Fair Looks, Foul Hearts: How Frodo Discerned True Friends from Hidden Enemies
All Sauron cares about is that we desire something too much.
True friends care. They are the true gift of life. That’s why they love you to the point of being scary at times. Frodo said of Aragorn after they first met in the Prancing Pony:
“You have frightened me several times tonight, but never in the way that servants of the Enemy would, or so I imagine. I think one of his spies would — well, seem fairer and feel fouler, if you understand.”
A servant of the enemy would look fairer but feel fouler. How do we discern between friends and enemies? A friend never feels foul even when they look scary. A servant of the enemy feels foul even when they look fair.
“Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.”
When Bilbo was about to claim the Ring for his own, Gandalf had to scare him a bit to bring him back to sanity,
“He took a step towards the hobbit, and he seemed to grow tall and menacing; his shadow filled the little room.”
Gandalf looked scary but didn’t feel foul. A servant of the enemy scares in a different way. Frodo discerned it in his spirit as he listened to Strider in The Prancing Pony that day. Somehow, he knew that an enemy would never present himself like that.
When an enemy wants something from you, they first try to look perfect and make big offers. They are soft, they smile, they speak velvety words, but behind it all, you feel “sharp claws.”
A servant of the Enemy looks like light but feels like darkness. Like Sauron-Annatar (the Lord of Gifts) in the Second Age of Arda, he takes on a fair form to deceive you into making the magical rings. Sauron came to the Elves with gifts — many gifts. Celebrimbor didn’t catch it at first and fell into the trap. Galadriel caught it and didn’t. Sauron felt foul.
Galadriel suggested to Celebrimbor to hide the elven rings. She didn’t use Nenya while Sauron was in possession of the One.
It’s hard to discern a friend from an enemy when we are in the clutches of an idol. Celebrimbor craved the power of the rings to such a degree that Sauron’s gifts seemed a blessing. Sauron knew that and came with the right gifts.
It takes some degree of inner light to recognize the darkness in disguise. Galadriel, the Lady of Light, was not immune to temptations. But she had enough light in her to “feel the foulness” of Sauron’s offers.
We fall for the gifts of Sauron-Annatar when we are in the clutches of an idol. We want something too much and therefore can’t discern. But there’s always a friend who tries to bring us back to the light. He looks foul, but in the heart of hearts, we know he means well. A servant of the enemy would never act this way.
All Sauron cares about is that we desire something too much. When we do, we take his gifts. We lose the gift of discernment.
Bilbo didn’t lose it because of Gandalf. Frodo didn’t lose it because of Aragorn. A friend can be scary for a moment, but he helps us drop the Ring so we can breathe freely and come up with a good ending for our book:
“And he lived happily ever after, even to the end of his days.”
We are living firmly in the "age of idols." Whether it be worshiping pop idols, sport idols, political idols or religious idols, too many people too easily fall prey to "silver tongues" selling foul desires. I believe discerning intuition is innate and instilled within us by a Creator for our protection. It takes idol worship to convince one to ignore that intuition for the sake of that which they desire. For deceivers in our world, the trees are ladened with an abundance of low-hanging idol-worshiping fruit.
And this is the lesson for our time, to be able to discern evil. I love how all these wonderful writers taught us lessons without us even knowing it. That is what true Art does.