Beacons in the Dark

In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Gondor is surrounded. Sauron's armies are massing at the gates, and the steward Denethor has already given up — convinced that darkness has won. But young Pippin, a halfling from the Shire who seems far too small for such a moment, slips away in the night. At Gandalf's urging, he climbs the highest tower in Minas Tirith and lights the first beacon — a desperate act of faith that rescue was still possible.…