Even the king's Erkynguard might have wished to be elsewhere, rather than here on this killing ground where duty brought them and loyalty prisoned them. Only the mercenaries were here by choice. To Simon, the minds of men who would come to this of their own will were suddenly as incomprehensible as the thoughts of spiders or lizards–less so, even, for the small creatures of the earth almost always fled from danger. These were madmen, Simon realized, and that was the direst problem of the world: that madmen should be strong and unafraid, so that they could force their will on the weak and peace-loving. If God allowed such madness to be, Simon could not help thinking, then He was an old god who had lost His grip. Tad Williams
About This Quote

In this quote, J.R.R Tolkien describes a group of men called Erkynguard that were loyal to the king and willing to do anything in their power to keep him safe. However, they all had a secret desire to be somewhere else, fighting for their own personal reasons. Even though these men were fighting for the king’s safety, they still knew deep down inside that they did not want to be there. In fact, they would have been happier fighting on the battlefields instead of being forced to do so because of their loyalty to the king.

Source: To Green Angel Tower

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