山姆没有說錯,黑暗會過去,黎明終將來到!早在三部曲中的第一部《護戒使者》(The Fellowship of the Ring)裡,托爾金就藉著山姆預示了《魔戒》的末世論(註5)。聖戰的最終勝負早已決定,魔王索倫侵吞中土的野心無法得逞,整個千瘡百孔的生態環境將得以復原。
我想起了《啟示錄》21章3-5裡的新天新地,基督教的生態神學總是帶著終末盼望的:
「看哪,神的帳幕在人間!
祂要和人同住,
他們要作祂的子民。
神要親自與他們同在,作他們的神,
神要擦去他們一切的眼淚;
不再有死亡,
也不再有悲哀、哭號、疼痛,
因為以前的事都過去了。
坐寶座的說:看哪,我將一切都更新了!」
註:
1.出自J. R. R. Tolkien《書信集》, pp. 288-89
2.」It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of trees in the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien.」 見J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. pp. 678–679
3.老人柳樹(英語:Old Man Willow),托爾金曾在信件中指出:由於老柳的記憶中帶有許多創傷,因此它們對在森林中行走生物都是充滿敵意的,能夠催眠路過的旅人使其昏睡,也能使用自己樹枝或樹根來攻擊對方。
5.原文 「How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.」