Something Worth Fighting For

Samwise is one of the best characters from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings novels. It took me a while to appreciate the strength of Samwise. He isn’t the smartest or the best warrior of the Fellowship, but he is the most loyal.

Loyalty is arguably the most important virtue a man can have. It is no wonder that today our world is in shambles–loyalty is almost entirely absent from our men. Without loyalty, there can be no trust, and without trust it becomes impossible to build or even maintain anything. Society falls to pieces.

Loyalty is also a popular and Volkish virtue. Greatness in loyalty is within the grasp of all men, rich and poor, strong and weak. As D.H. Lawrence said, “Give homage and allegence to a hero and you yourself become heroic, it is the law of man”.

With that said, I recommend watching the clip of this Samwise’s speech on youtube here. Speeches like this are meant to be heard, not read. Text reproduced below:

Frodo: I can’t do this, Sam.

Sam: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad happened?

But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why.

But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?

Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.