In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

For Tolkien enthusiasts, the opening line of The Hobbit sends shivers down the spine. Both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings evoke emotions with an intensity rarely felt in our daily lives: hope, despair, a sense of humanity, the risk of life and death, and the bond of brotherhood. These emotions arise from the impossible challenges faced by the characters, challenges that often threaten the survival of an entire species or a continent. At the forefront of the fight for survival emerge inspiring characters, capable of superhuman sacrifices. Faced with an approaching battle, speeches are made that appeal to everyone’s courage; each person is asked to believe and to have hope that the battle can be won.

Fantasy stories depict the best and worst of humanity: strength, the sense of purpose that can unite a group of people, and creativity; and, on the other hand, blind ambition, greed and manipulation. But that is not all. Fantasy teaches us that evil does not pay and that, however difficult it may seem, we can overcome almost every obstacle that will come our way during our lives, if we have patience and if we use intelligence, courage and kindness.

As well as being a good story to listen to or tell, fantasy as a genre plays a very important role in shaping who we are as people; and perhaps that is why Tolkien wrote and told The Lord of the Rings to his three children, at the end of winter days, by the fireside. Fantasy recreates and, in a way, exaggerates some of the challenges we face; it teaches us the difference between good and evil, the importance of values, and how we can surpass ourselves. One of the things I find most intriguing about Tolkien’s stories is that the author gave the leading roles to the most unlikely characters in his Middle-Earth. It could have been a story about the elves—magical and immortal—about the great wizards, or even the powerful men, but he focused on the simplest creatures, who are coincidently the smallest and most fragile in the book. And I think Tolkien’s message is simple: even the smallest and most insignificant person can play an important role, in their own life, in the lives of others and in the history of humanity. As the saying goes, ‘men are not to be measured in inches’; extraordinary people are measured by their actions.

Fantasy has the power to awaken in us the desire to be better and to strive for a better world – and what could be more important than that?

Translated from Portuguese to English and French with DeepL.com (free version)