2.2 The Power of Speech

The window closed. They waited. Suddenly another voice spoke, low and melodious, its very sound an enchantment. Those who listened unwarily to that voice could seldom report the words that they heard; and if they did, they wondered, for little power remained in them. Mostly they remembered only that it was a delight to hear the voice speaking, all that it said seemed wise and reasonable, and desire awoke in them by swift agreement to seem wise themselves. When others spoke they seemed harsh and uncouth by contrast; and if they gainsaid the voice, anger was kindled in the hearts of those under the spell. Fur some the spell lasted only while the voice spoke to them, and when it spake to another they smiled, as men do who see through a juggler's trick while others gape at it. For many the sound of the voice alone was enough to hold them enthralled; but for those whom it conquered the spell endured when they were far away. and ever they heard that soft voice whispering and urging them. But none were unmoved; none rejected its pleas and its commands without an effort of mind and will, so long as its master had control of it.

Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 564

During a speech that lasted over two hours, Hitler proved that he had not lost his touch as an orator. The audience fell under his spell, and it is possible that some of the more prominent members of the movement, who had resented Hitler's ambitions, came round while he spoke.
Indeed, public speaking was, at the time, Hitler's main propaganda weapon.

Zeman, Nazi Propaganda, 10

After reading this two excerpts it is clear how profoundly Tolkien was affected by the new devices of modern war; not only technological improvements, but what is worse, mental manipulation. Fear coming from lies, as it had happened with Morgoth; he lied about the fate of both Men and Elves and made them fear and hate their fates and raised misconfidence between the two races. The most skillfull speaker is a representative of evil who charms the audience because his words become Gospel for the faithful and the unaware..

2.2.a Discouraging and fooling the enemy

As it has already been mentioned, Jackson also exploited the art of speech Tolkien had given to Saruman. Both in the film and the book there is a moment when Gandalf leads Théoden, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli (together with a small army) in presence of the twisted Istari to offer him pardon for his treacherous deeds, and the chance to join them back to be redeemed. At first he speaks in a soft, friendly voice, with words of cordiality and enhaltment, so to win the heart of his audience, depending on who he talks to. But when being discovered his words turn to anguish manners and depreciating insults. The first fragment belongs to the moment when King Théoden refuses joining Saruman again, and the second one to the moment when Gandalf offers his wizard-mate the chance to leave Orthanc freely:

'Gibbets and crows!' he hissed, and they shuddered at the hideous change. 'Dotard! What is the house of Eorl but a thatched barn where brigands drink in the reek, and their brats roll on the floor among the dogs? Too long have they escaped the gibbet themselves. But the noose comes, slow in the drawing, tight and hard in the end. Hang if you will!' Now his voice changed, as he slowly mastered himself. 'I know not why I have had the patience to speak to you. For I need you not, nor your little band of gallopers, as swift to fly as to advance, Théoden Horsemaster. Long ago I offered you a state beyond your merit and your wit. I have offered it again, so that those whom you mislead may clearly see the choice of roads. You give me brag and abuse. So be it. Go back to your huts!

Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 567

Saruman's face grew livid, twisted with rage, and a red light was kindled in his eyes. He laughed wildly. 'Later!' he cried, and his voice rose to a scream. 'Later! Yes, when you also have the Keys of Barad-dûr itself, I suppose; and the crowns of seven kings. and the rods of the Five Wizards, and have purchased yourself a pair of boots many sizes larger than those that you wear now. A modest plan. Hardly one in which my help is needed! I have other things to do. Do not be a fool. If you wish to treat with me, while you have a chance, go away, and come back when you are sober! And leave behind these cut-throats and small rag-tag that dangle at your tail! Good day!' He turned and left the balcony.

Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 569

The two following excerpts belong to a collection of English translations of Nazi propaganda material by Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda for Adolf Hitler:

It is not easy to give a character sketch of this man who lacks all character. He is one of those political chameleons who can change his color as needed and his opinions a thousand times, and makes energetic use of these abilities. He lies not only out of necessity, but for the sheer pleasure of it, for it is part of him. As one leading English newspaper wrote after the bitter experiences of the World War, he is a political juggler who unfortunately always leads his country in the wrong direction.

Goebbels, Winston Churchill (Munich: Zentralverlag der NSDAP., 1941), pp. 380-384.

The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, as is well known, is a close friend of alcohol. His relations to the truth are a bit more strained. He has been on a war footing ever since his entry into political life. He is one of the world's best known liars. Not only do those in neutral and enemy nations smile when he says something, even knowledgeable circles in England cannot repress a grin. Everyone knows how he adds or subtracts, for example. At the moment he divides figures that are unfavorable for England by three, and multiplies the favorable ones by the same figure.

Goebbels, The Clay Giant (Munich: Zentralverlag der NSDAP., 1943), pp. 92-98.

There are two key sentences in case we wanted to find a resemblance between the speeches of Saruman and those of Goebbels:

- The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, as is well known, is a close friend of alcohol.

- Do not be a fool. If you wish to treat with me, while you have a chance, go away, and come back when you are sober!

Goebbels calls Churchill a drunk. And so does Saruman to Gandalf. What does alcohol got to do with Middle-earth? Or is it universally accepted that trading with a powerful enemy is not only folly but drunkness? Alcoholism is much too modern to appear in the Lord of the Rings as a part of its 'culture'. It would be much easier if we accepted that Tolkien was criticising the use of demagogy and rhetorics as a tool for manipulation, and he had to inspire in the only and most immediate source, for he was a contemporary of the first propagandistic radio discourses

2.2.b Being realistic and encouraging the faint-hearted

Transported from two moments of the book (on the way to the Paths of the Dead and before entering the Land of Mordor) to the end of the third film at the gates of Mordor, we see Aragorn encouraging the armies of the Free Peoples to go on in spite of fear and hopelessness. His speech reminds of those words any general would have told his soldiers before a difficult or decissive battle:

Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes. The same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of Men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of wolves, and shattered shields, when the age of Men comes crashing down. But it is not this day. This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!

Peter Jackson's Return of the King, The Black Gate Opens scene

And the following are Churchill's words when he entered the presidency of Great Britain, about his attitude towards war as a leader. The second fragment is just the opposite in time, the attitude on the aftermath:

We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realised; no survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the ages, that mankind will move forward towards its goal. But I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. At this time I feel entitled to claim the aid of all, and I say, "come then, let us go forward together with our united strength."

Churchill, 'I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat'

There we stood, alone. Did anyone want to give in? [The crowd shouted "No."] Were we down-hearted? ["No!"] The lights went out and the bombs came down. But every man, woman and child in the country had no thought of quitting the struggle. London can take it. So we came back after long months from the jaws of death, out of the mouth of hell, while all the world wondered. When shall the reputation and faith of this generation of English men and women fail? I say that in the long years to come not only will the people of this island but of the world, wherever the bird of freedom chirps in human hearts, look back to what we've done and they will say "do not despair, do not yield to violence and tyranny, march straightforward and die if need be-unconquered."

Churchill, To V-E Day Crowds - May 8, 1945 London

Comparing the fragments we can unveil some of the intentions Jackson's Aragorn tries to transmit his comrades; fighting in spite of fear, fighting to keep all the things they had, all that they held dear; for Churchill the Empire, their beliefs, and the evolution of Mankind. In the second fragment by Churchill we find the sense of remembrance of the brave as an example for the moments of weakness, for it is almost a picture of the scene in the film, as if British Soldiers had met Aragorn to encourage them, or as if Aragorn had remembered that day in the aftermath. Those were not the days of dismay, and so everyone acted. Of course, behind Aragorn's words there is a mention to the Long Defeat, a well-known doom to Elves: in spite of victory, a time will come when Men will be no longer friends and will destroy themselves and everything around them. As Aragorn did with the Age of Men, Churchill advanced the outcome of Communism as a shadow upon the victory:

A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so lately light by the Allied victory. Nobody knows what Soviet Russia and its Communist international organization intends to do in the immediate future, or what are the limits, if any, to their expansive and proselytising tendencies. I have a strong admiration and regard for the valiant Russian people and for my wartime comrade, Marshall Stalin.

Several times does Gandalf or any of the Wise talk about whether to despair or to keep hope alive, but in any case, always in a realistic way. The following are two fragments in which Sir Winston Churchill talks about the accurate proportions of hope and dispair in the middle of war:

The dark ages may return, the Stone Age may return on the gleaming wings of science, and what might now shower immeasurable material blessings upon mankind, may even bring about its total destruction. Beware, I say; time may be short. Do not let us take the course of allowing events to drift along until it is too late. [...] There is the path of wisdom. Prevention is better than the cure.

And the following is a different fragment, but also on hope and despair:

[...]
Another lesson I think we may take, just throwing our minds back to our meeting here ten months ago and now, is that appearances are often very deceptive, and as Kipling well says, we must "…meet with Triumph and Disaster. And treat those two impostors just the same."
You cannot tell from appearances how things will go. Sometimes imagination makes things out far worse than they are; yet without imagination not much can be done. Those people who are imaginative see many more dangers than perhaps exist; certainly many more than will happen; but then they must also pray to be given that extra courage to carry this far-reaching imagination. But for everyone, surely, what we have gone through in this period - I am addressing myself to the School - surely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. We stood all alone a year ago, and to many countries it seemed that our account was closed, we were finished. All this tradition of ours, our songs, our School history, this part of the history of this country, were gone and finished and liquidated.

Churchill, Never Give In, Never, Never, Never - October 29, 1941 - Harrow School

And there are of course many other cases when the words of a character remind of political speeches. For example, any time the power of the Ring as well as its possible use is mentioned, there are always cautious words. The most significant example takes place at the Council of Elrond:

'Alas no,' said Elrond. 'We cannot use the Ruling Ring. That we know too well. It belongs to Sauron and was made by him alone, and is altogether evil. Its strength, Boromir, is too great for anyone to wield at will, save only those who have already a great power of their own. But for them it holds up even deadlier peril. The very desire of it corrupts the heart. Consider Saruman. If any of the Wise should with this Ring overthrow the Lord of Mordor, using his own arts, he would then set himself on Sauron's throne, and yet anothe Dark Lord would appear. And that is another reason why the Ring should be destroyed: as long as it is in the world it will be a danger even to the Wise. For nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so. I fear to take the Ring to hide it. I will not take the Ring to wield it.'

Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 261

And in a very similar mood to Elrond's words, this was Churchill's opinion on atomic power after the war:

It would nevertheless, ladies and gentlemen, be wrong and imprudent to entrust the secret knowledge or experience of the atomic bomb, which the United States, Great Britain, and Canada now share, to the world organization, while still in its infancy. It would be criminal madness to cast it adrift in this still agitated and un-united world. No one country has slept less well in their beds because this knowledge and the method and the raw materials to apply it, are present largely retained in American hands.

Of course Tolkien denied any vinculation between the One Ring and the atomic power. But curiously both Churchill and Elrond refuse such a great power, mostly the use of it, and fear the mere existence of it.