The Most Pivotal Battle

It is heartening to me, that the most pivotal moment in The Lord of the Rings (I used the term loosely, including The Hobbit) is not the Battle of Pelennor Fields, Helm’s Deep, or the Battle of Five Armies. It is not saving the Lonely Mountain, Rohan or Gondor. It is not the heroic deeds of Gandalf, Aragon, Eowyn or others. It is not even the final defeat of Sauron or Smaug.

The most pivotal moment is a little, private internal struggle, a spiritual struggle of a man (well, hobbit technically) who has been wronged and threatened, but who has pity and mercy for his enemy, and who had no expectation anyone would ever know what he did. But he knew, and that was enough.