Mordor or Rivendell? The Internet is our Middle-earth

Middle-earth never had hashtags, but it did have trolls. And compared to the ones lurking on your feed, cave trolls were a breeze.

Tolkien’s world wasn’t just swords, magic, and epic battles. It was about choices under pressure and the kind of person you become when the stakes are high. Same rules apply here, only the battle is fought on comment threads and DMs instead of Pelennor Fields.

In Tolkien’s world, evil was rarely pure chaos. It was good intentions twisted. Boromir convinced himself that stealing the Ring “for Gondor” was worth the risk. That’s what happens when integrity collapses under the weight of self-justification. Online, it’s when we excuse insults, pile-ons, or half-truths because our side is the good guys. Spoiler: Sauron tells himself the same thing.

Frodo never asked for the Ring, but he carried it because no one else would. That’s the brutal truth of being connected: your words are your Ring. They shape you. They follow you. They can heal or scorch long after you hit “send.”

Sam Gamgee didn’t care about clout. He cooked stew, carried water, and when it mattered carried Frodo himself. Without him, the quest was toast. We need more Sams online. People who quietly fix, build, and help without screenshotting it for likes.

Mercy is the wildcard. Frodo spared Gollum, and that act of compassion ended up destroying the Ring. Online, mercy might mean not clapping back, not screenshot-shaming, not using someone’s worst moment for retweets.

Gandalf once told Frodo:

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” That’s the real question here, what will you do with your scroll time?

Hope isn’t a naive fantasy. Tolkien called it a eucatastrophe, the sudden turn where the light breaks through. Our feeds drip with cynicism, outrage, and noise, but the light is still possible. A story worth sharing. A kindness worth posting. A truth worth defending.

The Fellowship worked because its members chose trust over suspicion, service over ego, and hope over despair. Same stakes here. Every post, every comment, every DM is a brick in the internet we’re building together.

How to live like Rivendell instead of Mordor - Check your Ring; Before you post, ask: is this going to heal or poison? - Be someone’s Sam: Quietly help. Expect nothing back. - Refuse the Boromir deal: Don’t justify bad means for “good” ends. - Show mercy: Don’t make someone’s mistake into your entertainment. - Build the light: Share something true, beautiful, or useful every day.

The only real question is this: when your feed is done with you, will it look more like Rivendell... or Mordor?