Until Death Takes Me

Few scenes in The Lord of the Rings touch me as the sacrifice of Faramir does.

The fallen city of Osgiliath is overrun by orcs. The darkness of Mordor moves west as Sauron forces the free world into submission.

Captain Faramir, the youngest son of Denethor, is sent on a suicide mission by his father to retake the ruins of Osgiliath. In the movies, the hobbit Pippin sings a somber a cappella song as Faramir and his loyal knights of Gondor gallop across Pelennor fields to their death. Outnumbered and outgunned, the horse-mounted soldiers suffer heavy casualties as volleys of orc arrows fill the sky. Faramir himself is wounded by a poisoned arrow.

Before the unfolding of this bloody battle, Pippin, filled with hope, swears loyalty to Denethor. ‘Little service, no doubt,’ Pippin begins his pledge, ‘will so great a lord of Men think to find in a hobbit…yet such as it is, I will offer it, in payment of my debt.’

This debt he speaks of refers to Denethor’s son Boromir, who gave his life to save that of the hobbits Pippin and Merry. In wanting to repay a selfless act, Pippin unknowingly offers his sword to a selfish, power-hungry man. Because of his rash pledge, Pippin must now act, not out of his own will but instead that of Denethor.

As the body of dying Faramir is dragged back into the city walls, Denethor fakes grief and seeks to ‘honor’ his fallen son by performing a funeral. A pyre is built, Faramir is placed upon it, and flammable oil is poured over the wood and body. Denethor, now having gone completely insane, soaks himself in oil as well. Pippin recognizes that Faramir is still breathing as the pyre is set aflame and is faced with a question:

To whom does he owe his loyalty?

He has sworn to be the hand of Denethor’s will ‘until my lord release me, or death take me, or the world end.’ If he speaks up and fights for Faramir’s life, he will be breaking his promise. His word would lose all weight if he does not live up to the loyalty he swore.

But Pippin is also committed to another cause…doing that which is right, honorable, and true. He never speaks these words or pledges this on one knee, but he made this commitment in his heart over and over again as he ventured closer to Mordor. Fight darkness, do good - that is why he and his hobbit friends embarked on their journey in the first place, though he may not have known it at the time.

If he continues to serve Denethor, he will have to go against his conscience and his desire to do good.

If he does what is right and saves Faramir’s life, he will break his pledge of allegiance to Denethor.

Pippin chooses the latter option. He acts against Denethor. In a rage, the steward of Gondor releases the hobbit from his duties before becoming engulfed in flames.

***

I believe there is a valuable lesson to be learned from this hobbit’s decision:

Do not honor your deal with the devil.

Pippin’s mistake was not in betraying Denethor. His mistake was in swearing allegiance to him in the first place. The consequences of this act could have been far worse than they were, and Pippin, had he remained loyal, could have been led to commit many evil deeds. Yet, despite the immaturity he showed when offering Denethor his sword, he proved he could still differentiate right from wrong and act on his convictions.

This story makes me want to be just a little bit more like Pippin.

I want to honor my word and have my ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes’ and my ‘No’ mean ‘No’. But I also want to remember that my highest loyalty is not to my word but to God’s.

And what am I to do if I make a mistake and discover that my word goes against that of God?

I must choose a side.

I pray I will always choose the right one.

I pray I will never honor my deal with the Devil - until my Lord release me, or death take me, or the world end.