In Tolkien’s essay “On Fairy Stories,” he uses an analogy of a smudged window to describe a person’s view of universal truth. Man, by nature, can occasionally take the beauty of faith, family, and duty for granted. His view of beauty can become blurred, his window smudged. Tolkien argues that fantasy stories can be a strong tool for removing the smudge from your window to bring back into view the light and majesty of truth.
Tolkien used his fictional stories to convey universal and religious truths about how we should live, and the American right should take a few notes from them.
There really is a Tolkien lesson for everything, whether you’re discussing religion, technology, industrialization, history, politics, or environmentalism. The themes that dance across the pages of his writings seem endless, and you may discover a new point almost every time you read.
One Tolkien story conservatives can learn from is “The Fall of Numenor.” “The Fall of Numenor” or “Akallabeth” (“The Downfallen”) is the tale of the greatest nation of men to exist in Tolkien’s legendarium, one whose material success, technological prowess, and military might were surpassed by no other nation, whether of elves, dwarves, or other men.
Read the whole thing.