When asking ourselves if any of the traditional heroes of our folklore were "evil," we must first define what we mean by "evil." The best definition comes from the great scholar Augustine, who wrote:
"in the universe, even that which is called evil, when it is regulated and put in its own place, only enhances our admiration of the good; for we enjoy and value the good more when we compare it with the evil. For the Almighty God, who, as even the heathen acknowledge, has supreme power over all things, being Himself supremely good, would never permit the existence of anything evil among His works, if He were not so omnipotent and good that He can bring good even out of evil" (Augustine: On the Problem of Evil). We see this view of good and evil as consistent with what we know about Eru Iluvatar himself. For as Augustine theorized, Almighty God - who is known in Tolkien’s world as Eru Iluvatar - would not permit evil to flourish unless some ultimate good could come of it. There is no doubt that this is true in Arda, for Eru himself tells Melkor at the beginnings of time,
"thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined" (Silmarillion: Ainulindale). Therefore, when we are defining "what is evil?" the clear answer we see is that evil is the privation of good.
On top of that, to dig deeper into Augustine and Iluvatar's words, that which is
evil does not necessarily always bring about a bad result. On the contrary, sometimes something "more wonderful" can actually be the result, despite the original intent of the actor. In The Silmarillion we see this as the creation of snow.
"And Ilúvatar spoke to Ulmo, and said: 'Seest thou not how here in this little realm in the Deeps of Time Melkor hath made war upon thy province? He hath bethought him of bitter cold immoderate, and yet hath not destroyed the beauty of thy fountains, nor of my clear pools. Behold the snow, and the cunning work of frost! Melkor hath devised heats and fire without restraint, and hath not dried up thy desire nor utterly quelled the music of the sea. Behold rather the height and glory of the clouds, and the everchanging mists; and listen to the fall of rain upon the Earth! And in these clouds thou art drawn nearer to Manwë, thy friend, whom thou lovest.'
Then Ulmo answered: 'Truly, Water is become now fairer than my heart imagined, neither had my secret thought conceived the snowflake, nor in all my music was contained the falling of the rain. I will seek Manwë, that he and I may make melodies for ever to my delight!' And Manwë and Ulmo have from the beginning been allied, and in all things have served most faithfully the purpose of Ilúvatar." (Silmarillion: Ainulindale)
So how does this relate to our noble heroes? Well, there are many of whom we can make the case that their actions were not
primarily good, despite the end results of those actions. Today, I will focus on one of the renowned quartet of hobbits -
Peregrin Took. We are told of the many adventures that Frodo and Sam have involving Peregrin Took, but the enduring legacy of Pippin is that of a fool.
"Pippin felt curiously attracted by the well. While the others were unrolling blankets and making beds against the walls of the chamber, as far as possible from the hole in the floor, he crept to the edge and peered over. A chill air seemed to strike his face, rising from invisible depths. Moved by a sudden impulse he groped for a loose stone, and let it drop. He felt his heart beat many times before there was any sound. Then far below, as if the stone had fallen into deep water in some cavernous place, there came a plunk, very distant, but magnified and repeated in the hollow shaft.
`What's that? ' cried Gandalf. He was relieved when Pippin confessed what he had done; but he was angry, and Pippin could see his eye glinting. 'Fool of a Took! ' he growled. 'This is a serious journey, not a hobbit walking-party. Throw yourself in next time, and then you will be no further nuisance. Now be quiet! '
Nothing more was heard for several minutes; but then there came out of the depths faint knocks: tom-tap, tap-tom. They stopped, and when the echoes had died away, they were repeated: tap-tom, tom-tap, tap-tap, tom. They sounded disquietingly like signals of some sort; but after a while the knocking died away and was not heard again. (Fellowship of the Ring: Journey in the Dark)
Typically, a "fool" is associated with someone who is
unwise or imprudent. What does it mean to be "un-wise"? Tolkien often uses the phrase "The Wise" to indicate those on the side of good, whether that be The Valar, the Eldar, or The White Council. In fact, Gandalf himself even chides Saruman's lack of wisdom by saying,
"he that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." (Fellowship of the Ring: Council of Elrond) Here we see that while
wisdom is associated with being good, a lack of wisdom can thereby be associated with evil. For recall, by the original definition of Augustine which is reiterated by Tolkien,
evil, in and of itself, is not a thing but a
lacking of good. Therefore, while
wisdom particularly in Tolkien's world, is inherently
good, we are told repeatedly that those who are evil have strayed from the path of wisdom. This connection is reiterated later when Gandalf tells Saruman,
"You have become a fool, Saruman, and yet pitiable. You might still have turned away from folly and evil" (Two Towers: The Voice of Saruman). Pippin is no doubt a fool, and his repeated unwise actions certainly do more to hinder the progress of the Fellowship than they do to lend aid.
The second event which I will call attention to happened shortly after the Battle of Helm's Deep. Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli were reunited with Merry and Pippin on the ruined outskirts of Isengard. After dealing with Saruman and beginning to head back towards Rohan, Pippin commits a second grave deed. He steals the Palantir from Gandalf's safekeeping, an act which he
knows goes directly against the path of wisdom and good.
"'You idiotic fool!' Pippin muttered to himself. 'You're going to get yourself into frightful trouble. Put it back quick!' But he found now that his knees quaked, and he did not dare to go near enough to the wizard to reach the bundle. 'I'll never get it back now without waking him,' he thought, 'not till I'm a bit calmer. So I may as well have a look first. Not just here though!'
He stole away, and sat down on a green hillock not far from his bed. The moon looked in over the edge of the dell. Pippin sat with his knees drawn up and the ball between them. He bent low over it, looking like a greedy child stooping over a bowl of food, in a corner away from others. He drew his cloak aside and gazed at it. The air seemed still and tense about him. At first the globe was dark, black as jet, with the
moonlight gleaming on its surface. Then there came a faint glow and stir in the heart of it, and it held his eyes, so that now he could not look away. Soon all the inside seemed on fire; the ball was spinning, or the lights within were revolving. Suddenly the lights went out. He gave a gasp and struggled; but he remained bent, clasping the ball with both hands. Closer and closer he bent, and then became rigid; his lips moved soundlessly for a while. Then with a strangled cry he fell back and lay still.
The cry was piercing. The guards leapt down from the banks. All the camp was soon astir." (Two Towers: The Palantir)
There are many points to unpack here. The first is that committing of a sinful act with full knowledge of the wrong one is doing constitutes "grave matter" and a "mortal sin." Pippin certainly knows he is committing a grave act but goes forward with it anyway. This is clearly not an act of good, but one of evil. Secondly, the disastrous impacts of this moment are far-reaching. Sauron, who up until this point had been in league with Saruman though did not know Saruman intended to seek the Ring on his own, now not only became aware of Saruman's treachery but also of his failures. Without an ally protecting the Gap of Rohan and keeping the Rohirrim distracted, Sauron's timeline for his attack against Gondor changes. This forces Gandalf to abandon King Theoden and company and ride in haste to Gondor to prepare for the assault against Minas Tirith. This also does not give the Rohirrim enough time to muster their full force to ride to the aid of Gondor. Seeking a faster passage, Aragorn opts to take the perilous road of the Paths of the Dead. In the end, we see that the forces of Men are triumphant against Mordor on the Pelennor Fields, as a good result is brought out of evil. But this does not absolve Peregrin's actions. Remember, like the creation of the snowflake, Iluvatar tells us that all evil things serve the purpose of bringing about a greater good. But that does not mean they are not evil. Pippin's action to steal and use the Palantir was a directly evil act, regardless of the end results at Pelennor.
Of all nine members of the Fellowship, Pippin was without a doubt the most "evil." This is true both in the internal sense and the external sense. Internally, Pippin certainly lacked the wisdom to be counted among "The Wise" and as we have seen wisdom and good are inherently linked. Therefore, as evil is the lacking of good, a privation of wisdom can only be seen as evil. Secondly, from an external perspective Pippin's actions do far more to hinder the progress of the Fellowship than they do to lend aid. In Moria his actions directly led to Gandalf's fall at the Bridge of Khazad-dum. After departing from Isengard, Pippin's deliberate choice to steal and use the Palantir led to a splintering of forces and nearly to the fall of Gondor. The Muster of the Rohirrim was incomplete at the time they rode for Minas Tirith and Aragorn was forced into a hasty journey by the Paths of the Dead. From the outset, it has been my contention that evil is the absence of good and that the ends, in this case, do not justify the means. Both Augustine and Iluvatar are clear that good results can come out of evil deeds. However, that does not make the deeds themselves less evil. Indeed, while the virtue of wisdom is associated with the good, the absence of that good, therefore, is foolishness. Due to the fact that his actions on multiple occasions worked in direct opposition to the Quest of the Ring, and he committed multiple foolish actions deliberately, I contend that
Peregrin Took was evil.
NPF was here
