Was Pippin responsible for Gandalf's death?

Question

One of the recurring themes of Lord of the Rings is that of major events being precipitated by tiny actions by relatively insignificant people - Bilbo finding the ring, Merry killing the Witch-King, etc.

One example that's hinted at but never followed up is whether Pippin's actions are responsible for Gandalf's death in Moria. Pippin throws the stone down the well, which is almost immediately followed by the noise of hammers far away. And Gandalf says: "Probably something has been disturbed that would have been better left quiet."

So, was it this stone that alerted the Orcs - and through them, the Balrog - to the presence of the Fellowship in Moria? When they do meet several pages later, nothing is mentioned of the stone or anything else having disturbed them. But can we conclude that Pippin was to blame?

Answer 1

Not really.

At least a day passed between the dropping of the stone and the first Orc attack in the Chamber of Mazarbul, and while Gandalf is certainly uneasy after the stone, the Fellowship are still able to have two nights' sleep afterwards - one immediately after, and one following an 8 hour march and in an open hall. That's not a sign of a company that's overly concerned about an immediate threat.

Furthermore, Gandalf's "death" in Moria was foreseen for a while, notice Aragorn's remark when the topic came up:

'You followed my lead almost to disaster in the snow, and have said no word of blame. I will follow your lead now - if this last warning does not move you. It is not of the Ring, nor of us others that I am thinking now, but of you, Gandalf. And I say to you: if you pass the doors of Moria, beware!'

And also after the Fellowship leave:

Did I not say to you: if you pass the doors of Moria, beware? Alas that I spoke true!

Gandalf himself takes responsibility for the fact that the Fellowship were trapped by Orcs:

'Trapped!' cried Gandalf. 'Why did I delay?'

While Pippin was certainly a "fool of a Took", one gets the sense from reading the relevant passages that Gandalf's fall in Moria was something that was fated, and both Celeborn and Galadriel also seem to think the same; as Galadriel notes:

Those that followed him knew not his mind and cannot report his full purpose. But however it may be with the guide, the followers are blameless.

There's finally the fact that if we do assign blame to Pipping for "killing" Gandalf, we must also give him credit for setting-up the situation that allowed Iluvatar to step in and create Gandalf the White, without which many things would have gone worse.

Answer 2

Yes and No.

First, I think it's obvious that Pippin's mistake was an integral part of what led to Gandalf dying from battle with the Balrog. Very little elaboration is needed here.

Second, however, there is an ongoing hint at divine providence in LOTR. Frodo was "meant" to have the ring, going back to Gollum finding it, Bilbo falling into darkness at the exact right time and place to find it, etc. There are a handful of places in the book where the Hobbits sort of speak in tongues by crying out in elvish language and stuff like that (and the point is made that some other force/power was working in them, as when Frodo is on the Tower of Seeing or whatever it's called just after Boromir has betrayed him). The best reading of providence in LOTR I've read is Fleming Rutledge's book, The Battle for Middle Earth, if you're curious about it.

So, yes, in the details actions and free choices led to his demise; however, providence was simultaneously at work in/with/alongside these free choices and actions. If that seems irreconcilable, welcome to the grownup's business of biblical theology at a deeper level!!!! Since at least Augustine of Hippo, but especially in the wake of Thomas Aquinas's work (as well as post-Luther, Calvin, and the Reformers), the relationship between freedom and sovereignty has been an important and fascinating focus in Roman Catholic theology, and I say this even as a protestant.

From my own reading of Tolkien and works about Tolkien, I've come to regard him as one of the most important Christian Theologians of the 20th century, not just an important author of fiction.