegin lists this one: “A consistent romantic ethic – a romantic attitude of the author, the characters, and the readers toward war, love, heroism, and death.” It follows inexorably that the characters have to be classified as “good guys” and “bad guys” – it is precisely this “black-white” contrast that makes fantasy so appealing to teenagers. In other words, the very canon of fantasy forbids moral relativism – to allow it is sort of like having a classical tragedy in more than one place or having the detective be the murderer in a classic detective story.
Tolkien adheres to this rule perfectly, which is why for many readers, especially older ones,
The Lord of the Rings
has forever remained a kind of an American action movie – a bunch of good guys goes to wipe out a bunch of bad guys, who are bad if only because they are on the other side. In reality it’s not quite so, and possibly not so at all, but this view is very common. So when it was time to set up the pieces in
The Last Ringbearer
, I have decided that although I have to have “black” and “white” (as per the canon), at least I would draw the boundary between them in a line somewhat more meandering than the Anduin – more like it usually lies in real life.
And another thing. The romantic tradition does not presuppose that every bad guy be depicted
a priori
as a fiend from Hell, which is what Tolkien consistently practiced. Even if we kill each other at the walls of Dechaud, does it follow that Comte de Rochefort is any less noble than Athos? Not to mention that the Sheriff of Nottingham counts Richard at the Lee among his men, while there are future risaldars among the Afghan bandits of Kamal. Recall Kipling’s famous:
Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth!
Tolkien clearly prefers the first two lines, while I go for the last two, even though both are unadulterated 24K romanticism…
In conclusion, a few words about my personal take on the Professor. It is of a dual nature: I bow before Demiurge Tolkien who had created an amazing Universe, but am rather cool toward Tolkien the Storyteller, author of the tale of four Hobbits and their quest. In other words, to me the theatrical backdrop is way more majestic and interesting than the play itself. Terry Pratchett said it well: “Tolkien’s mountains have more personality than his characters.” So I’ll bet that mine is far from the last Game that will be played in the Professor’s world.
Rozenkrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead
– long live Rozenkrantz and Gildenstern!
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Mordor, Hutel-Hara sands
Chapter 2
Chapter 3: Middle Earth, the arid belt
Chapter 4: Arnor, the Tower of Amon Súl
Chapter 5: Middle Earth, the War of the Ring
Chapter 6
Chapter 7: Gondor, the Pelennor Fields
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10: Mordor, the Teshgol boundary
Chapter 11: Mordor, near the Old Núrnen Highway
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14: Mordor, Morgai plateau
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Part II – The King and the Steward
Chapter 20: Ithilien, Emyn Arnen
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23: Mountains of Shadow, Hotont pass
Chapter 24
Chapter 25: Ithilien, Blackbird Hamlet
Chapter 26: Ithilien, Emyn Arnen
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30: Ithilien, the Settlement
Chapter 31: Gondor, Minas Tirith
Chapter 32: Gondor, Mount Mindolluin
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Part III – The Umbarian Gambit
Chapter 36: Umbar, the Fish Market
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41: Umbar, Seahorse Tavern
Chapter 42: Umbar, 12 Seashore Street
Chapter 43: Umbar, Castamir the Great Square
Chapter 44
Chapter 45: Umbar, Lamp Street
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48: Umbar Peninsula, near Iguatalpa Village
Chapter 49: Umbar, 12 Shore Street
Chapter 50: Umbar, the Long Dam
Chapter 51
Chapter 52: Umbar, the Green Mackerel restaurant
Chapter 53: Umbar, 7 Jasper Street
Chapter 54
Chapter 55: Mirkwood, near Dol-Guldur
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58: Ithilien, Emyn Arnen
Chapter 59
Chapter 60: Lórien, Caras Galadhon
Chapter 61: Star Council of Lórien
Chapter 62
Chapter 63: Mirkwood, south of Dol Guldur
Chapter 64
Chapter 65: Lórien, Caras Galadhon
Chapter 66
Chapter 67: Arnor, the Tower of Amon Súl – Mordor, western edge of Orodruin
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Epilogue
Appendix I: Quote Attributions, Historical and Cultural References, and Translator’s Notes
Appendix II: Why I wrote an apocryphal treatment of The Lord of the Rings
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Mordor, Hutel-Hara sands
Chapter 2
Chapter 3: Middle Earth, the arid belt
Chapter 4: Arnor, the Tower of Amon Súl
Chapter 5: Middle Earth, the War of the Ring
Chapter 6
Chapter 7: Gondor, the Pelennor Fields
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10: Mordor, the Teshgol boundary
Chapter 11: Mordor, near the Old Núrnen Highway
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14: Mordor, Morgai plateau
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Part II – The King and the Steward
Chapter 20: Ithilien, Emyn Arnen
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23: Mountains of Shadow, Hotont pass
Chapter 24
Chapter 25: Ithilien, Blackbird Hamlet
Chapter 26: Ithilien, Emyn Arnen
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30: Ithilien, the Settlement
Chapter 31: Gondor, Minas Tirith
Chapter 32: Gondor, Mount Mindolluin
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35