The Dethronement of Power

[Sulimo]

I recently read the Lewis' essay on the LOTR called The Dethronement of Power. It is really concise, and quite fascinating. One of the issues I thought the most intriguing was what he believed was the central moral of the trilogy.

But the text itself teaches us that Sauron is eternal; the war of the Ring is only one of a thousand wars against him. Every time we shall be wise to fear his ultimate victory, after which there will be "no more songs." ... Every time we win we shall know that our victory is impermanent. If we insist on asking for the moral of the story, that is its moral: a recall from facile optimism and wailing pessimism alike, to that hard, yet not quite desperate, insight into Man's unchanging predicament by which heroic ages have lived.

C.S. Lewis The Dethronement of Power 1955 included in the Tolkien and the Critics

I thought this was fascinating, and it also got me thinking about what others believed the moral of the story to be.

 

[Prince of Cats]

Thank you very much, Sulimo, for bringing this forward

I've never tried to formulate my ideas on the subject but I'd like to check out "The Dethronement of Power"