Excerpted Inspirations #152Linda Odhner, with photos by Liz KufsNov 4, 20240 min readUpdated: Feb 10, 2025
![[Two reflections on the continued need to fight evil even after an enemy is vanquished. In the first, Gandalf the wizard is speaking of what will happen if Sauron’s One Ring is destroyed.] “Other evils there are that may come, for Sauron is himself but a servant or emissary. Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.” J. R. R. Tolkien, The Return of the King (1965), p. 155 [Dyrnwyn is an enchanted sword that can only be drawn by one who is worthy of it.] “Dyrnwyn is yours,” Gwydion said, “as it was meant to be.” “Yet Arawn is slain,” Taran replied. “Evil is conquered and the blade’s work done.” “Evil conquered?” said Gwydion. “You have learned much, but learn this last and hardest of lessons. You have conquered only the enchantments of evil. That was the easiest of your tasks, only a beginning, not an ending. Do you believe evil itself to be so quickly overcome? Not so long as men hate and slay each other, when greed and anger goad them. Against these even a flaming sword cannot prevail, but only that portion of good in all men’s hearts whose flame can never be quenched.” Lloyd Alexander, The High King (1968), p. 282](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6feacf_33ca63605ebf406b824da3015ac66d86~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_1022,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/6feacf_33ca63605ebf406b824da3015ac66d86~mv2.jpg)
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