Today’s quote comes from J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the mythological collection The Silmarillion. Tolkien’s quote points us in the direction of the wizard’s tower, where the often times gruff, and often times impatient, wizard lives to work his magic and hold council when called upon.
In The Hobbit, the wizard is Gandalf, and Gandalf helps set everything in motion. He even comes to save the hobbit and the dwarfs lives often at just the right time. In The Lord of the Rings trilogy, we see a far older and wiser man who is also perceptibly annoyed by hobbits and ignorance as well. There are plenty of memes of Gandalf berating Pippin in the films for being “A fool of a took,” and in the books he shares similar sentiments and seems almost put-out by annoyances, such as when Sam is eavesdropping on a critical conversation.
In A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, the wizard is Merlin, and Hank has been introduced to him only by proxy so far. The wizard told a long tale in a previous chapter, one that established King Arthur’s grandness as king and the story explained Excalibur. Granted, most of the knights of the Round Table slept through the story and dreaded its telling, as it had been told over and over again, countless times.
Nevertheless, Merlin does seem to be subtle in this way, as he is keeping the mytho-biographical narrative of King Arthur alive in the minds of his knights. That is to say, King Arthur’s knights know he is king, and his place at the throne is firmly established–regardless of what hokum. The man has his kingdom, his wizard, and his knights, and that is enough power and legitimization to keep him king in the eyes of the people. As well, we will find Merlin is quick to anger, especially when challenged by what he assumes is fake miracles and magic.
Tolkien expresses an interesting notion about the wisest of people in society–the thinkers and the intellectuals. Perhaps it is that they are too busy running themselves around the countryside looking for answers to be stopped and questioned; their subtlety and anger becoming apparent at that time. Likewise, it may just be that they are charlatans themselves and are trying to hold onto power before it is lost or before they are found out.
