Symbolism of J.R.R. Tolkien

“For reasons which I will not elaborate, that seems to me fatal. Myth and fairy-story must, as all art, reflect and contain in solution elements of moral and religious truth (or error), but not explicit, not in the known form of the primary 'real' world. (I am speaking, of course, of our present situation, not of ancient pagan, pre-Christian days...)”


- J.R.R. Tolkien in a letter to Milton Waldman



John Ronald Reuel Tolkien stated in the second edition of “The Lord of the Rings” that he did not prefer allegory. Instead, he preferred what he called “applicability”. Nevertheless, there are beings, objects, and places in Middle Earth that strike us as representations of Catholic beings, objects, and places. I shall try to explain a few of these.



The first of these are the Angelic beings mentioned in the Silmarillion. Tolkien writes that there was Eru, or Illúvatar, and that he brought the Ainur into being as an “offspring of his thought”. Tolkien quite clearly means for Illúvatar to be understood as God, and the Ainur as the angels. Among the Ainur are the Valar, which can be understood as the Archangels. Among the Valar is Melkor, who desires his part in the Music of the Ainur to be greater, and wishes to have the power to bring things of his own into being. Melkor then rebels. He is Lucifer, and Tolkien takes how he seeks to undo the work of God and brilliantly puts it into his own world. The other Valar, in Tolkien's own words, “built lands and Melkor destroyed them; valleys they delved and Melkor raised them up...”



So, we see how Tolkien clearly makes his world a Catholic one. But, is he writing a literal account of our world from our sight, or is he using images to help us come into a more real understanding of the images in our life? I will use the following as an example for this:



A common parallel drawn between Frodo and his journey to cast the Ring into the fires of Mt. Doom is one that compares it to Christ carrying His cross to Calvary. While that comparison is one that is easy to see and grasp, we might make a different one. Since Tolkien preferred applicability to allegory, comparing Frodo to the humble soul carrying his own cross might be more of an answer that we can relate to and apply to our lives. Frodo is small in stature, and the most unlikely choice to carry the Ring. But, if you think about Frodo, the fact that he is small is the reason that he is in fact, the very best choice. How can we apply this to ourselves?

Think of the Ring as sin. Men, who are battered the most by the enemy, succumb most easily to the Ring's influence – despite their strength and ability to keep the enemy at bay. Elves and Dwarves are also tempted by it. Why, then, is Frodo not tempted? The answer is this: Frodo is too small to even think of it. He isn't seeking glory by triumphantly overcoming it. But, he isn't afraid of it, either. We can apply this concept of the Ring to sin.



While Tolkien does indeed include the concrete Catholic representatives in his world, he actually gives us something more Catholic and Christian than this. What Tolkien does can be compared to Christ's parables. The Pharisees gave the Jews the images of the law, and they understood them as just that. Christ told the Jews how to serve God by showing them how His Commandments applied to their lives.

Maybe this is why Tolkien preferred applicability to allegory.

To Add to the Harry Potter Confusion

ClickHere


It's my attempt to write a story with a plot line somewhat similar to the plot of HP and the sorcerer's stone (as I understand it, I haven't actually read it): a boy is taken from his home to be schooled in the ways of magic, learns the magic (with all the technichal details included in the book), and then uses it to battle evil. I have tried to go as close as possible to what makes HP attractive, while at the same time, make the good magic implicitly sacramental and the bad magic explicitly occultic. But I haven't gotten to the technichal details yet, so you can read just for fun...for now.

The Shire

The Shire. That peaceful place where Frodo and Sam began their
journey. That quiet, joyous land where the carefree Hobbits live
their uneventful lives. Their only concern is what goes on in the
Shire, and no where else. However, the outside world won't leave
them alone forever. No matter how hard they try to shut it out,
the plans of evil will reach them sooner or later, and all the peace
and goodness will be destroyed.

Now, the childlike nature of the Hobbits is good. However, they
are a bit naive to think that they can bury their heads in the sand
to avoid danger. But perhaps we do the same. There are
well-meaning Christians out there who would rather not pay
attention to the outside world and just live their lives without
concern. And who can blame them!!!! Who would want to get
involved in the evils of this world?!??!!? Why can't we just be
Hobbits?!?!?

The truth, of course, is in the middle. We can't go out seeking to
fight evil on our own, and we can't bury our heads in the sand and
say it doesn't exist. If we seek to fight evil without God's protection
and calling to do so, we will surely be lost to it ourselves, as was
Denethor when he used the Palantir. But if we bury our heads in
the sand, we will be helpless to resist the evil when it comes to our
doorstep. The Bible talks about being vigilant, "for you adversary
the devil is like a roaring lion seek for someone to devour". It also
says that the battle is not of natural means, but of "Principalities and
powers".

My advice would be to trust in God to protect us. We must come to
Christ as little children. Children know there is danger, but trust that
those more powerful will than they will protect them. When we
encounter evil, we must pray to Him and remember His
Commandments. And when He calls, we must be ready to fight for
our God.

The battle is in the Lord's hands.