Summary — Chapter 7: The Pyre of Denethor
“I would have things as they were in
all the days of my life . . . and in the days of my longfathers
before me. . . . But if doom denies this to me, then I will have
naught: neither life diminished, nor love halved, nor honour abated.”
See Important Quotations Explained
The narrative returns to the perspective of Pippin. When
the Black Captain disappears from the gate of Minas Tirith, Pippin
runs to Gandalf and tells him of Denethor’s madness and the situation
in the tower. Gandalf wishes to pursue the Nazgûl but knows he must
save Faramir. As they race to the Citadel, Gandalf laments the Enemy’s ability
to bring evil and discord to the inner circle of Minas Tirith. Reaching
the door to the House of Stewards, the two find Denethor’s servants
bearing swords and torches, standing before the lone figure of Beregond,
who holds the door against them. Two servants have already fallen
to Beregond’s sword. The men cower at the sight of Gandalf, whose
appearance is like a burst of white light.
Denethor throws open the door, drawing his sword, but
Gandalf lifts his hand and the sword flies from Denethor’s grip.
The wizard decries Denethor’s madness, but the Steward says that
Faramir has already burned. Rushing past, Gandalf finds Faramir
still alive on the funeral pyre. To Denethor’s protests and tears,
Gandalf lifts Faramir and carries him away with a strength that
surprises Pippin. Denethor, the wizard says, does not have the authority
to order Faramir’s death.
Denethor laughs. Standing proudly, he produces from his
cloak a palantír, similar to the Stone of Orthanc.
He warns that the West is doomed, as he has foreseen the black ships
of the Enemy approaching. The Steward condemns Gandalf for bringing
a young upstart Ranger to replace him as ruler. Denethor wishes
that things would remain as they always have been in Minas Tirith.
He springs for Faramir, but Beregond stops him. Grabbing a torch
from a servant, Denethor lights the funeral pyre. He throws himself
into the raging fire, clutching the palantír.
Gandalf and Beregond carry Faramir to the Houses of Healing. As
they exit, the House of Stewards collapses in flames, and Denethor’s
servants run out. Soon after, they hear a great cry from the battlefield—the
sound of Éowyn and Merry’s defeat of the Lord of the Nazgûl. A sense
of hope returns as the sun breaks through the Darkness. Gandalf
discusses Denethor’s palantír with Pippin and Beregond.
Gandalf says he had always suspected that the Steward possessed
one of the seven seeing-stones. The wizard surmises that Denethor,
in his growing distress, began to use the stone, and through it
he fell prey to the lies of Sauron.
Summary — Chapter 8: The Houses of Healing
Crying and in pain, Merry accompanies the procession carrying Théoden
and Éowyn into the city. As Merry ascends the city roads, he runs
into Pippin, who is startled and glad, and notices that Merry is
stumbling badly. Merry’s arm has gone completely numb after he stabbed
the Nazgûl. Pippin escorts Merry to the Houses of Healing.
After the battle, Aragorn furls his banner and orders
his men to prepare tents outside the city. He refuses to claim his
throne until the war with Mordor is decided, for good or ill. Aragorn
plans to wait outside the gate until the Lord of Minas Tirith bids
him to enter. Aragorn, learning of Denethor’s fate, assigns Imrahil
to act as the interim leader of Gondor. Aragorn, Éomer, and Imrahil
secretly agree, though, that Gandalf is their true leader for the
remainder of the war against Mordor.
At Gandalf’s request, Aragorn enters the city in the guise
of a Ranger. The wounded, including Merry, Faramir, and Éowyn, grow steadily
sicker from the poison of the Enemy’s weapons. One of the city’s
nurses recalls a legend of Gondor, which says, “The hands of the
king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known.”
Only Aragorn can save those wounded by the Enemy.
Aragorn crushes the leaves of a common, seemingly useless
herb that grows in Gondor and stirs the leaves in a bowl of warm
water. The sweet scent of the herb awakens Faramir from his fever.
Faramir immediately affirms Aragorn as his superior and king. Aragorn
then tends to Éowyn and Merry, who both return to consciousness
when Aragorn touches and kisses them. All through the night, Aragorn heals
the wounded of the city. Rumors fly throughout the city that the
King of Gondor now walks again, bringing healing in his hands. As
foretold at Aragorn’s birth, the people call him Elfstone, or Elessar,
after the green gem that he wears around his neck, which Galadriel
gave to him earlier.
Analysis — Chapters 7–8
The pall of Lord Denethor’s suicide looms over these chapters, despite
the arrival of Aragorn and the victory over the Black Captain. Tolkien
places Denethor in sharp contrast to each of the West’s other three
prominent leaders—Théoden, Gandalf, and Aragorn. As Chapters 6 and 7 take
place at the same time, though from different perspectives, Denethor
and Théoden perish at the same moment. Gandalf and Beregond hear
the cries of the Black Captain just as the House of Stewards crumbles
in flames; Pippin watches Denethor place himself on the burning
pyre just as Théoden prepares to speak his final words to Merry.
The parallels between the two rulers show them to be true foils,
or counterpoints. Théoden dies sprinting ahead of his men into battle,
effectively drawing the attention of the Lord of the Nazgûl and
allowing for Éowyn to strike down the Black Captain. Denethor, in
contrast, removes himself from his people, withdrawing into isolation
in the Citadel, high above the erupting conflict. Théoden displays
the sort of forward movement necessary to lead and to improve the
welfare of his kingdom, whereas Denethor’s passiveness and self-involvement
parallel the recent decay of Minas Tirith.
The scene just before Denethor’s suicide is the third
major confrontation between the Steward and Gandalf and it highlights
the contrast between the two men. Pippin has been unable to understand
the tension between Gandalf and Denethor since their first meeting.
The hobbit even questions Gandalf’s role, wondering what purpose
or good Gandalf’s wizardry serves in the broader scheme of Middle-earth.
The wizard’s role is clarified in his final standoff with Denethor.
Gandalf’s virtue as a wizard lies less in his mystical powers or
even his sage-like wisdom than in his ability to perceive possibilities
for change in each individual and extend charity in turn. Just as
Gandalf offers Théoden forgiveness and redemption for the King’s
former misdeeds, so he offers counsel and a second chance to Denethor.
Before Denethor commits suicide, Gandalf beckons to him, “Come!
We are needed. There is much that you can yet do.” Denethor, however,
is a politician crippled by the weight of necessity; after years
of pressure from Mordor on Minas Tirith, he feels that a hopeful
solution for the West is impossible. While Denethor remains strong
enough to resist Sauron’s will, he does succumb to Sauron’s lies
through his use of the palantír. Whereas Gandalf
is the paragon of wisdom, Denethor gains only knowledge—not wisdom—from
the palantír. The sphere offers the Steward prescient images,
such as that of the ships of the Enemy approaching, but it provides
no explanation for these images. Denethor misinterprets the knowledge
imparted to him by the palantír, thinking that
the ships of the Enemy foretell the doom of Minas Tirith, when in
reality the ships herald the arrival of Aragorn. In this regard,
Denethor falls prey to his inability to distinguish between knowledge
and wisdom—a distinction that characters such as Gandalf and Elrond make,
and that Tolkien implies is crucial.
Aragorn also contrasts with Denethor, not as the Steward’s opposite,
but as a fulfillment of that which the Steward has failed to achieve.
Aragorn enjoys a birthright to the throne, while Denethor struggles
to retain the line of the Stewards—the interim leaders in Gondor.
Aragorn has not only resisted Sauron’s lies through the palantír, but
he has also subordinated the power of the seeing-stone to his will.
Finally, in Chapter 8, Aragorn emerges as
the redeemer of Minas Tirith. Under Denethor, the city suffers decay
analogous to the debilitated condition of its ruler. Aragorn, in
contrast, brings renewed life to the city. Not only does he defeat
the armies of Mordor, but he heals the wounded and the dying with
his touch and presence. Once again, Aragorn fulfills the role of
a Christ figure. He is perhaps the complete opposite of Denethor,
who, rather than giving life to others, takes his own life and attempts
to take the life of his son, Faramir. Aragorn’s claim to the throne
is finally manifest when Faramir wakes from his fever and immediately
pronounces Aragorn king.
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