MythicTruth

Lord of the Rings

A Catholic Perspective



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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

TABLE OF CONTENTS:...............................................................................2
FOREWORD: .............................................................................................4
OVERVIEW: ..............................................................................................6
ALLEGORY: ...............................................................................................9
TRUTH & MYTH:...................................................................................... 15
THE MAN: ............................................................................................... 25
CREATION: ............................................................................................. 37
SEVEN GREAT THEMES: .......................................................................... 63
SACRIFICIAL LOVE:................................................................................ 64
EXALTATION OF THE HUMBLE: ............................................................... 69
PROVIDENCE & HOPE:............................................................................ 74
CONFLICT OF GOOD & EVIL:................................................................... 83
MERCY & FORGIVENESS: ........................................................................ 89
INDUSTRIAL ADVANCEMENT:................................................................. 94
FIRST & LAST THINGS:........................................................................... 97
THE PARALLELS:................................................................................... 111
PRIEST, PROPHET & KING:................................................................... 112
TREES OF LIFE:..................................................................................... 126
THREE, SEVEN & NINE:......................................................................... 133
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OF THE MONTH: ............................................................................ 136
THE LEMBAS:........................................................................................ 137
METAPHYSICAL ELEMENTS:.................................................................. 141
WOMEN OF MIDDLE-EARTH:................................................................. 151
FINAL COMMENTS: ............................................................................... 169













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FOREWORD:
What inspired me to create this webpage?
I suppose its partly due to the fact that as I have visited many different online communities
devoted to J.R.R. Tolkien's work, I have discovered how passionate people are about
protecting the true spirit of Tolkien's labours; especially with the current release of the
cinematic versions of the Lord of the Rings and the new readers the movies are bringing into
the fold.
In my travels through cyberspace, I have encountered many different views on the themes
behind the Lord of the Rings [and Middle-earth in general] and Tolkien's motivation for writing
this epic; and while I have read articles and books referring to a certain Christian theme in the
Lord of the Rings, I have never found online, a website that deals with the subject in a
complete, in-depth and satisfying manner.
Not only that, I have not found online, a well expressed Catholic viewpoint on the Lord of the
Rings.
Therefore, after some reading and research, I will try to discuss to a reasonable level why I
believe Tolkien's faith played an important part in his life's work.
As for me, I am no Tolkien scholar, nor expert. And this is just an amateur webpage, not a
book or biography. This is not an exhaustive text, but rather a discussion that will try to
highlight the key components of Catholicism in Tolkien's work.
And of course I love the book. Why else would I do this?
Obviously I am Catholic; I have spent some time in monastic life in France in the heart of the
Church and, of course I have read the Lord of the Rings multiple times, including the
Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales of Nmenor and Middle-earth, the History of Middle-earth
[HoME] and an assortment of Tolkien's letters.
Bear in mind that this is not trying to make the Lord of the Rings into a fifth Gospel or make it
some spiritual work that one must read, but rather point out some beautiful parallels and
symbolism in a popular fictional story written by a Catholic. It is also not trying to imply that
the only driving forces behind the story are Catholic or Christian. There are obviously others.
You don't have to be Catholic or Christian to follow this discussion but you probably do need
to have read the Lord of the Rings.
The references and quotes for this discussion have come from a variety of sources but most
predominately from:
Tolkien: Man and Myth - Joseph Pearce [homepage]
Tolkien: A Celebration - Joseph Pearce [homepage]
Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien - by Humphrey Carpenter & Christopher Tolkien
J.R.R. Tolkien: A biography - Humphrey Carpenter
The History of Middle-earth - edited by Christopher Tolkien
Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
To buy these great books, go to www.amazon.com and search under their names.
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It's worth reading this website in sequential order as it's been written that way [except for the
latest updates], but be warned this is a reasonably long discussion....!
If you would like to contact me please use this address: contact@mythictruth.com
Now, if you're still here, alors commenons... :)

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OVERVIEW:
The Lord of the Rings has universal appeal. There is no doubt about this fact. It has sold over
100 million copies world wide since 1954 when it was published and has been translated into
more than a dozen languages.
The popularity and readership of the Lord of the Rings of many generations has led to it being
voted 'Best book of the 20th Century' in several polls in the UK. This popularity and
widespread readership around the world was confirmed recently with the release of the three
movies of the Tolkien trilogy, and has further entrenched the book in modern phenomenon.
This acclaim can be attributed to many aspects of Tolkien's novel.
It is the story of a courageous quest imbued with love, sacrifice, and hope. Being shot
through with a nostalgic longing for things passing and noble and being set against amazing
landscapes and sweeping vistas gives Tolkien's masterpiece a deep grandeur and awe.
Added to these attributes is a depth of culture, peoples and history that make the Lord of the
Rings a veritable piece d'art.
But what is new about this? Not a lot.
Throughout history, many cultures, especially those of Nordic influence, have contained
stories and tales of heroic characters on hopeless world saving quests. In fact, as is
mentioned later, Tolkien drew from these stories.
But what makes Tolkien's lifework so different and enduring?
There are other reasons, but what Tolkien has so inspiringly and masterfully brought to life, is
a story where the characters and creatures, belonging to a world in peril, fight for their
freedom and existence in a noble, just and holy way. The principle characters display an
integrity, and selflessness that reminds and points us to the goodness and truth we are all
called to live.
This, among others, is one of the many draw cards that people find so endearing about the
Lord of the Rings; it speaks with a language of valour and hope to a divisive and unforgiving
modern world. It is interesting to note that during the Vietnam War, the Lord of the Rings was
immensely popular in western society.

In a recent article I read, a teacher proclaimed that her students had said they felt clean after
reading the Lord of the Rings. The story is indeed built on virtue. And in our own troubled
times, the themes and values of Tolkien's world continue to echo and stand.
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Not only that, the story is set in such a fully developed world where the peoples and
characters are astonishingly enriched by a believable history and subsistence, that one feels
as if it actually existed. Each race carries their own history and individual characteristics; and
the expression of their joys and the weight of their sorrows are brilliantly conveyed through a
subtle and elusive style.
There is a deep sense in Tolkien's writing of the romance of heroics; where great acts of love
and sacrifice can be carried out by the smallest of characters and the truest of heart.
C.S. Lewis wrote of Tolkien's work;
This book is like lightning from a clear sky... To say that in it, heroic romance,
gorgeous, eloquent, and unashamed, has returned at a period almost pathological in
its anti-romanticism, is inadequate. Romance itself... makes not a return but an
advance or revolution: the conquest of new territory. [M&M p.79]
So where did it all come from? What inspired this creation and informed Tolkien's writing?
Tolkien's style of story telling was bold and different for the times and he himself did not
expect the attention it drew. Inspiration and material came from many different sources, but
most predominately from Icelandic myth and saga, his love of languages and stories, and his
own creative genius.
Tolkien discovered a love of fairy stories and adventures from a young age. Couple to this his
interest in Icelandic legend and philology and you have the basis and beginnings of his story
from an academic point of view. Add in his life experiences, his gift of writing, his religion and
his view of life, and you have, in simplicity, the body of Tolkien's writing expression.
A great epic and saga was conceived in his heart *, not just his mind, and from it was born an
expression of romance, and a heartfelt story of love. The more one reads the Lord of the
Rings, the more layers one finds each time, and the more one comes to realize that the story
is essentially about love. Many who have read it multiple times would agree. [* His heart being
his inner being, his soul, including his intellect, passions, will, memory and imagination]
Heroic romance: yes, but also a story of heroics bounded by morality.
But Tolkien's work has drawn criticism from certain sectors of the literary world. The Lord of
the Rings has been called escapist, idealistic and lacking in characterization, especially for
the women characters. Critics have labelled an apparent lack of grey in Tolkien's black and
white, Good versus Evil world, as a deficiency.
But in essence this is not true for the style of epic saga writing.
In fact, if read properly, many of the main characters display a very realistic and sobering
struggle between the Light and Dark of Tolkien's world of Middle-earth; and those characters
that 'seem' impervious to temptation, often subtly are tempted, or are set as role models and
examples of light in a great saga. Where people tend to become uneasy about the absence of
grey in Tolkien's world is in his overall ideology upon which the story is built: Objective Good
and Objective Evil.
Given the movement in the modern world towards an erroneous relativistic idea of good and
evil, [i.e. whatever feels right or true for you is right and true for you etc] and the denial of
an external devil, one can see why this criticism is directed at the Lord of the Rings. The
majority feels this objective idea of truth, virtue and evil is no loner realistic in today's world,
hence some of the criticism of the novel and the mainstream rejection of the Christian religion.
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The story champions values and carries themes which by their nature deliver messages [like
many stories]. Critically acclaimed stories reflect the reality of our human condition and lead
us to contemplate the horrors, or beauty, or complexities of our existence.
But where the Lord of the Rings is deeper still is that it delivers these themes but provides a
Truthful answer. The victory obtained in the Lord of the Rings is brought about by doing what
is right, not by doing what is necessary to obtain the victory. In fact, as is shown in the story at
multiple points, the quest comes perilously close to failing due to their unswerving obedience
and adherence to doing what is right and just and true; and providence wins through in the
end.
The victory, salvation and ultimate joy and freedom of Middle-earth is wrought through
sacrificial love, principally from Frodo and Sam, but also from many of the other characters.
This is no new theme, but certainly is an answer for our modern societies and one that deeply
touches people.
Cathy Dyson of freelancestar.com wrote in her recent article;
But even more, I love the timeless values the books extol - that the smallest person
can make a difference: that every living and breathing being, from talking eagles to
walking trees, has a place in our universe. And that we all need help from people who
love us, be they dwarves, elves or humans. [here]
These themes, to some people in today's world would seem idealistic, but they should still be
told. In that sense, the Lord of the Rings could be considered a fable as Tolkien once
described it; or a parable; speaking of mercy and forgiveness, trust in providence and hope,
and of course, sacrifice, love and honour. [Letters p.236]

Whether the story is accepted by certain literary scholars is really not important anymore. The
story is so well known and loved, especially now as the movies are being released, that the
Lord of the Rings is almost guaranteed to continue on in popular acclaim and readership.
Tolkien's work has single-handedly brought into life a new genre, Fantasy, from which have
sprung many imitations, but none that truly capture the same brilliance and depth and
spirituality as the Lord of the Rings.
There are many Tolkien experts and scholars who have written much about the ancient
legends and myths that the Lord of the Rings has drawn upon but these are not the objects of
this discussion, though they will be given some thought. The primary focus of this discussion
will look at how Tolkien's faith has influenced his work.

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ALLEGORY:
There has always been controversy whenever the word allegory is mentioned around the
Lord of the Rings. Tolkien didn't like any form of allegory being associated with this work,
especially that of World War II or the allegory of nuclear weapons and their power.
He said so;
As for any inner meaning or message, it has in the intention of the author, none. It is
neither allegorical nor topical. [LotR p.2 preface to 2nd edition],
There is no 'allegory', moral, political or contemporary in the work at all. [Letters
p.232]
In fact one of his criticisms of C.S. Lewis's work upon reading it for the first time was that the;
...message was too obvious.
But at the same time, Tolkien referred to the masterpiece of the Lord of the Rings as;
...a fundamentally Catholic and Religious work; unconsciously so at first, but
consciously in the revision. [Letters p.172]
This isn't a contradiction, and is important.
After writing that the story has no inner meaning, Tolkien explains in a variety of different
sources that certain aspects of his life did indeed find its way by default into his writing. In one
particular letter he points out himself;
My 'Sam Gamgee' is indeed a reflection of the English soldier, of the privates and
batmen I knew in the 1914 war, and recognized as far superior to myself. [J.R.R.
Tolkien: A Biography p.89]
And in another text he mentions that;
...the Shire is based on rural England. [Letters p.250]
In addition to this he points out that Treebeard's 'hrum, hroom' was modelled on C.S. Lewis'
style of talking. [J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography p.198]
So certainly, elements of his own life are in the story. No author creates out of null-
experience. But just how much is in there?
He mentioned that in the revision he became aware of the religious nature of the work, which
would lead one to believe that any parallelism [parallelism is not allegory] of Catholicism in the
Lord of the Rings was at first unintentional and came from the fact that he was writing from his
soul [heart, mind, will & passions] which had all been deeply informed by his Catholic
formation. He could not deny nor betray his underlying morals and beliefs in anything he
created or wrote, which speaks volumes for the responsibility and faith of the man.
He has poured out much of who he is in the Lord of the Rings, and as a result, Catholicism,
with its faith, values, and imagery, which was a major contributing factor is his life, has found
itself embedded into the story.
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Joseph Pearce, [author of 'Tolkien - Man and Myth'], interviewed George Sayer, a personal
friend of Tolkien, who said;
...the Lord of the Rings would have been very different and the writing of it very
different if Tolkien hadn't been a Christian. He thought it a profoundly Christian book.
[M&M p.100]
One admission to this is found in a response to a letter a priest-friend had written Tolkien
upon proofing the Lord of the Rings before publication. Joseph Pearce in his biography writes;
At Tolkien's request Murray had read part of the Lord of the Rings in typescript and
galley-proofs, and had responded with both comments and criticism. He wrote that the
book left him with a strong sense of a 'positive compatibility with the order of Grace',
and compared the image of Galadriel with that of the Virgin Mary. [M&M p.101]
Tolkien's reply was thus;
I have been cheered especially by what you have said ...because you are more
perceptive, especially in some directions than anyone else, and have revealed to me
more clearly some things about my work. I think I know exactly what you mean by the
order of Grace and of course your references to Our Lady, upon which all my own
small perception of beauty, both in majesty and simplicity, is founded. [Letters p.172]
Not only did he come to 'see' the religious nature of the work, but Tolkien credited divine
forces for it. Once again George Sayer relates;
He wrote to me years later, a letter in which he stated that he attributed anything good
or beautiful in his writing to the influence of Our Lady, 'the greatest influence in my
life'. He meant it. [Celebration p.10-11]
But was it as unintentional as it seems? Certainly direct allegories were steered away from by
Tolkien, but as discussed later, from Tolkien's own words, the underlying themes and truths
seem to have been deliberately layered in. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Certainly
Tolkien didn't like allegory...
At some point during his revision process Tolkien made a deliberate decision to remove any
overt references to religious practices of the peoples in Middle-earth so the story would
remain in line with orthodox Catholic teaching and so that the story would fall within the
bounds of 'True Myth' which will be discussed further on;
The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally Catholic and Religious work;
unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put in,
or have cut out, practically all references [Ed. though not all] to anything like 'religion',
to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into
the story and symbolism. [Letters p.172]

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In the Lord of the Rings, almost the only reference to any religious practice in Middle-earth is
when Frodo and Sam are present at the Gondorian custom of facing the West, towards the
Blessed Realm [Undying Lands] before eating. They do this in Heneth Annun, in the hidden
refuge of Faramir. [LotR p.661] & [Letters p.281& p.189]
Without any overt religious practices, certainly Middle-earth it is not a Christian society or
system. But for the inhabitants that know the truth about its creation, they do give reverence
to the existence of Eru [Father of All], the One God and to the Blessed Realm, as shown by
the Elves and the Nmenoreans.
As pointed out by Joseph Pearce, [author of 'Tolkien - Man and Myth'], another reason for the
removal of any clear and direct reference to religion could also be found in his comment;
...the Incarnation of God is an Infinitely greater thing than anything I would dare to
write. [Letters p.237]
Tolkien described the 'mythology' and fabric of the world of Middle-earth as;
...a monotheistic world of natural theology. A world created by One God. [Letter p.220]
He also added; ...the 'Third Age' is not a Christian world. [Letters p.220]
Tolkien's rejection of an inner message could be linked to his dislike of the amateur
psychology critics applied to his writing and life. He preferred the work to stand on its own and
be interpreted as such; without the necessity of knowing the faults, qualities or facts of the
authors life; and without allowing them to alter the reception of the story.
Tolkien's own words are to the point;
I object to the contemporary trend in criticism, with its excessive interest in the
details of the lives of authors and artists. They only distract attention from an author's
work...and end, as one now often sees, in becoming the main interest. But only one's
guardian angel, or indeed God Himself, could unravel the real relationship between
personal facts and an author's works. Not the author himself [though he knows more
than any investigator], and certainly not the so called 'psychologists'. [Celebration
p.104]
Tolkien became tired of the analogies drawn with World War II and the Ring as a metaphor
for Nuclear weapons and decided to make it clear that the story had no link to these historical
happenings. He was also frustrated by the inaccuracies of biographical reports about himself
and the deliberate desire of certain media organizations to paint him with a particular brush to
fit their exposs; as is shown in his comment,
The producer, a very nice, very young man and personally equipped with some
intelligence and insight, was nonetheless already so muddled and confused by
BBCism that the last thing in the world he wished to show was me as I am/or was, let
alone 'human or life size'. I was lost in a world of gimmickry and nonsense, as far as it
had any design, seemed simply to fix the image of a fuddy not to say duddy, old
fireside hobbit-like boozer. Protests were in vain, so I gave it up, & being tied to the
stake stayed the course as best I could. [Letters p.390]
Here we see Tolkien's understandable dislike of misrepresentation but also
misunderstanding, in his life and in his works.
The rejection of 'allegory' can also be found in Tolkien's understanding of true myth and how
he clearly understood what he was trying to achieve in writing a mythic saga. Myth, Tolkien
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argued shouldn't carry allegory but should carry Truth. [this is discussed in depth on the next
page Truth and Myth.]
In terms of 'allegory' and Tolkien's dislike of it, one would say that the Lord of the Rings is,
not a direct attempt at a Christian metaphor, but one could say that it is a story
steeped in deep Christian and Catholic ideas and values.
Father Murray and Tolkien himself were not the only ones to recognize Christian elements in
the Lord of the Rings; Ann Atkins of the BBC once wrote of Tolkien,
...and his Christianity shines through every page. He understands evil, for instance,
and the way it seduces us, the way it seduced Gollum with its promise of goodness.
How eventually, if we give in to it, it corrodes our freedom and will and individuality...
Tolkien was a truly Christian novelist, who wrote a great Christian myth... Tolkien's
Christian faith informed all his writing and all his heroes were based on a greater hero
still. One who wasn't flawed, and didn't give way to evil. One who didn't have A-levels
either, but who is the perfect role model. [M&M p.10]
A book reviewer of the New York Times, Chad Walsh wrote that Tolkien had,
...renewed the sense of magic and enchantment and assimilated it into the
contemporary Christian sensibility. [M&M p.80-81]
Many within the Catholic Church have understood or written about the imagery behind the
great story. Recently a writer for L'Osservatore Romano [the official newspaper for the
Vatican] said that Tolkien's work shows;
...a sort of theology... the Lord of the Rings speaks through images and signs ... and
when faith inspires one's thought and one's life, there is no need to call attention to it;
it shines through everything. [edition of 2002]
Regarding his story, Tolkien also wrote at one point;
It is about God, and his sole right to Divine Honour. The Eldar and the Nmenoreans
believed in the One... [Letters p.243]
Whether deliberate or not many believe Tolkien's faith has been embedded into his work [as
will be shown without doubt further on], but it's important to point out that this article is not
trying to apply a metaphor or allegory to the entity of Tolkien's writing. But it will explore the
values, and undercurrents which have been infused into Middle-earth and lend themselves to
the tradition and theology of the Catholic faith.
And in explaining some of this imagery and parallelism, this does not mean that one has to
read the Lord of the Rings in this light hence forth. This is the original beauty of J.R.R.
Tolkien's work. He has created [or sub-created as he referred to it] a story in its own right and
entirety, as part of his love of languages and myth, literature and writing; and his desire to
give England a mythic back-history.
Tolkien has brought about of beautiful tale that can be appreciated by anyone, no matter what
their faith.
He has not created a world and epic quest as a metaphor to be painted on top of the
Christian Salvation plan, so that the characters and plot become subject to that end. But what
he has done is create a beautifully woven, intricate world and history unto itself, which never
departs from the truths of Christian salvation, understanding and life.
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His characters are not exact biblical personages in disguise, but some do reflect and point
us to them; and at times even rise to be somewhat partial expressions of them. Tolkien has
taken the truths of his faith and woven them into his romantic saga; which in this way, renders
glory to God through the 'talent' of writing the Lord bestowed in him.
This is the crux of it.

Tolkien's epic is permeated with a depth of virtue and hope [even behind the sadness and
nostalgia], that echoes much of his experience as a devout Catholic, in a very imperfect world
of suffering, war and loss; which will ultimately end in Paradise. He has welded together his
love of Norse myth and saga with his understanding of morality and life as it should be.
Yes, he wanted to re-invent folk-lore for England, but in this pursuit, his invented folk-lore has
a distinctive Christian flavour; even though much of the source material is of pagan origin.
He has drawn on his devastating experience of war and loss to give his story an emotional
truth and believability which at times rises to the heroic and descends to the tragic.
As we will discuss later, Tolkien had a specific understanding of the nature of myth, its power
in the written word and how Truth, Objective Truth, and hope, can be transmitted through it.
To end this section it is worth quoting in full, a succinct and accurate passage from Stephen
R. Lawhead, a best selling Fantasy writer, who discovered Tolkien's work. [excerpt from
Tolkien: Man and Myth] His comments are as follows...
Having enjoyed Tolkien's books, I tracked down and read the work of the other
Inklings, C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams especially. I enjoyed the books but in the end
it wasn't the Inklings work that moved me. It was the informing spirit of their work, a
spirit which I began to sense they all shared ...... the lessons I learned from Lewis and
Tolkien penetrated deep into my psyche - deeper than emulation, deeper than
imitation. In short it was not Tolkien's subject matter that influenced me; it was the
integrity of the work itself.
I found this same integrity in Lewis's space tales. Taken together these books
possessed an inner worth that far exceeded the narrative skills of their authors.
Perelandra and the Lord of the Rings seemed to me to be more in total than the sum of
their parts. These books, I concluded, derived their value chiefly from their inner worth,
this integrity that lay behind the stories themselves. But what was it? It was of course
the Christian faith of the authors shining through the fabric of their work. I saw that
faith informed the story, and infused it with value and meaning, lifting the tale above
the ordinary expressions of the genre. Even though the stories of Lewis, Tolkien or
other Inklings like Charles Williams, were not explicitly promoting Christianity,
nevertheless the books were ripe with it.
What an extraordinary thing, I thought; though Tolkien never makes so much as a
glancing reference to Jesus Christ in a single paragraph of all The Lord of the Rings
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thick volumes, His face is glimpsed on virtually every page. The Lion, the Witch and
the Wardrobe is the furthest thing from a religious tract, yet it proclaims a clear and
winning gospel. In my narrow experience, I had never before encountered such a
thing. [M&M p.82]
[Note: the Inklings were a group of predominantly Christian academics interested in Myth
from Oxford university that included Tolkien, Lewis, Williams and Chesterton]

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TRUTH & MYTH:
"Christianity, the True Myth, has reconciled all lesser myths to itself. The lesser myths,
in the form of fairy story or romance, were derived from Reality, or are flowing into it.
However inadequate in themselves, they still offered a glimpse of the greater Truth
from which they spring or into which they flow. [M&M p.105]
Interesting words from Tolkien himself! What exactly does he mean? Let us dive into his
understanding of myth and truth
Considering the many different ideologies, philosophies and beliefs in the world today, and
the various aspects and elements of Tolkien's story, it is important to clarify what Tolkien was
trying to achieve and why.
Confusion is rife in the modern world; many look for hope where there is none, and believe
what will never fulfil them.
Tolkien's story offers glimpses into the Truth but it is important to understand where, how and
why. One can be lead off into lie and confusion by not fully researching and understanding
where Tolkien was coming from.
You may not agree, but at least read and consider this article.
Divine Truth is objective, not relative or subjective. The Catholic Church [and almost all other
Christian Faiths] believes this fact.
Either a fundamental belief is true, or it is not, i.e. either Jesus is the Saviour of the world or
he is not. The truth of it does not depend on whether we choose to believe in it or not. This
ties in with the Christian philosophy of 'I am, therefore I think' and not the relativistic 'I think,
therefore I am.'
The Catholic Church believes it has received the Fullness of Truth that God has chosen to
reveal on earth, but also believes that other religions or cultures carry certain elements of this
Truth and Light in their beliefs; but they may also have them mixed with falsity and darkness.
With this understanding of Truth, the Christian Faith is considered the most enlightened.
[We are not talking in about persons or people in these Churches who may or may not be
holy, but are merely talking at a philosophical and theological level]
And, other religions being partially enlightened may hold fragments or varying degrees of the
Truth.
The Fullness of Truth is the revelation of Christ residing at the head of the Church, Christ's
Mystical Body, and the Holy Spirit leads the Church on earth to discover it in more depth as
the years continue. This Fullness of Truth is a gift from the Holy Spirit that keeps the Deposit
of Faith in the Church on track.
To the Catholic Church, other religions are not 'all evil', but are lacking this Fullness of Truth.
There are good and beautiful aspects to most religions [except of course Satanic based cults
and associated religions] but only the Christian Faith has understood the truth of our origin,
existence and salvation according to how the One True God has revealed.
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This is the teaching of the Catholic Church. There are obviously many other things we don't
know about God and the unseen world, but what God has chosen to reveal about himself is
held in the revelation of Jesus which is doctrinized in the repository of faith in the Catholic
Church.
Tolkien held this belief in the realm of story telling. In fact, so strong was his conviction of this,
that in explaining his stance to C.S. Lewis he brought about a change of heart in his friend
which helped in his conversion to Christianity.
Tolkien maintained that the old Myths and Legends of past and even present cultures hold
certain elements of Christian Truth. Throughout history, as cultures, religions and beliefs
developed and evolved, man has expressed himself through stories, tales and other artistic
forms.
Much of this oral tradition [and sometimes visual or written tradition], often passed on from
father to son, and family to family, [sometimes derived from actual events] sought for the
source of life and gave reason to our existence; and underscored the belief in an after-life or
spiritual world. They contained stories of heroic sacrifice and the defeat of evil.
The recurring theme of a dying god being reborn to life was prominent. [M&M p.59]
Though these stories were often of non-Christian origin [they were pre-Christian in fact] and
carried elements of darkness, they transported something from within the heart of man that
reflected his Creator and his Creators Truth: something eternal and true.
In today's world these myths are considered as invented or hold the connotation of not being
true.
Tolkien believed that the Christian story of salvation was the culmination of these stories and
myths, much in the same way Jesus is the fulfilment of the prophecies of the Old Testament
and the full revelation of the True Religion. He understood that the saving act of Christ
redeems every faculty in man, including his artistic nature; his desire to create, or sub-create
as Tolkien referred to it. Sub-create because Tolkien considered God the Primary Creator;
and man, through a gift of God, became sub-creators through their art, and life and
expression; and of course pro-creation.
The Plan of Salvation carried in its fullness, the healing of this artistic desire that was
corrupted through original sin. The Bible itself is full of stories, poetry and tales that illustrate
mans ability to communicate his relationship with God through art. In fact, a majority of the
medium of the transfer of faith, through oral word or written text is an artistic expression
guided by the Holy Spirit.
Quoted below are some excerpts from Tolkien's own letters that illustrate his conviction.
The gospels contain a fairy story - even the sum total of all fairy stories rolled
together, the one story we would most wish to be true in all literature. But although we
cannot make the story true by wishing, and must not deceive ourselves into thinking
that is it true because we wish it, we still cannot rule out the possibility that it did
actually happen.
It may be that the very reason we wish it to be true is that we were made to wish it, by
the One who made it true. God created us incomplete; because the kind of creature
than can only be perfected by its own choices [and so through Quest and trial] is more
glorious than the kind that has only to be whatever it was made to be by another.
[Letters p.100]
Of course I do not mean that the Gospels tell what is only a fairy story; but I do mean
very strongly that they tell a fairy-story: the greatest. Man the story teller would have to
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be redeemed in a manner consonant with his nature: by a moving story. But since the
author of it is the supreme Artist and Author of Reality, this one was also made to Be,
to be true on the Primary Plane.
So that in the Primary Miracle [the Resurrection] and the lesser Christian miracles too,
though less, you have not only that sudden glimpse of the truth behind the apparent
Anank of our world, but a glimpse that is actually a ray of light through the very
chinks of the universe about us. [Letters p.100]
[Anank = Greek for "constraint"]

Now the story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way
as the others, but with this tremendous difference, that it really happened: and one
must be content to accept it in the same way, remembering that it is God's myth where
the others are men's myths: i.e. the Pagan stories are God expressing Himself through
the minds of poets, using such images as he found there, while Christianity is God
expressing Himself through what we call 'real things'.
Therefore it is true, not in the sense of being a 'description' of God [that no finite mind
could take in] but in the sense of being the way in which God chooses to [or can]
appear to our faculties. The 'doctrines' we get out of the true myth are of course less
true: they are translations into our concepts and ideas of that which God has already
expressed in a language more adequate, namely the actual Incarnation, Crucifixion and
Resurrection. [M&M p.60]
Joseph Pearce quotes Tolkien when explaining that;
Christianity, the True Myth, has reconciled all lesser myths to itself. The lesser myths,
in the form of fairy story or romance, were derived from Reality, or are flowing into it.
However inadequate in themselves, they still offered a glimpse of the greater Truth
from which they spring or into which they flow. Since the Christian joy, the Gloria, has
redeemed Man, it has also redeemed the sub-creativity of man: this story is supreme,
and it is true. Art has been verified. God is the Lord, of angels and of men - and of
elves. Legend and History have met and been fused. [M&M p.105]
Tolkien's whole theory came from a lecture he heard while working at Oxford. He then
completed an essay on Fairy-Stories and it was temporarily published in a London journal.
Verifying and consolidating his discovery at this lecture, was an experience and epiphany of
absolute joy he encountered when listening to a story of a miraculous healing of a person in
Lourdes, France [a place of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary]
Tolkien: I was deeply moved and had that particular emotion we all have - though not
often. It is quite unlike any other sensation. And all of a sudden I realized what it was:
the very thing I have been trying to write about and explain - in that fairy-tale essay that
I so much wish you had read that I think I shall send it to you. For it coined the word
'eucatastrophe': the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that
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brings tears [which I argued it is the highest function of fairy-stories to produce.] And I
was there led to the view that it produces its peculiar effect because it is a sudden
glimpse of Truth. [Letters p.100]
Further to this Tolkien explained;
It is the mark of a good fairy-story, of the higher or more complete kind, that however
wild its events, however fantastic or terrible the adventures, it can give to a child or
man who hears it, when the 'turn' comes, a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the
heart, near to [or indeed accompanied by] tears as keen as that given by any form of
literary art, and having a peculiar quality.
The peculiar quality of the 'joy' in successful fantasy can thus be explained as a
sudden glimpse of the underlying reality or truth. It is not only a 'consolation' for the
sorrow of this world, but a satisfaction, and an answer to that question, 'Is it true?' ....in
the 'eucatastrophe' we see a brief vision, a far-off gleam or echo of 'evangelium' in the
real world.
I would venture to say that approaching the Christian Story from this direction; it has
long been my feeling [a joyous feeling] that God redeemed the corrupt making-
creatures, men, in a way fitting to this aspect, as to others, of their strange nature. The
Gospels contain a fairy-story, or a story of a larger kind which embraces all the
essence of fairy-stories. They contain many marvels - peculiarly artistic, beautiful, and
moving: 'mythical' in their perfect, self-contained significance; and among these
marvels is the greatest and most complete conceivable 'eucatastrophe' [the
Resurrection].
But this story has entered History and the Primary World; the desire and aspiration of
sub-creation has been raised to the fulfilment of Creation. The Birth of Christ is the
'eucatastrophe' of Man's history. The Resurrection is the 'eucatastrophe' of the story of
the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy.
It has pre-eminently the 'inner consistency of reality'. There is no tale ever told that
men would rather find was true, and none which so many sceptical men have accepted
as true on its own merits. For the Art of it has the supremely convincing tone of
Primary Art. That is, of Creation. To reject it leads either to sadness or wrath. [M&M
p.104-105]
Tolkien even said;
I find the fairy story one of the highest forms of literature. [Letters p.220]
Mel Gibson, who is making a film about the Passion of Jesus, has said similar things;
Im doing what Ive always done: telling stories I think are important in the language I
speak best: film. I think most great stories are hero stories. People want to reach out
and grab at something higher, and vicariously live through heroism, and lift their spirit
that way.
There is no greater hero story than this one about the greatest love one can have,
which is to lay down ones life for someone. The Passion is the biggest adventure
story of all time. I think its the biggest love-story of all time; God becoming man and
men killing God if thats not action, nothing is.
Tolkien desired to write a story that encapsulated much of his understanding of fairy-tales, in
fact it is said that while writing parts of the back-history of the Lord of the Rings he was moved
to weeping. It is not hard to see aspects of his belief stated above in the Lord of the Rings.
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Tolkien described his own feelings towards his writing;
...certain features of it still move me very powerfully.... but I am most stirred by the
sound of the horses of the Rohirrim at cockcrow and most grieved by Gollum's failure
[just] to repent when interrupted by Sam: this seems to me really like the real world in
which the instruments of just retribution are seldom themselves just or holy; and the
good are often stumbling blocks... [Letters p.221]
And again;
For myself, I was probably most moved by Sam's disquisition on the seamless web of
story, and by the scene when Frodo goes to sleep on his breast, and the tragedy of
Gollum who at that moment came within a hair of repentance... [Letters p.110]

The Lord of the Rings, combined with many of his earlier writings from the Silmarillion was his
'opus magnum', his attempt to create a great myth, a poetic myth, but one that carried an
eternal truth and gave a glimpse through into the joy of salvation beyond the sorrow of this
world.
Tolkien stated;
...since I have deliberately written a tale which is built on or out of certain 'religious'
ideas. [Letters p.283]
There are certain paradoxes found in his writing that are mirrors of many of the Christian
paradoxes and spiritual realities: the prime examples of this being that 'one must die to
oneself to find life', and, 'diminishment versus aggrandizement'.
Few would argue against the poignancy and beauty of a vast majority of Tolkien's writing. It
carries a nobility, majesty and modesty that entices the reader to want to know more. The
world he has created gives a sense of a far off time when things were worth caring for, when
tales and legends meant something; and where a feeling of passing things and nostalgia for a
fading nobility is intensely tangible. One feels the exile of the inhabitants of Middle-earth and
yearns for its release and restoration.
In a reply to a letter asking about the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien wrote;
It is a 'fairy-story', but one written - according to the belief I once expressed in an
extended essay 'On Fairy-Stories', that they are the proper audience - for adults.
Because I think the fairy-story has its own mode of reflecting truth, different from
allegory, or [sustained] satire, or 'realism', and in some ways more powerful. But first
of all it must succeed just as a tale, excite, please, and even on occasion move, and
within its own imagined world be accorded [literary] belief.
To succeed in that was my primary object. But, of course if one sets out to address
'adults' [mentally adult people anyway], they will not be pleased, excited, or moved
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unless the whole, or the incidents, seem to be about something worth considering,
more e.g. than mere danger and escape; there must be some relevance to the 'human
situation' [of all periods]. So something of the teller's own reflections and 'values' will
inevitably be worked in. This is not the same as allegory. We all, as individuals,
exemplify general principles; but we do not represent them. [Letters p.233]
A similar thread is expressed again as Tolkien writes;
...since each of us is an allegory, embodying in a particular tale and clothed in the
garments of time and space, universal truth and everlasting life. [Letters p.212]
Tolkien's story is set in another world, one of fantasy, where there is no mention of the Triune
God [Holy Trinity] or Jesus' Salvation; but if on the outside, the story and invented world
seems different to a Christian universe, it's on the inside that the underlying Truths and
Parallels reside.
This is, as Tolkien argued, the intrinsic nature and purpose of myth. They carry internal truths;
and the embedded truths or values in the Lord of the Rings have been layered in by a devout
Catholic who believed in the principles, morals and dogmas of his religion.
Tolkien himself mentioned that the Third Age [of Middle-earth] is not a Christian Age, but
continues to say that;
...the Fall of Man is in the past and off stage; the Redemption of Man is in the future.
[M&M p.110]
We are in a time when the One God, Eru, is known to exist and is revered. As Tolkien states:
...there is no embodiment of the 'creator' in this story. [Letters p.237]
i.e. there is no character in the story that is an incarnate form of the One God.
Tolkien's view of the function and importance of myth is clear, but many critics have
continued to disagree and placed the label of 'escapist' firmly at the feet of the Lord of the
Rings as a protest against giving any credence to its quality.
But is it escapist? And what does this mean?
It is important to note Tolkien's own words on this label in his essay.
I will now conclude by considering Escape and Consolation, which are naturally
closely connected. Though fairy-stories are of course by no means the only medium of
Escape, they are today one of the most obvious and [to some] outrageous forms of
'escapist' literature; and it is thus reasonable to attach to a consideration of them,
some considerations of this term 'escape' in criticism generally.
Evidently we are faced by a misuse of words, and also by a confusion of thought. Why
should a man be scorned, if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home?
Or if, when he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than that of jailers
and prison-walls? The world outside has become no less real because he cannot see
it. In using Escape in this way critics have chosen the wrong word, and, what is more,
they are confusing... the Escape of the Prisoner with the Flight of the Deserter. [M&M
p.144-145] [Tolkien, the Monsters and the Critics and Other essays, p.147-148]
Due to the tragedies of his own life, Tolkien understood the ability of the imagination to give
us hope and raise us up. If in escaping to the realm of story, one encounters elements of
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Truth, the truth that sets you free and gives you a glimpse of the joy and hope of living in
God's light then the story is filled by God's grace.
Joseph Pearce [author of Tolkien: Man & Myth] quotes Stephen R. Lawhead in his book on
Tolkien;
...the best of fantasy offers not an escape away from reality, but an escape into a
heightened reality - a world at once more vivid and intense and real, where happiness
and sorrow exist in double measure, where good and evil war in epic conflict, where
joy is made more potent by the possibility of universal tragedy and defeat.
In the very best fantasy, like the Lord of the Rings, we escape into an ideal world
where ideal heroes and heroines [who are really only parts of our true selves] behave
ideally. The work describes human life as it might be lived, perhaps ought to be lived,
against a backdrop, not of all happiness and light, but of crushing difficulty and
overwhelming distress. [M&M p.146]
In today's Christian terminology, the story of the Lord of the Rings might be described as
carrying an anointing.
And if fact from a traditional Christian point of view, religious art is of great value. An image or
painting or sculpture, or more especially, an icon, can be used by God as an instrument of his
grace and power, this is called 'sacramental'. Mans artistic ability is extremely important,
particularly if it flows from his heart and leads him back to God: it becomes True Art because
it reflects and leads to the True Artist and Author of Life.
This life is an exile, and if one dreams of the Home we travel towards, one is not escaping
but returning.
St John of the Cross [a Spanish Saint from the 16th century] describes the purification of the
imagination that the Lord will work in a person who truly desires to be holy and be a saint. The
imagination can be used for good and bad things. Habitual thoughts can uplift and strengthen,
or crush and debase the soul.
Imagining a scene of Jesus embracing me and telling me he loves me is using the
imagination to elevate my heart towards God and fill me with peace. I am imagining the truth
and reality, even though it exists in an unseen world.
Tolkien's story takes us to an imaginary world, but it is a world that reflects the truth and
reality of the Christian struggle in this world. His characters do much the same, as many
display virtue and sacrifice and others display and warn against vice and sin.
There are of course those who do escape into the story for the wrong reasons, but this is
more a reflection of the person who reads it than the literature itself.
Just as art can be used by God, many philosophies that are in opposition to the Law of God
and His Love, also often use art to transmit their beliefs and ideologies. In fact, in the hands of
confused and proud men, even the Bible can be used to twist and distort the true message of
Jesus.
Just look at the numerous fractions and splinters of Christian groups, and others that
associate themselves with the Bible and one can see how this divisive reality is very
damaging to the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus.
This is why, with any story or mythology, one must be very discerning in seeing or hearing the
underlying themes and messages [even if the author claims there are none] within the story.
But here we have a story, an artistic expression that is infiltrated by orthodox morals and
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integrity; a story that has taken small elements of previous story-telling [Greek Legend, Norse
tradition and so on] and raised them to a higher order, the order of Love & Truth.
Aside to Tolkien's heightened and spiritual understanding of myth was his expressed desire
to provide England with a mythological culture, which he felt it lacked. He mentions his intent
in setting himself, ...the task of creating a mythology for England. [Letters p.230]
The Icelandic tradition which Tolkien was very well versed in, had the Kalevala; an oral
tradition of myths and legends that shaped the northern lands and psychology of the people
of the region. Norse myth was very much an inspiration for Tolkien in trying to provide a
mythology for England and his writing was an attempt to reorganize the Kalevala.
[Letters p.214]
And again he states his opinion;
I was from early days grieved by the poverty of my own beloved country: it has no
stories of its own... not of the quality that I sought, and found in legends of other lands.
There was Greek, and Celtic, and Romance, Germanic, Scandinavian and Finnish; but
nothing English; and does not replace what I felt to be missing. [Letters p.144, Letter
131]
It is interesting to note some of the sources Tolkien took elements from,

Beren from Welsh Legends [Celebration p.147]

Turin from Kalevala [Celebration p.147]

Lthien like Oshtar and Orpheus [Celebration, p.25]

Rohirric heroism from the Njall Saga [SFX Magazine Oct 2003]

Nmenor like Atlantis [Letters p.198]
There are of course other myths that would have shaped Tolkien's writing, like Beowulf and
the Edda for example, but this is not the intention of this discussion.
The Silmarillion, Lord of the Rings and Tolkien's other assorted writings deliver a world which
has its own creation story; One God, arch-angels, origin of evil, fall and exile of both of the
important races; geology, geography, botany and politics.
And from the individual races springs a history of kingdoms, peoples, family trees and
complete genealogies. All of this spans tens of thousands of years with the details of the Lord
of the Rings encompassing about 20 years near the end of this timeline. It was a life's work
and in many ways fulfilled his desire to sub-create properly, i.e. give glory to God through it.
Another of the driving forces behind his writing was his interest in languages. In fact it is clear
that his passion for languages and the creation of his own invented languages was part of the
origins of his writing. He was fascinated with words, their origin, development and derivation.
Tolkien became a philologist [studied languages] and spent much of his time researching
them.
Many of the words used in the Lord of the Rings were expressly employed with specific
purpose. Classic examples are:
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the name 'Mordor' containing the Latin root 'mor' to denote death.
the word 'Orc', which probably comes from the Latin 'orcus' meaning hell; or the
Italian 'orco', meaning monster.
and the word 'Shelob', meaning 'She-spider' [lob 'is an old English word for spider]
and there are many others...

His own invented languages were complete and followed many of the natural rules for
languages. The sub-created story was very much something that evolved out of two sub-
created languages that Tolkien spilt his energy into [Sindarin and Quenyan - both elvish]. He
once said that the story was, ...fundamentally linguistic in inspiration [Letters p.219]
He spent much of his teenage years and earlier studies at University passionately making
words and runes. The story then flowed out of this passion.

Final Thoughts:
A woman wrote to Tolkien in 1971 and described her feelings on the Lord of the Rings
pointing out a 'sanity and sanctity' in the story. Tolkien replied;
You speak of 'a sanity and sanctity' in the Lord of the Rings 'which is a power in
itself'.
I was deeply moved. Nothing of the kind had been said to me before. But by a strange
chance, just as I was beginning this letter, I had one from a man, who classified himself
as 'an unbeliever, or at best a man of belatedly and dimly dawning religious feeling'....
but you, he said, 'create a world in which some sort of faith seems to be everywhere
without a visible source, like a light from an invisible lamp'. I can only answer: 'Of his
own sanity no man can securely judge. If sanctity inhabits his work or as a pervading
light illumines it, then it does not come from him but through him. And neither of you
would perceive it in these terms unless it was with you too. [Letters p.413]
To finish this section, it is worth noting Tolkien's attitude toward his writing in the light of his
faith. He saw his gifts as talents from the Good Lord. He knew that he was an instrument with
his artistic pursuits; his sub-creation was something that flowed out of the Primary Creators
hand.
The Silmarillion was offered for publication years ago, and turned down. Good can
come of such blows. The Lord of the Rings was the result... and I saw that I was meant
to do it [as Gandalf would say]. [Letters p.232]
Tolkien once stated;
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Of course, the Lord of the Rings does not belong to me. It has been brought forth and
must go its appointed way in the world, though naturally I take a deep interest in its
fortunes, as a parent would of a child. I am comforted to know that it has good friends
to defend it against the malice of its enemies. [Letters p.413]
Tolkien also understood his responsibility as a writer with Free Will and the great
responsibility he wielded from the way it could affect others;
Great harm can be done, of course, by this potent form of 'myth' - especially wilfully.
The right to 'freedom' of the sub-creator is no guarantee among fallen men that it will
not be used as wickedly as is Free Will. I am comforted by the fact that some, more
pious and learned than I, have found nothing harmful in this Tale or its feigning as a
'myth'... [Letters p.194-195]
Tolkien used his talents to create and express his loves and passions in life, but he never
forgot that he himself was a created being, owing his life to a higher power, and that one day
he would ultimately have to give an account for his life, words, actions and thoughts.
His works, finding reference from many sources have always reflected his Creator and his
Creators love.

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THE MAN:
Much has been written about J.R.R. Tolkien.
Many have covered the important aspects of his life:
the death of his father and then his mother at a young age.
his growing up in rural England.
his pseudo-adoption by a Catholic Priest.
his academic life at Oxford and love of languages and myth.
his experiences in WW1.
his opinion of industry and technology in rural England.
his relationship with C.S. Lewis.
To add to these would be the critical facts of his love of the Catholic Faith, his marriage and
the subsequent birth of his children; and his respect of nature.
Childhood:
Tolkien's Catholic Faith came from his mother. He was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa in
1892 and was one of two brothers born to Mabel and Arthur Tolkien. When Tolkien was three,
the family decided to move back to England. Arthur Tolkien had to stay on in South Africa due
to work commitments and was to follow his wife and sons shortly after. But this never came to
be; he contracted rheumatic fever and died within weeks. He was buried in Bloemfontein.
Hardship now hit the Tolkien family and they ended up living in a small cottage in Sarehole,
rural Birmingham. It was in this location, climbing in trees and playing in the local area, that
Tolkien's love of nature was born; and the origins of the Shire took seed in his heart.
Due to their poor finances, Mabel Tolkien took to educating the children herself. She was
capable in Latin, German and French and had other artistic abilities. At an early age John
Ronald Reuel Tolkien displayed a love of books and languages; and became enamoured of
fables and fairy stories, especially those involving dragons.
At this time Mabel Tolkien started her journey into the Catholic Church. She was baptized and
was immediately cut off by her family. Any financial assistance she had received from both
her own family and that of her late husband now ceased. She suffered persecution and life
was a struggle without any monetary aid, but she never faltered in her love of the Church and
her loyalty to her new found faith.
The stress of this hardship and lack of money took its toll; and consequently lead to her bad
health. Tolkien was baptized as was his brother and after several moves into the city to find
good schooling; Mabel Tolkien brought her family to Birmingham Oratory where she became
good friends with the local parish Priest, Father Francis Xavier Morgan. Her health continued
to deteriorate and after much suffering she slipped into a coma, and died. The year was 1904
and Tolkien was 12.
Tolkien and his brother were moved to live with their aunt, but Father Francis became a
father-figure to the boys and showed them much care and love. Tolkien writes of Father
Francis;
A guardian who had been a father to me, more than most real fathers... [Letters
p.53]
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Tolkien learned much about his faith under Father Francis and developed his keen sense of
charity, mercy and forgiveness. He read many of the lives of the Saints and received excellent
teaching on Scripture and Doctrine.
The sorrow of his mothers death remained with him for the rest of his life and his faith
became a deep source of spiritual and emotional consolation.
Tolkien understood the impact of the sacrifice from his mother in passing on the faith to him,
Later he wrote;
When I think of my mother's death, worn out with persecution, poverty, and largely
consequent, disease, in the effort to hand on to us small boys the Faith, ... and
remember the tiny bedroom... where she died alone, too ill for viaticum, I find it very
hard when my children stray away [from the Church]. [Letters p.353-354] [Viaticum =
Eucharist]
My own dear mother was a martyr indeed, and it was not to everybody that God
grants so easy a way to his great gifts as he did to Hilary and myself, giving us a
mother who killed herself with labour and trouble to ensure us keeping the Faith.
[Tolkien: A Biography p.39]
He was;
...grateful for having been brought up [since I was eight] in a Faith that has nourished
me and taught me all the little that I know; and that I owe to my mother, who clung to
her conversion and died young, largely through the hardships of poverty resulting
from it. [Letters p.172]
The loss of his mother left him with a profound sense of fear and instability and this sense of
nostalgia and sorrow is clearly evident in his writing. But his faith is what supported him and
his writing always contained a deeper hope and joy; and a belief that the darkness is only a
passing thing.
Though Tolkien suffered loss in his life, hope always dwelled in his heart that in the end;
...all tears will be wiped away. [Rev 21:4]
In his schooling Tolkien excelled especially in the philological disciplines and was able to
speak Latin and Greek fluently at the age of 15. Between 1906 and 1911 he privately taught
himself Old Norse, Old English and Gothic and also started inventing languages and writing
poems.
In 1910 Tolkien won a scholarship at Exeter College in Oxford. He started studying classic
languages but soon changed to English Philology and Old Norse. His studies were paid for by
Father Francis.
By the charity of Father Francis, Tolkien and his brother found themselves residing close to
the Oratory [their aunt was less than loving towards the boys]. It was 1908, Tolkien was 17
and he was soon to meet his future wife. He met a young girl, Edith, living downstairs at the
same residence. She also was an orphan and they became close friends, eventually falling in
love. They kept their courtship secret. [Go here to read about Tolkiens time at Birmingham
Oratory]
Father Francis soon learned of the relationship with Edith and upset at the deception forbade
Tolkien from seeing the young woman until he was 21 at which time he could make his own
choices. Tolkien and his brother were moved down the road to another residence.
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John Ronald Reuel Tolkien carried a deep appreciation and love towards Father Francis, and
felt he owed a lot to the Priest. For a time Tolkien obeyed his guardians request and promised
not to continue seeing Edith; but he suffered and recorded his feelings in his diary;
Depressed and as much in dark as ever... God help me. Feel weak and weary.
[Tolkien: A Biography p.50]
Eventually he faltered and the two meet secretly once more. But Edith had accepted the
request of Father Francis and decided to move to Cheltenham to be with a friend.
Once again news of their meetings came to the Priest and once again he made his worries
for his 'adopted' son clear; he would cut off his university studies if he continued to lie and
disobey. They were not to see each other again until Tolkien was 21, he could then choose
what he wanted. Tolkien's diary entries displayed his thoughts once more;
God help me. Saw Edith at midday but would not be her. I owe all to Fr F. and so must
obey ... Last night prayed I would see E. by accident. Prayer answered. Saw her at
12.55 at the Prince of Wales. Told her I could not write and arranged to see her off on
Thursday fortnight. [Tolkien: A Biography p.51]
[Fr.F = Father Francis, read more about him here]
In the 3 years of study that came, Tolkien never again disobeyed Father Francis's request
and remained without contact from Edith. Not once did he write nor attempt to see her. Later
he wrote of this time;
I had to choose between disobeying and grieving [or deceiving] a guardian who had
been a father to me, more than most real fathers....and 'dropping' the love-affair until I
was twenty -one. I don't regret my decision, though it was very hard on my lover. But
that was not my fault. She was perfectly free and under no vow to me, and I should
have no just complaint...if she had got married to someone else. For nearly three years
I did not see or write to my lover.
It was extremely hard, painful and bitter, especially at first... but I don't think anything
else would have justified marriage on the basis of a boy's affair; and probably nothing
else would have hardened the will enough to give such an affair permanence [however
genuine a case of true love]. [Letters p.53]
One can see here the seeds of Aragorn and Arwens' heroic love [and also that of Beren and
Lthien from the Silmarillion]. Tolkien was told by his foster-father he could only continue his
relationship with Edith when he was ready and had passed into manhood [21yrs]; in the same
way Aragorn, is also told by his Elven foster-father, Elrond that he can only have Arwen when
he is ready.
What followed were years of separation for Aragorn and Arwen, where their love is proven,
and is in some way, a romanticised reflection of Tolkien's own trial of love for Edith.

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Tolkien's love of mediaeval literature fed him with a highly romantic idea of love and life.
Charles Mosley [who studied Tolkien] once wrote;
Of course nobody is unaffected by what one reads. If you spend your day reading
books and poems from a world where women are honoured, put on a pedestal -
worshipped even - where the chief male virtues are courage, and honesty, and honour
and generosity, you will in the end come to think in those terms [and may suffer no
harm]. [M&M p.31]
Coupled with Tolkien's foundation of Christian virtue and characteristics, it is not hard to see
why he obeyed Father Francis's edict, and in fact took it as a way of virtue, sanctification and
indeed even providence to prove their love through fire.
Mosley also writes,
These are the values, unfashionable, perhaps inconceivable, now, held by many in
Tolkien's generation, and by not a few in later ones. They are the values that lie at the
heart of the fictions of Middle-earth. [M&M p.32]
Tolkien studied at Oxford and was a good student, though not fantastic. This was mainly due
to some apathy and laziness on Tolkien's part. He majored in Classics but was more
interested in creating his own languages than actually attending his philosophy classes. He
took classes in 'Old Norse, festivity and classical philology'. Neglecting his lectures in Greek
and Latin, Tolkien turned his energies to his invented languages.
Of his time in study he later wrote,
Certainly I have never been nourished by English literature ... for the simple reason
that I have never found much there in which to rest my heart [or heart and head
together]. [Letters p.172]
When the 3 years of exile from Edith was up and Tolkien was 21, he immediately wrote to her
and after a few other details were ironed out, they resumed their relationship.
In 1915 Tolkien graduated with exceptional marks and received First Class Honour's from
Oxford College. After his graduation, he was drafted into the army, but before setting out for
France in July 1916, he married Edith on March the 22nd.
War:
The following months Tolkien spent fighting in the Battle of the Somme where allied forces
lost twenty thousand men on the first day. Almost all of his old school friends were killed
during the war; but Tolkien miraculously survived the battle, was sent home and hospitalized
in November 1916 because of trench fever.
While convalescing from the War he started work on the oldest parts of his Middle-earth
stories which later formed the historical background of his two major works, The Hobbit and
The Lord of the Rings. These background stories, that he called the Book of Lost Tales,
would later be published as the Silmarillion.
It was primarily an outlet for him to express his passion for languages, particularly his own
invented ones.
From the horrors Tolkien witnessed in the war, one can see the how this shaped the themes
of war and conflict in the Lord of the Rings. Humphrey Carpenter in his biography talks of the
animal horror of war that Tolkien witnessed and how it shaped his psyche. [Tolkien: A
Biography p.91]
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Tolkien tried to have certain writings of the Book of Lost Tales [started during WWI] published
but was turned down.
In November 1917 his first son, John, was born.
Professional Life:

After the war he started working as a junior staff member for the Oxford English Dictionary.
In 1920, Tolkien worked as a Reader in English Language at Leeds University and in 1924 he
was appointed professor at Leeds University.
In the following years Tolkien worked on several projects, among them a translation of 'Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight' and a 'Middle-English Dictionary'.
In 1925 he started lecturing at Oxford University. He would remain there for the rest of his
professional career.
During this time his other children were born: Michael in 1920, Christopher in 1924 and
Priscilla in 1929.
Inklings:
From his interest in Old Norse, Tolkien formed a group at Oxford who were interested in
Icelandic myths and sagas. They called it the CoalBiters, which is an anglicized version of an
old Norse word Kolbtar, which referred to those who huddle so close to the fire in winter that
they 'bite the coals'.
It was in this group that Tolkien met C.S. Lewis and their friendship would become very
strong. Tolkien would have an enormous effect of Lewis and vice versa. In fact, in a
conversation that lasted until 4 am in the morning Tolkien and Chesterton [another well known
Christian writer and Oxford Academic] helped in Lewis' conversion to Christianity.
They would later form a literary society called The Inklings and would influence each others
works over the next decades. Tolkien would read poems, stories and chapters of the Hobbit,
Book of Lost Tales and Lord of the Rings to his Inkling-colleagues as he progressed. C.S.
Lewis was instrumental in providing Tolkien with support and encouragement in his writings.
Tolkien: Friendship with Lewis compensates for much, and besides giving constant
pleasure and comfort has done me much good from the contact with a man at once
honest, brave, and intellectual - a scholar, a poet, and a philosopher - a lover, at least
after a long pilgrimage, of Our Lord. [M&M p.60, The Inklings, Carpenter p.52]
Of his early setbacks in trying to have his writings published Tolkien later wrote,
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The Silmarillion was offered for publication for years, and turned down. Good may
come of such blows. The Lord of the Rings was the result. [Letters, p231-232]
In 1928 Tolkien wrote the first pages of The Hobbit. While sitting at his desk the words came
from with-in him as he scribbled, 'in a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit'. He later said he
did know why but that the words just came up out of him.
He continued to write the Hobbit and add to his writings about the mythology of Middle-earth.
In 1937 The Hobbit was finished and published. It was a huge commercial success and
lauded by the critics. The publishers Allen and Unwin demanded a sequel and in 1938 Tolkien
began work on The New Hobbit, which would eventually become his greatest success and
one of the highest selling books of all time: The Lord of the Rings.
Over the next 16 years he worked on The Lord of the Rings and soon discovered that it would
not be a mere childrens book like The Hobbit was, but that it would form the climax of all his
former writings about Middle-earth.
In 1954 the first two volumes The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers were
published, The Return of the King followed in 1955. The trilogy was an instant success. Over
the next 20 years it was translated into all the major languages of the world and became
immensely popular.
Tolkien was understandably worried about how the book would be received.
Tolkien: I am dreading the publication, for it will be impossible not to mind what is
said. I have exposed my heart to be shot at. [Letters p.172]
The books were an instant success with readers, but critics were divided as to whether the
work was brilliant or childish. But more and more, literary scholars and critics alike have
warmed to the scope, nature and themes contained in the Lord of the Rings.
[see here for a timeline of Tolkien's life]
Respect for Nature:
Tolkien's love of nature began as a child in the semi-rural region of Sarehole. He climbed in
the trees near by his house and enjoyed walks in the fields. Later he witnessed the
destruction of this homely land as industry slowly encroached; many trees were cut down or
burnt to make way for factories, plants, foundries and machines.
He saw the small villages in rural England transform into industrial cities where men became
numbers and products were mass produced merely for greed or war. The surrounding green
and idyllic fields and meadows were turned into metal workshops and were continually
overshadowed by billowing smoke that flowed day and night.

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This engendered in Tolkien distrust for most automation and industrial advancement. This
was also fuelled by his experience in World War I, where he saw the horrific destruction and
power these machines and metallic objects could wield and inflict.
His comment;
I am [obviously] much in love with plants and above all trees, and always have been;
and I find human maltreatment of them as hard to bear as some find ill-treatment of
animals. [Letters p.220] in a letter to a correspondent, is deepened by his words to a friend
while walking in the woods close to his home where he said,
Think of the power of a forest on the march... [Celebration p.5] referring to an uprising of
Trees against their cullers.
Religion:
Through all his writings, career, and personal aspects of his life, Tolkien remained faithful to
his Catholic Faith. He did mention he passed through a period of apathy in his dedication to
his faith during the early years of his first son's life. But he never wavered in his belief and
returned to what he knew to be the truth and only Love that would give him fulfilment in life.
He was well read in the works of St Augustine, St Thomas Aquinas and the philosophies of
Aristotle and Plato, Dante and Eliot.
The following are a collection of quotes that illustrate the depth of Tolkien's Catholic faith and
how he saw and understood everything in his life in reference to it. These are but a few of the
in-depth thoughts that Tolkien shared with his children and those who wrote to him.
Faith & Morals:
George Sayer, a personal friend of Tolkien, to Joseph Pearce:
He [Tolkien] wrote to me years later, a letter in which he stated that he attributed
anything good or beautiful in his writing to the influence of Our Lady, 'the greatest
influence in my life'. He meant it. [Celebration p.10-11]
Tolkien: I am a Christian [which can be deduced from my stories] and am in fact a
Roman Catholic. The latter 'fact' [Catholic] perhaps cannot be deduced; though one
critic [by letter] asserted that the invocations of Elbereth, and the character of Galadriel
as directly described [or through the words of Gimli and Sam] were clearly related to
Catholic devotion to Mary.
Another saw in waybread [lembas] = viaticum [Eucharist] and reference to its feeding
the will and with it being more potent when fasting, a derivation from the Eucharist.
[that is, far greater things may colour the mind in dealing with the lesser things of a
fairy-story]. [Letters p.288] [Tolkien argued this was in fact the purpose of Myth, to reflect
Truth and draw one to it. See Truth and Myth]
It takes a fantastic will to unbelief to suppose that Jesus never really 'happened'
[Letters p.338]
Tolkien: You speak of 'sagging faith'... In the last resort faith is an act of the will,
inspired by love. Our love may be chilled and our will eroded by the spectacle of the
shortcomings, folly, and even sins of the Church and its ministers, but I do not think
that one who has had faith goes back over the line for these reasons. 'Scandal' at most
is an occasion of temptation - as indecency is to lust, which it does not make but
arouses. It is convenient because it finds a scape-goat... The temptation to 'unbelief'
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[which really means rejection of Our Lord and His claims] is always there within us.
Part of us longs to find an excuse for it outside of us. The stronger the inner
temptation the more readily shall we be 'scandalized' by others. [M&M p.192-193,
Letters p.337]
Tolkien: So morals should be a guide to our human purposes. the conduct of our
lives: [a] the ways in which our individual talents can be developed without waste or
misuse; and [b] without injuring our kindred or interfering with their development.
[Beyond this and higher lies self-sacrifice for love]. [Letters p.399]
Tolkien: Actually I am a Christian and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect
"history to be anything but a "long defeat- though it contains [and in legend may
contain more clearly and movingly] some samples or glimpses of final victory. [Letters
p.255]
Tolkien: Not that one should forget the wise words of Charles Williams that it is our
duty to tend the accredited and established altar, though the Holy Spirit may send the
fire down somewhere else. God cannot be limited [even by his own foundations] - of
which St Paul is the first & prime example - and may use any channel for His grace.
[Letters p.339 - footnote]
Tolkien: Even to love our Lord and to call him Lord is a grace, and may bring more
grace. Nonetheless, speaking institutionally, and not of individual souls, the channel
must eventually run back into the ordained course, or run into the sands and perish.
Besides the Sun there may be Moonlight [even enough to read by]; but if the Sun were
removed there would be no Moon to see. What would Christianity now be if the Roman
Catholic Church had in fact been destroyed? [Letters p.339 - footnote]
Tolkien: I owe a great deal to being treated, surprisingly for the time, in a more rational
way. Fr Francis obtained permission for me to retain my scholarship at King Edwards
School and continue there, and so I had the advantage of a [then] first rate school and
that of a 'good Catholic home' - 'in excelsis': virtually a junior inmate of the Oratory
house, which contained many learned Fathers [largely 'converts']. Observance of
religion was strict. [Letters p.395]
Tolkien: As a man whose childhood was darkened by persecution I find this hard but
charity must cover a multitude of sins. [Letters p.395]
Catholic website Zenit;
He once told an audience of Oxford dons, when it was rather unpopular to be open
about one's religious beliefs, that as much as he loved his academic specialty,
philology, it was unnecessary for salvation. [Zenit.org - article here]
The Church:
Regarding the changes that the Second Vatican Council brought into the Church:
Tolkien: I think there is nothing to do but pray, for the Church, the Vicar of Christ, and
for ourselves; and meanwhile exercise the virtue of loyalty, which indeed only
becomes a virtue when one is under pressure to desert it. [Letters p.393]
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Regarding trends in the Church:
Tolkien: The 'protestant' search backwards for 'simplicity' and directness - which, of
course, though it contains some good or at least intelligible motives, is mistaken and
indeed vain. Because 'primitive Christianity' is now and in spite of all 'research', will
ever remain largely unknown; because 'primitiveness' is no guarantee of value, and is
and was in great part a reflection of ignorance.
Grave abuses were as much an element in Christian 'liturgical' behaviour from the
beginning as now [St Paul's strictures on Eucharistic behaviour are sufficient to show
this!] Still more because 'my church' was not intended by Our Lord to be static or
remain in perpetual childhood; but to be a living organism [likened to a plant], which
develops and changes in externals by the interaction of its bequeathed divine life and
history - the particular circumstances of the world into which it is set. [Letters p.394]
Tolkien continues with his analogy for the Church and vain searches for 'primitive'
Christianity.
Tolkien: There is no resemblance between the 'mustard seed' and the full grown tree.
For those living in the days of its branching growth the Tree is the 'thing', for the
history of a living thing is part of its life, and the history of a divine thing is sacred. The
wise may know that it began with a seed, but it is in vain to try and dig it up, for it no
longer exists, and the virtue and powers that it had now reside in the Tree.
Very good: but in husbandry, the authorities, the keepers of the Tree, must look after
it, according to such wisdom as they possess; prune it, remove cankers, rid it of
parasites, and so forth. [with trepidation, knowing how little their knowledge of growth
is!]. But they will certainly do harm, if they are obsessed with the desire of going back
to the seed or even to the first youth of the plant when it was [as they imagine] pretty
and un-afflicted by evils. [Letters p.394]
On the danger of modernism in the Church:
Tolkien: The other motive [now confused with the primitivist one, even in the mind of
any one of the reformers]: is 'aggiornamento': bringing up to date: that has its own
grave dangers, as has been apparent throughout history. [Letters p.394]
On his belief in the Catholic Church:
Tolkien: I myself am convinced by the Petrine claims, nor looking around the world
does there seem much doubt which [if Christianity is true] is the True Church, the
temple of the Spirit; dying but living, corrupt but holy, self-reforming and re-arising.
But for me that Church of which the Pope is the acknowledged head on earth has a
chief claim that is the one that has [and still does] ever defended the Blessed
Sacrament, and given it most honour, and put it [as Christ plainly intended] in the
prime place. [Letters p.339]
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Communion:
Regarding his love of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament:
Tolkien: Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one
great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament.... There you will find romance,
glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth, and more than
that: Death: by the divine paradox, that which ends life, and demands the complete
surrender of all, and yet by the taste [or foretaste] of which alone can give you what
you what you seek in your earthly relationships [love, faithfulness, joy] be maintained,
or take on the complexity of reality, of eternal endurance, which every man's heart
desires. [Letters p.53-54]
Regarding the Blessed Sacrament and his children:
Tolkien: But I fell in love with the Blessed Sacrament from the beginning - and by the
Mercy of God have never fallen out again: but alas! I indeed did not live up to it. I
brought you all up ill and talked to you too little. Out if wickedness and sloth I almost
ceased to practice my religion - especially at Leeds, and at 22 Northmoor Rd.
Not for me the Hound of Heaven, but the never-ceasing silent appeal of the Tabernacle,
and the sense of starving hunger. I regret those days bitterly [and suffer for them with
such patience as I can be given]; most of all because I failed as a father. Now I pray for
you all, unceasingly, that the Healer [the Hlend as the Saviour was called in Old
English] shall heal my defects, and that none of you shall ever cease to cry 'Benedictus
qui venit nomine Domini' - [Blessed in He who comes in the name of the Lord]. [Letters
p.340]
Tolkien: I find it for myself hard to believe that anyone who has ever been to
Communion, even once, with at least the right intention, can ever reject Him without
grave blame. [However, He alone knows each unique soul and its circumstances].
[Letters p.338]
Regarding keeping up ones faith:
Tolkien: The only cure for sagging or fainting faith is Communion. Though always
Itself, perfect and complete and inviolate: the Blessed Sacrament does not operate
completely and once for all in any of us. Like the act of Faith it must be continuous and
grow by exercise. Frequency is of the highest effect. Seven times a week is more
nourishing than seven times at intervals. [Letters p.338]
Regarding leaving the Church due to scandal:
Tolkien: ...but I now know enough about myself to be aware that I should not leave the
Church [which for me would mean leaving allegiance to Our Lord] for any such
reasons: I should leave because I did not believe..... I should deny the Blessed
Sacrament, that is: call Our Lord a fraud to His face..... [Letters p.337-339]
Prayer & Adoration:
Regarding seeing his Guardian Angel in prayer:
Tolkien: It also reminded me of a sudden vision I had not long ago when spending half
and hour in St Gregory's before the Blessed Sacrament. I perceived or thought of the
Light of God and in it suspended one small mote, glittering white... And the ray was the
Guardian Angel of the mote: not a thing interposed between God and the creature, but
God's very attention itself, personified... a real [finite] person. [Letters p.99]
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Tolkien: I pray for you - because I have a feeling [more a certainty] that God, for some
ineffable reason which to us may seem like humour, is so curiously ready to answer
the prayers of the least worthy of his supplicants - if they pray for others. I do not of
course mean to say that He only answers the prayer of the unworthy [who ought not to
expect to be heard at all], or I should not now be benefiting by the prayers of others.
[Letters p.401]
Tolkien believed firmly in the power of prayer. He and Edith attributed the healing of a heart
ailment of one of their children to prayer. [www.christianitytoday.com, article here]
Marriage:
Regarding the modern idea of love and sex in the Western world:
Tolkien: Its weakness is of course, that it began as an artificial courtly game, a way of
enjoying love for its own sake without reference to [and indeed contrary to] matrimony.
Its centre was not God, but imaginary Deities, Love and the Lady. It still tends to make
the Lady a kind of guiding star or divinity... This is, of course, false and at best make-
believe. The woman is another fallen human-being with a soul in peril. But combined
and harmonized with religion ... it can be very noble... One result of that is to make
young folk look for 'love' that will keep them always nice and warm in a cold world,
without any effort of theirs; and the incurably romantic go on looking even in the
squalor of the divorce courts. [M&M p.48-50, Letters p.48-49]
Regarding the sacrifice needed in marriage:
Tolkien: However, the essence of a fallen world is that the best cannot be attained by
free enjoyment, or by what is called 'self-realization' [usually a nice name for self-
indulgence, wholly inimical to the realization of other selves]; but by denial, by
suffering. Faithfulness in Christian marriage entails that: great mortification... No man,
however truly he loved his betrothed and bride as a young man, has lived faithful to
her as a wife in mind and body without deliberate conscious exercise of the will,
without self-denial.
Too few are told that - even those brought up in the Church. Those outside seem
seldom to heard of it. When the glamour wears off, or merely works a bit thin, they
think they have made a mistake, and that the real soul-mate is still to find. The real
soul-mate too often proves to be the next sexually attractive person to come along...
[M&M p.50, Letters p.51-52]
Regarding true love:
Tolkien: In such great inevitable love, often love at first sight, we catch a vision, I
suppose, of marriage as it should have been in an un-fallen world. In this fallen world
we have as our only guides; prudence, wisdom [rare in youth, too late in age], a clean
heart, and fidelity of will... [M&M p.50, Letters p.51-52]
Tolkien's marriage to Edith wasn't without trouble and they passed through trials. But they
remained faithful to each other and God. [M&M p.52-53]
Later in Life:
After retiring in 1959, Tolkien spent most of his time working on his languages and writing
about Middle-earths history before the War of the Ring.
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In 1971 Edith died, aged 82, and, one year later, Tolkien returned to Oxford and resided at
his old college. He received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University and was named a
Commander of the British Empire.
When Tolkien was visiting friends in the sea-side town of Bournemouth in August 1973 he fell
ill and died on September the 2nd, aged 81.
Tolkien lived a humble and simple life:
Tolkien: I am a hobbit, [in all except size]. I like gardens, trees and un-mechanised
farmlands; I smoke a pipe, and like good plain food... [Letters p.288]
He did not like the attention that the Lord of the Rings brought him, but he always wrote back
to those who had written to him with comments or questions regarding his works.
His son Christopher continued to edit many of Tolkien's works after his death. He poured
through the huge amount of manuscripts and papers his father had left. He has published
almost everything Tolkien has ever written about Middle-earth.
The most famous work that has been posthumously published by Christopher Tolkien is The
Silmarillion, a book about the earliest days of Elves and Men in Middle-earth.

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CREATION:
If you have not read the Silmarillion, it may be worth coming back to this page after having
read the remainder of the site, except for Metaphysical Elements which should be read after
this page.
This page gives a commentary on the mythology and creation of Middle-earth and compares
it with traditional Catholic doctrine and understanding of our own universe's creation. This
page deals more with the Silmarillion than the Lord of the Rings but it is still essential in the
overall understanding of Middle-earth and of how Tolkiens world is a mythical reflection of our
own.
Introduction:
Before discussing some of the details of the creation story of Middle-earth it's worth looking
into the art of story telling....
This page should really be called 'Sub-creation', as that is what Tolkien understood his artistic
pursuits to be, [see Truth and Myth]
"Since the Christian joy, the Gloria, has redeemed Man, it has also redeemed the sub-
creativity of man... [M&M p.105]
Great harm can be done, of course, by this potent form of 'myth' - especially wilfully.
The right to 'freedom' of the sub-creator is no guarantee among fallen men that it will
not be used as wickedly as is Free Will. I am comforted by the fact that some, more
pious and learned than I, have found nothing harmful in this Tale or its feigning as a
'myth'... [Letters p.194-195]
In Truth and Myth it was explained how Tolkien viewed Myth [from his own words] and its
place in relation to the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
This is not a new understanding, but comes from a combination of Ancient Philosophy
and the Catholic Church.
Tolkien's attitude to man's artistic pursuits has very much been derived from St Thomas
Aquinas.
God --> God's Art [Primary Creation] --> Man --> Man's Art [Sub-Creation]
From the ancient philosophers, myth was understood to have carried certain Truths [Aristotle,
Plato, Cicero]. In their pursuit of Truth and understanding of Reality and Being, the Ancients
believed that certain Truths could be contained in old Myth and could be grasped from it. Myth
was considered sort of untouchable, beyond critique. Tolkien has adopted this attitude, and
has considered certain Truths as being held in the old pagan myths, though sometimes they
are distorted or mixed with other lies. So they carried some Truths or splintered light. It is
because these stories are essentially a reflection on reality and an attempt to grasp at eternal
concepts.
In the Theology of the Body [here & Christopher Wests commentary here & here], Pope John
Paul II gives reflection on the Genesis creation accounts. He mentions that they are almost
mythic in their nature. He uses this term in the sense that they use a language that conveys
and transfers a deeper truth than is apparent on the surface of the story. He does not mean
that they are not true. This has always been Tolkiens understanding of myth and the Pope
confirms this in a small way [see Truth and Myth]
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When we say 'Truths' in old myth above, we are referring more to the Natural Moral Law that
has been written into the heart of every man by the Creator. When these myths were written
and developed by men, they have contained and transported Truths and Realities from this
Natural Law; and they have even, at times, expressed higher elements above and beyond
that.
The Catholic Church has always taught and maintained that belief in the existence of God
can be attained through the natural light of the reason, i.e. through philosophy & natural
wisdom [cf. Aristotle, Plato]. This is why the Church has always respected these searches for
Truth from men who searched for Reality in Being. They didn't understand everything
correctly [they got some things wrong], but their sincere search lead them into Divine
Objective Truth through their reasoning and subjective experience in reality.
But to go any further than that, we have needed Revelation, which is God revealing the true
nature of Himself to man. And that has been done in the Old Law of Israel and in Jesus
Christ.
Now, in the Revelation of Christ, all these stories and myths have found true culmination and
expression. True Reality. All these myths and legends have inadvertently pointed towards
the appearance of God becoming Man and the Redeeming Act [Incarnation, Crucifixion and
Resurrection] of Jesus who is the Fullness of the Truth.
It is the true story, true legend and True Myth.
But with one fundamental difference. The Gospel of Jesus is God's True Story revealed by
Him to man through the very real, tangible and concrete facts of the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ: the Word made Flesh. The flesh can be touched, seen,
experienced. Jesus' Body reveals the reality of the His person [One Divine Person with two
natures: divine and human] and His disciples witnessed this. They ate with Him. They spoke
with Him. They received the Full Revelation of God in the world through their real experience
of Jesus.
Whereas the other 'myths' are man's stories, attempting to express some perception of God,
'gods' or eternal things. If you like, they have grasped at something revealed to them from
within their minds and souls which reflect their creator; they have tapped into their moral
conscience, reflected on reality and understood some part of the Truth. Though not all of it
due to their fallen nature.
In Revelation, Jesus comes and reveals the True Nature of God and True Reality. True
Reality because God is the Author of All Reality and Being.
Consider Tolkiens own words:
Christianity, the True Myth, has reconciled all lesser myths to itself. The lesser myths,
in the form of fairy story or romance, were derived from Reality, or are flowing into it.
However inadequate in themselves, they still offered a glimpse of the greater Truth
from which they spring or into which they flow.
But this story has entered History and the Primary World; the desire and aspiration of
sub-creation has been raised to the fulfilment of Creation. The Birth of Christ is the
'eucatastrophe' of Man's history. The Resurrection is the 'eucatastrophe' of the story of
the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy.
It has pre-eminently the 'inner consistency of reality'. There is no tale ever told that
men would rather find was true, and none which so many sceptical men have accepted
as true on its own merits. For the Art of it has the supremely convincing tone of
Primary Art. That is, of Creation. [M&M p.104-105]
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Man the story teller would have to be redeemed in a manner consonant with his
nature: by a moving story. But since the author of it is the supreme Artist and Author
of Reality, this one was also made to Be, to be true on the Primary Plane. [M&M p.104-
105]
Now, from this perception, Tolkien has delved into expressing his love of languages, fairy
tales and belief in Truth,
through myth....as a sub-creative art-form;
so as to reveal deeper Truths lying behind the fabric of the story. The Lord of the Rings is
beautifully mythic.
But, interestingly, he didn't consider himself a philosopher.
Fairy Tales:
Tolkien said his stories were a literary expression. He wrote to excite, move, entertain and
please. He wrote a story: a fairy tale and a fantasy saga.
Most Fairy Tales are quest stories. Usually they are journeys to find something at the end.
They are quests to find something that will save the world or the person in focus. And in
Quest, the character(s) pass through fire, trial and suffering and come out the other side
changed.
It usually involves a physical journey, like a pilgrimage, that reflects the inner movement of
the soul towards change and a greater existence. This is why Catholics [and Muslims and
Jews] make pilgrimages to holy sites. The external movement reflects the internal spiritual
reality.
In the case of the Lord of the Rings, the Quest is to destroy something at the end. But, in
ridding the world of the object, true freedom is found. In killing the Ring, there is life. In
destroying evil, Goodness can prosper.
Tolkien confirmed this thinking;
God created us incomplete, because the kind of creature than can only be perfected
by its own choices [and so through Quest and trial], is more glorious than the kind that
has only to be, whatever it was made to be by another. [M&M p.107]
Tolkien once made the assertion that he considered;
...fairy story one of the highest forms of literature. [Letters p.220]
But why is this? His understanding of man's pilgrimage through life and hence his salvation
are caught up in this statement. God has created us as free rational creatures. He would like
us to choose and love him freely.
After the fall, man needed ennoblement. This is granted in Jesus; but the application of it in
our lives causes purification and regeneration. It causes change in our lives - otherwise called
daily conversion, - if we pray and co-operate with the Grace offered to us each day.
It is through trial, self-sacrifice, inner struggle, practice of virtue; all driven and aided, in and
by the Grace of Christ, through prayer, the sacraments and the teachings of the Church, that
we are regenerated.
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Fairy tales being quest stories reflect this Truth of our salvation.
Also caught up in this statement, is Tolkien's understanding of sub-creation. God is the
Creator of the universe; He is eternal and true and what he has created is universally good.
Satan, on the other hand, cannot create; he only corrupts and destroys what God has
created.
Satan despises God for having 'lowered Himself' and dirtied Himself with matter, so he has
wanted to implicate creation in his own fall to show God how he was wrong.
Satan often mocks God. He is often referred to as the great Ape of God. In making us in his
image and likeness God has given us the ability to pro-create and also sub-create; using our
artistic talents; incorporating our imagination, reason, memory and all our faculties, etc.... and
from this it can be said that...
one of the highest forms of art is in fact fantasy...
because we are truly participating in God's gift. Fantasy is a true expression of 'Let it be'.
Let there be hobbits! Let there be Elves! Let there be Middle-earth! Tolkien once stated that
the words 'in a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit' just came up out of him; from his inner
being, from his imagination.
Of course, the themes and morals must be in-line with God's Law to be pleasing to him
for the use of the gift to be fully realised.
But in creating like he did, he participated and expressed his gift of sub-creation that the Lord
has given.
With this same understanding, one of the lowest forms of art is satire, because it mocks. And
one of the lowest forms of humour is sarcasm, because it mocks.
Morality in Sub-creation:
It is easy to overlook the fundamental structure that Tolkien has infused into the story. It can
be even be 'belittled' with the idea that the morals have only come from the times in which
Tolkien lived. Or due to him being a devout Catholic, he had some archaic ideas that he just
accepted because he was brought up that way (conventionalism)...
In Conflict of Good and Evil, it will be discussed how Tolkiens world and mythological
makeup reflects and mirrors Christian philosophy and theology. In Eomer's first discussion
with Aragorn, Tolkien points out that a man must judge:
...as he ever has judged. Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear; nor are they
one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among Men. It is a man's part to
discern them... [LotR p.428]
Man must judge his times and his course of action in those times in the same way as he has
always done. His course of action is principally still the same now as it is from the beginning
of time. Right and Wrong haven't changed. Certainly the complexity of our lives have changed
but this shouldn't effect the:
Moral Principles versus Moral Practice.
The Practice of morality has always been hard due to our fallen nature, but the Principles of
morality have generally been solid for many thousands of years. One can know the moral
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yardstick in life, but may find it hard to practice or implement it. This has changed in later
times.
Morality has become a fog of feelings, of intentions, of experiences. The practice, rather than
the principles, is redefining and even driving our moral principles. This reversal is leading to
the very breakdown of our modern societies....the destruction of the family, and hence the
destruction of man in his very being.
What's interesting is that almost every major culture and religion in man's history has believed
in Absolute Moral Principles to some degree. It is only in the last 50-100 years that western
man believes he is more enlightened and thinks that his morals should shift to fit his times. In
other words, morality has become relative, i.e. 'whatever you choose is right and wrong is
right and wrong' -- 'That's true for you but this is true for me'.
Subjective experience is no longer answerable to objective reality. The relativistic idealology:
'I think, therefore I am'
...leads to a method of referencing reality, and morality, in oneself rather than in objective
reality: God.
This relativism is something that Tolkien dispels with the very nature of his story.
St Thomas Aquinas would say 'God is, therefore I am'.
All our pains, sufferings and experiences of life should look to and seek understanding in light
of Jesus Christ who has suffered like us all and even more than we could ever have. Christ
fully reveals man to himself.
Chesterton, a great friend and colleague of Tolkien once said;
To a man who has lost all his principles, morality is always dreadfully complicated
Now, there are those who say that Tolkien's world is morally simplistic. Once again this is not
the truth. Usually those who say this are uncomfortable with the objective nature of Good and
Evil as they are set out in the story.
These black and white pillars of Truth in the story do not mean that there is no grey
between these pillars.
This is the same in our world. This 'grey' exists in our beings as we struggle between Good
and Evil; and it makes the reasons why we struggle to do the good and fall into sin, very
complex. But if you remove the Black and White poles, if you remove the Eternal Truths of:
Right and Wrong,
Justice and Injustice,
Natural and Un-natural,
Love and Selfishness....etc...
... you end up with everything being clouded by a fog of confusion and uncertainty as to what
is Truth and what is Lie; as to what is Good and what will lead to destruction of the human
person.
You end up being able to rationalize and justify anything because there is no true Good and
Evil. The 'first premise' or first principles are wrong; therefore all the reasoning and
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understanding that flows from this incorrect starting point will be wrong. Truth has become
just what each man or society thinks is his own truth or collective truth.
This does not mean that correct moral paths are always easy to discern, but they can be
properly reasoned through a process based on Correct Moral Principles [correct 'first
premise'] which are solid, and flow from Truths of Classical Philosophy [not purely existential
philosophy which is often disordered and lacks objectivity] and Revealed Divine Truth
[Revelation] about man in his dignity, as a created being of God, and Jesus offering man the
Way Home.
While the Lord of the Rings has these poles of Light and Dark in the story; there is still the
reality of our human condition that reflects the truth of our complex struggles. The very
temptational nature of the Ring, weaknesses of certain characters, and pressures of what is
at stake, bring a reality and depth of the human condition at play on the field between the
Light and Dark of Middle-earth [c.f. Boromir, Gollum, Frodo, Denethor and Bilbo & Saruman]
This reflects the realities of our world and the 'grey' in each of us as we struggle to live
according to justice and love. But we mustn't fool ourselves into thinking everything is grey,
including our moral principles and understanding of Truth.
Another key aspect often missed by many Tolkien analysts is the pervading presence of the
inviolable Catholic principle: "one can never do evil in order to achieve a perceived or actual
good". Or perhaps when written this way more readers will recognise it: "the ends do not
justify the means".
This moral principle is one of the most important principles in Catholic morality and this
principle is held and taught consistently throughout the Lord of the Rings.
In the book, those who are evil or who are tempted or ensnared by evil want to do the
contrary; e.g., use an intrinsic evil (the ring) to try to save the world (Boromir, Denethor,
Saruman). Contrast this with Gandalf who knows his weakness, and recognises that he could
possibly be ensnared by evil to use the ring to do good; and therefore ensures that he never
touches it.
As pointed out in Truth and Myth, Tolkien held that there was a further purpose embedded in
writing myth; he wanted to pass these moral and spiritual truths that he held onto all his life.
Modern man would do well to heed Tolkien's ideas.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Mythology:
Finally, the mythology....
There is so much in the creation mythology of Middle-earth that this section won't endeavour
to cover it all, but just give an overview of how Tolkien's world is similar to our own in its
creation narrative and mythological makeup.
Tolkien's world is not a direct mirror of our own. However there are certain similarities and
structures that give interesting insight into Middle-earth and the mythology of the Lord of the
Rings.
There is of course a mythological structure behind the story.... It is a 'monotheistic'
but 'sub-creational' mythology. [Letters p.235-236]
[Monotheistic = belief in One God]
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Tolkien describes his creation as sub-creational. Why? The first reason is that like St Thomas
Aquinas, he understood God as the Primary Artist in the universe and his artistic pursuits
flowed from this reality. But another reason why he mentions this is to firmly and humbly
submit his sub-creation under the authority and majesty of the True Artist.
Tolkien hasn't set up a new religion or philosophy of mythological beliefs for man to then give
worship or reverence to. He has written a story, a story that sits inside and under the
fundamental creative power of God. By mentioning it is sub-creational he is acknowledging
that the Truth in its fullest sense is far greater and deeper than anything he could write or
invent. But his story does reflect and point to the greater Truth [see Metaphysical Elements]
And what is the Truth, as Pontius Pilate asked?
The Truth is Jesus Christ, I am the Way, the Truth and Life.
Origins:
At the beginning of the Silmarillion there are in fact two accounts of the Source and Creation
of Middle-earth, much like the Bible.
The two accounts in the Bible are figurative & symbolic stories that give us the deep Truths of
our Being and Existence.
The first one is very transcendent. In it God uses light [which reflects his intellect] and wills
the universe into Being through his Word. It is metaphysical and powerful in the way it
describes how man and woman is created. It is often referred to as the Yahwist text because
God is named this way and it is quite objective.
The second is more imminent [closer and personal]. God uses gestures [rather than word] in
creating the world and man. The gestures demonstrate a loving kindness and fatherly touch.
God caresses as He shapes and moulds man and woman. It is more personal and interactive.
This text is referred to the Elohist version of the Genesis creation account and is more
subjective as it looks at man as a created subject of the Loving God.
Tolkien's two accounts of the Creation of Middle-earth are in fact similar to this. The first is
very metaphysical and transcendent as it uses Music to describe the Creation. The second is
more personal and interactive as it delves into the position and figures of the Valar and their
roles and interactions in the created world.
In both stories, Tolkien explains that at the very beginning of the mythology there existed an
eternal being Eru [Ilvatar], the Father of All. And that from his thought came the Holy Ones.
There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilvatar; and he made first the Ainur,
the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before
him before aught else was made. [Sil p.4]
These 'Holy Ones' are the Ainur, or Valar, or angelic guardians ... who have been
created by Eru before all else [Letters p.387]. They are the 'offspring of his thought'.
First of all, we have One Being, existing before all else; who is eternal, all-powerful, infinite
and divine. He is also 'good' and acts with love. His actions and thoughts prove this. He is the
One-God of Middle-earth. This is the first major and critical parallel in the mythology with the
Judeo-Christian God.
Next, we have the 'thought' of Eru that brings into life the Ainur [angelic powers or Valar].
They are the 'offspring of his thought'. The thought of Eru is efficacious. It is in movement and
produces an effect: it creates. It gives life.
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For those familiar with Orthodox Catholic teaching, this sense of the thought of Ilvatar
having offspring, and the fecundity [fertility] of it, is reflective of Jesus as the Word of God.
When God begins to create the world he used the words 'Let there be light'. He uses the verb
to be.
St John writes in his Gospel:
In the beginning was the Word:
the Word was with God and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things came into being,
not one thing came into being except through him.
[John 1:1-3]
Jesus is the Word of God; the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, co-existing eternally with
the Father from the beginning. Through Jesus, everything has been made. Every person has
been brought into being by the Father, through Jesus and in the Spirit.
In French the expression for the Word of God is Le Verb de Dieu, which in English translates
closer to The Verb of God. And as we know, a verb is a doing word. It produces an effect.
Everything has been brought into being by the Verb of God, when the Father said 'Be'.
We have all existed in the thought of the Father since eternity, existing from the beginning.
And it is through the Verb [Word] of God, Jesus, the great 'I AM' who IS, that we are all
brought into being at the particular moment [in time and space] of our conception. The angels
are the same as they have also been created through Jesus and owe their existence to Him.
Jesus, the Word of God is efficacious, not just in creating but also in saving.
So there is a similar theme of thought existing with Tolkien's God of Middle-earth and our own
Triune God. Gods Thought is one with His Word and His Will. There is no disunion.
Regarding the Ainur [Valar], Tolkien continues:
And he [Eru] spoke to them, profunding to them themes of music; and they sang only
each alone, or but a few together, while the rest hearkened; for each comprehended
only that part of the mind of Ilvatar from which he came, and in the understanding of
their brethren they grew but slowly. Yet ever as they listened they came to deeper
understanding, and increased in unison and harmony.
And it came to pass that Ilvatar called together all the Ainur and declared to them a
mighty theme, unfolding to them things greater and more wonderful than he had yet
revealed; and the glory of its beginning and the splendour of its end amazed the Ainur,
so that they bowed before Ilvatar and were silent. [Sil p.3]
So Eru begins to reveal to the Valar his glory and majesty, but he does this is the form of
musical themes. The Music of Ilvatar is basically the term of his thought, but put into Music.
The Music is like his Word. The Music [Word] of Eru. It is not an exact reflection as will be
shown a little further on but it has similar characteristics.
...In this Music the World has begun... [Sil p.15]
Through him [the Word] all things came into being... [John 1:1-3]
The Valar, like the angels in Heaven adoring God, bow towards Eru in a gesture of worship
and reverence in awe of the Great Plan they have seen and understood in the music. Each
Vala understood only a part at first, but as they listened more intently they began to 'see' the
overall plan in relation to others. This is another major parallel to the Judeo-Christian God and
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His plan being shown to the angels in Heaven and the profound adoration and worship they
give Him in response.
Eru then invites the Valar to contribute to this music themselves. In fact he wills it.
Then Ilvatar said to them: 'Of the theme that I have declared to you, I will now that ye
make in harmony together a Great Music. And since I have kindled you with the Flame
Imperishable, ye shall show forth your powers in adorning this theme, each with his
own thought and devices, if he will. But I will sit and hearken, and be glad that through
you great beauty has been wakened into song.' "
Then the voices of the Ainur, like unto harps and flutes, and pipes and trumpets, and
viols and organs, and like unto countless choirs singing with words, began to fashion
the theme of Ilvatar to a great music; and a sound arose of endless interchanging
melodies woven in harmony that passed beyond hearing into the depths and into the
heights, and the places of the dwelling of Ilvatar were filled to overflowing, and the
music and the echo of the music went out into the void, and it was not void.
Never since have the Ainur made any music like to this music, though it has been
said that a greater still shall be made before Ilvatar by the choirs of the Ainur and the
Children of Ilvatar after the end of days. Then the themes of Ilvatar shall be played
aright, and take Being in the moment of their utterance, for all shall then understand
fully his intent in the part, and each shall know the comprehension of each, and
Ilvatar shall give to their thoughts the Secret Fire, being well pleased. [Sil p.4]
And from the second account of Creation:
"...In this Music the World has begun; for Ilvatar made visible the song of the Ainur,
and they beheld it as a light in the darkness. And many among them became
enamoured of its beauty, and of its history which they saw beginning and unfolding as
in a vision. Therefore Ilvatar gave to their vision, Being, and set it amid the Void, and
the Secret Fire was sent to burn at the heart of the World, and it was called E. [Sil
p.15]
E = It IS
This is where there is a marked difference in Tolkiens mythology and Christian
understanding of creation. In the Catholic understanding, the angels had no part in the
creation of the world.
The world was brought into Being solely by the Love of the Trinity: the Father willed it through
Jesus and in the Spirit. There is a continual movement of love in the Holy Trinity: the Father
loves the Son and the Son loves the Father. This love between them is a person, the Spirit.
And this perpetual movement of love overflows so that God wants to create and share His
Life with other beings. Therefore he creates rational creatures to freely love Him. It is the
same in Christian marriage which is a reflection of the Trinity, but also a reflection of Christ,
the Bridegroom, and the Church, the Bride.
In Tolkien's mythology Eru invites the Valar to contribute to the Music [which will form the
world] and this then will go out into the Void and it will be Void no longer. Eru gives Being
from the Music, that has it source in him, but that the Valar have also contributed to.
So the angelic powers have a limited role to play in helping with the creation of Arda [the
created world]. BUT, their role is partial and derivative; and more importantly, they have no
part in the creation of the Children of Middle-earth: i.e. the free rational creatures, Elves and
Men. As Tolkien points out:
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They [the Valar] shared in it's making - but only on the same terms as we make a work
of art or story. The realization of it; the gift to it of a created reality of the same grade
as their own, was the act of the One God. [Letters p.235-236]
For the Children of Ilvatar were conceived by him alone [Ilvatar]; and they came
with the third theme [of music], and were not in the theme which Ilvatar propounded
at the beginning, and none of the Ainur [Valar] had part in their making. [Sil p.7]
Elves and Men were called the 'Children of God', because they were, so to speak, a
private addition to the Design, by the Creator, and one in which the Valar had no
part.... [Letter p.285]
Referring to the Children of Ilvatar [Elves and Men] Tolkien again mentions:
For help they [the children] may call on a Vala [like Elbereth], as a Catholic might on a
Saint, though no doubt knowing in theory as well as he, that the power of the Vala was
limited and derivative.
That is, the Valar could help in the creation of the world and subsequently help the peoples in
that world; but this participation and aid always found its source, power and authority in the
One God who granted them the ability to do so.
Therefore, their participation in the primary-creation is sub-creative, like making a work of art,
as Tolkien stated. Eru is the sole Creator, and the Valar, through a gift and invitation of Eru,
become sub-creators. And their succour for the peoples of Middle-earth, who were created
solely by Eru*, is something granted to them by Eru [Ilvatar]
* - The dwarves are an exception - see below.
While this difference between Tolkien's mythology and Christianity is critical, it is not at odds
with the natural moral laws in our own universe as it is love which gives this gift of sub-
creation to the angels [Valar]. Our own God has given us the ability to pro-create [share in
creation], but there are always moral guidelines for this, and it is always the Lord who gives
life, while we participate in a natural way. So, in co-operating with the Will of Eru, the Valar
fulfil the Divine Plan. But it always must be within the Will of Eru that the Valar may enter into
the operation of the created world and aid it.
But now Ilvatar sat and hearkened, and for a great while it seemed good to him, for
in the music there were no flaws.
The Lord looked on his creation and saw that it was good. [Gen 1:1-1-31]
Eru looks upon His Plan [in the music] and sees the beauty and majesty of it. This aspect of
Eru revealing himself and his plans through music is extremely beautiful and poetic; but also
metaphysical.
Metaphysics is the philosophical science of the most universal principles that hold true of
everything that is. It is the study of the principles of being. It looks in behind the natural sphere
to discover what truly holds being in Being. And in Middle-earth, everything owes its being to
Eru and to the Music of Eru. And in our world the source of Being and Reality is Our God
[Father, Son and Holy Spirit], the source of all life.
Melkor was the greatest of the Ainur [Valar] and to him were gifted the greatest gifts of Eru.
To Melkor among the Ainur had been given the greatest gifts of power and
knowledge, and he had a share in all the gifts of his brethren. He had gone often more
alone into the void places seeking the Imperishable Flame; for desire grew hot within
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him to bring into Being things of his own, and it seemed to him that Ilvatar took no
thought for the Void, and he was impatient of its emptiness.
But as the theme progressed, it came into the heart of Melkor to interweave matters of
his own imagining that were not in accord with the theme of Ilvatar, for he sought
therein to increase the power and glory of the part assigned to himself. [Sil p.4]
Melkor, very much like Lucifer who was the greatest of the Archangels in Heaven, begins to
invert reality and put his thoughts and imaginings, and even himself above Eru. He introduces
themes that are not in accord with the mind and will of Eru. He seeks the Flame in the void
but ends up preferring it to Ilvatar. He prefers the darkness and emptiness and wishes to fill
it with his own imaginings and desires. He desires to create beings on his own accord and
make himself into a 'god'. He becomes full of his own self-importance and pride.
Of Melkor, Tolkien continues to write:
Yet he found not the Fire, for it was with Ilvatar. But being alone he had begun to
conceive thoughts of his own unlike those of his brethren. [Sil p.4]
This is the beginning of the Fall for Melkor, who will eventually become known as Morgoth
just as Lucifer became known as Satan. He begins to resent Eru for having created him and
does not reference reality in Eru but in himself [the sin of relativism].
From splendour he [Melkor] fell through arrogance to contempt for all things save
himself, a spirit wasteful and pitiless. Understanding he turned to subtlety in perverting
to his own will all that he would use, until he became a liar without shame. [Sil p.23]
Melkor then begins to effect all of the other Music about him. He implicates the melodies of
those about him in his own discord and glory. Now, this is where the Music also reflects
Creation [which the Music forms in a vision].
He [Melkor] began with the desire of Light, but when he could not possess it for
himself alone, he descended through fire and wrath into a great burning, down into
Darkness. Lucifer means Light. Melkor originally had a good desire for Light, but desired to
possess it for his own. [Sil p.23]
In the Catholic understanding of creation and the subsequent Fall from Grace, tradition
affirms that Lucifer, after beholding the majesty and beauty of God's plan of creation for Man,
resented that Man would have such friendship with God.
Lucifer, being pure spirit, could not understand why God would dirty himself with matter. And
when he was cast out of Heaven he desired to implicate God's creation, and or course, Man,
in his own fall and perversion. He wanted to show God that He made a mistake in lowering
himself to deal in the things of matter; and that Man should not have such favour.
[When we use the term Man, it is referring to man and woman]
So Lucifer tempts man and desires to destroy him out of jealousy and hate. Man, through his
free will, chooses to follow the temptation and separates himself from God. Satan, causing
man to turn away from God was also tempting God himself, 'Look they hate you, hate them
back!''.
But of course the Wisdom, Mind and Love of God is infinitely greater than Lucifer, and this is
why God saves us Himself. At Easter the Church sings 'O happy fault, O necessary sin of
Adam that has given us such a Redeemer'. The Good Lord, in His infinite Wisdom, saw what
was to come, and put in place a plan to save His children even before they fall.
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Why didn't He just stop the fall before it happened?
Because if He had done that he would have interfered with our free will and Love won't do
that. Freedom is a prerequisite of Love. There are those who will freely hate God and there
are those who will freely love him; God won't interfere with our freedom. But He will use all
things to bless His children, including our fall, and He will continually call and plead with us to
come to Him for fulfilment and life and salvation.
Melkor, in sowing discord in the Music [which will ultimately be used by Eru to bring the world
into Being] wishes to implicate the creation to follow, in his own fall and disunion with Eru. He
wishes to pervert everything in his own disorder.
His strives with Ilvatar for the mastery while the Music plays out. The Music of Ilvatar is:
...soft and sweet, a mere ripple of gentle sounds in delicate melodies; but it could not
be quenched, and it took to itself power and profundity...and it was deep and wide
and beautiful. [Sil p.5]
But the music of Melkor was:
...loud, and vain and endlessly repeated; and it has little harmony, but rather a
clamorous unison as of many trumpets braying upon a few notes. [Sil [.5]
It is after the Music comes to a climax that Ilvatar proclaims to Melkor and all the Valar that
Melkors own imaginings and desires will be used by Ilvatar for the ultimate good.
For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things
more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined. [Sil p.6]
The comment above is also a reflection of our own Redemption. Satan attempts to destroy
Man, but in doing so, ends up being the means through which God will prove his greatest
Love to Mankind: the Passion, Death & Resurrection of Jesus. The Infinite God will take on
our flesh in order to redeem us.
Regarding the question of how can there be a God if there is evil (or suffering) in the world, St
Thomas Aquinas had this to say:
"God would not allow any evil, unless his wisdom and power were such as to bring out
it an even greater good."
God uses all things to bless his children. God allows evil in the world; he doesn't create it or
beget it, but he can use it for greater good. The devil has brought about evil, then, man with
his free will chooses to follow temptation and commits further evil.
Then, through the most heinous evil act ever committed in the universe, the killing of the Son
of God, the greatest good has been achieved for humanity: salvation.
C.S Lewis said that suffering is like God's megaphone to humanity; crying out to his
children to come back to Him; and showing them that they need Him; that they can't solve
their problems by themselves, or be happy and fulfilled only in themselves.
Eru then shows the Valar the vision [formed by the music] of the creation to come. But Eru
doesn't show them everything that is to come. He keeps certain depths of His Plan to be
revealed. The Children of Ilvatar are the parts to be revealed:
Therefore when they [the Valar] beheld them [Elves and Men], the more did they love
them, being things other than themselves, strange and free, wherein they saw the mind
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of Ilvatar reflected anew, and learned a little more of his wisdom, which otherwise had
been hidden even from the Ainur. [Sil p.7]
But Melkor, desired rather to subdue to his will both Elves and Men; and he wished
himself to have subjects and servants, and to be called Lord, and to be master over
other wills. Melkor desires to be God, like Satan. [Sil p.8]
Then Ilvatar brings all things into Being:
'Therefore I say: E! Let these things Be. And I will send forth into the Void, the Flame
Imperishable, and it shall be at the heart of the World, and the world shall Be; and
those of you that will, may go down into it.' And suddenly the Ainur saw afar off a light,
and as it were a cloud with a living heart of flame; and they knew that this was no
vision only, but that Ilvatar had made a new thing: E, the World that Is. [Sil p.9]
Once again Tolkien has followed traditional Catholic understanding. At the very core of our
existence is the Breath of Life. This Breath of Life is the most fundamental and universal
cause of our existing. If God withdrew His Breath of Life from the created universe it would
simply cease to exist. God didn't just make the world and stand back and let all things play
out. His very Being and Life hold all things in sway.
It is God that holds each one of us in being at every instant of our life. It is the thing that gives
reality to our matter and spirit, body and soul. The Breath of Life is different to the Holy Spirit
which is the Person of God living in our being through Baptism; whereas the Breath of Life of
God is the very reason for all the atoms of the universe being in Being.
Tolkien gives a metaphysical reality to his sub-created world similar to the reality the Good
Lord has given to His own. For those who see and know such truths, it is not hard to see how
Tolkien's world reflects the higher and more beautiful one that he himself lived and died in.
Also important is that the created world though affected by the evil of Melkor is still good. The
Valar still descend and inhabit creation; and continue to form it.
There is then a drawn-out strife and war between Melkor and the other Valar as they do battle
for the dominion of the created world that Melkor has claimed for himself.
Melkor coveted it, and he said to the other Valar: 'This shall be my own kingdom; and
I name it unto myself!'. [Sil p.10]
...for as surely as the Valar began a labour so would Melkor undo it or corrupt it. [Sil
p.12]
Tolkien confirms that the corrupted Valar [Melkor, Sauron and their followers] saw in the
Children of Ilvatar the ideal material for subjects and slaves, to whom they would
become masters and 'gods', envying the Children, and secretly hating them ... [Letters
p.285]
Frodo also confirms this corruption and further illustrates how Melkor and Sauron do not have
the power to create, but only corrupt and enslave. They mock the creation of Eru in a
distorted and perverted way. The Orcs are a perversion of an original good: the Elves. Satan
is exactly the same in our world.
No, they eat and drink, Sam. The Shadow that bred them can only mock, it cannot
make: not real new things of its own. I don't think it can give life to the Orcs, it only
ruined them and twisted them; and if they are to live at all, they have to live like other
living creatures. [LotR p.893]
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But Melkor isn't alone in his fall at the beginning. He takes with him many Maiar [lesser
angels] as he falls into darkness.
But he was not alone. For of the Maiar many were drawn to his splendour in the days
of his greatness, and remained in that allegiance down into his darkness.... Dreaded
among these spirits were the Valaraukar, the scourges of fire that in Middle-earth were
called the Balrogs, demons of terror. [Sil p.23]
The great dragon, the primeval serpent, known as the devil or Satan, who had led all
the world astray, was hurled down to the earth and his angels were hurled down with
him. [Rev 12.9]. Satan took a third of the angels in Heaven with him when he fell as
traditional Catholic teaching confirms.
Now, we have discussed how Melkor rejects the Light and prefers the darkness. Next comes
the formation of the world and the awaiting of the Children of Ilvatar. The Valar descend into
the world as guardians and angels and continue to form and shape it. They can take on
physical form if needed but are essentially spiritual beings.
Eru, throughout the mythology will remain rather remote. Though at critical junctures he will
make himself known. He will step in with a 'Finger of God' to bring about good and instances
of Pure Providence [for the overall good] in Middle-earth.
There is no embodiment of the One, of God [in the story], who indeed remains
remote, outside the world, and only directly accessible to the Valar or Rulers. [Letters
p.235-236]
... the One retains all ultimate authority, and reserves the right to intrude the finger of
God into the story: that is to produce realities which could not be deduced even from a
complete knowledge of the previous past, but which being real become part of the
effective past for all subsequent time [a possible definition of a 'miracle']. [Letters
p.235-236]
This 'remoteness' of Eru is another difference in Christian Reality and Tolkien's mythology.
The new Law of Love that Jesus has established [which completes and fulfils the Old Law]
allows us to approach the Throne of Grace without fear. The Father of All Mercies intensely
wishes to be a part of our lives, to forgive our sins and to lead to us all fulfilment and potential.
This is why the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us.
The God of Middle-earth is not exactly like this. However, he does implicate himself in the
unfolding of events in Middle-earth through his emissaries: the Valar or Maiar [lesser angels].
There are many occasions where the Valar do indeed give help and guidance to those in peril
in Middle-earth.
Elbereth, the most beautiful is shown to be instrumental, as are many others of the
Valar. [cf. the Silmarillion & Unfinished Tales of Middle-earth and Women of Middle-earth]. [Sil
p.33]
The Istari, [Order of Wizards] are in fact sent from the True West [Blessed Realm] to help in
the war against Sauron. This is a proof of the Providential Goodness of Eru who through the
Valar wishes to indirectly, but substantially, aid and give care to his children. The Valar and
Maiar derive their power from Eru.
The Valar, like the saints and angels in Heaven, have a role to play.
...The immediate authorities are the Valar [the Powers or Authorities]: the 'gods'. But
they are only created spirits - of high angelic order we should say, with their attendant
lesser angels - reverend, therefore, but not worshipful; ... [Letters p.193 footnote]
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Thus the Valar are instruments of Eru in the created world They will do his will and aid the
children of Ilvatar in the struggle against evil. Gandalf is a great example of this.
He is, as Tolkien puts it;
an incarnate angel. [Letters p.202]
He also affirms that it is Eru, the One God, who sends the Istari [Wizards] to Middle-earth:
"... they are actually emissaries from the True West, and so immediately from God,
sent precisely to strengthen the resistance of the 'good'. [Letters p.207]
A few small examples in the Lord of the Rings of this help are listed below.
Elven rope miracle when Frodo and Sam are exiting the Emyn Muil. Made by
Galadriel herself. ... To the complete surprise of the hobbits it came loose....
[LotR p.597]
Sam seeing Star in Mordor.
Frodo has an intuition to hide from Black Rider in Shire.
The calling of the Council of Elrond.
The Eagles appearing at the Black Gate and helping save Frodo & Sam.
Many other little moments of intervention. [see Providence and Hope]
Almaren and Valinor:
The Valar create a peaceful and abundant abode for themselves in Arda:
The Valar dwelt on the green island of Almaren in the Great Lake. In the mists of time,
long before the awakening of Elves or Men, the Valar dwelt east of the Sea in Middle-
earth. This was a time called the Spring of Arda, when the Earth was lit by the two
Lamps of the Valar, and Almaren lay in the central regions of the World, where the light
of the two Lamps mingled. [arda]
The Two Lamps were made by the Valar to give light to Middle-earth. On this island, Melkor
attacks and destroys the Lamps and desecrates the beautiful land of Almaren [city of the
Valar]. The Valar flee and Middle-earth is left in darkness.
There are several quasi-Garden of Eden themes in Tolkiens works. This is the first. This
beautiful and green dwelling is destroyed by Melkor and the Valar are forced to leave it. Why
does Tolkien tap into this original unspoiled sense in his writing? He is contemplating through
myth the reality of a fallen world, a lost innocence, a time where Good was unspoiled by Evil.
He is forcing home the horrible reality that we live in a world that is a struggle against evil and
we must fight to preserve that which is Love and Life, that which is Truth and Goodness: and
these have their origins in God, [like it is with Eru in Middle-earth].
After this, the Valar left Middle-earth and seldom returned. They founded a new land
far away to the west, in Aman, that they called Valinor; a land lit by the fabled light of
the Two Trees. [arda]
This new land will be also called the Undying Lands or Blessed Realm.
In that guarded land the Valar gathered great store of light and all the fairest things
that were saved from the ruin; and many others yet fairer they made anew, and Valinor
became more beautiful even than Middle-earth in the Spring of Arda; and it was
blessed, for the Deathless dwelt there, and there naught faded nor withered, neither
was there any stain upon flower or leaf in that land, nor any corruption or sickness in
anything that lived; for the very stones and waters were hallowed. [Sil p.30]
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Here the Valar, create a second type of Garden of Eden removed from Middle-earth that has
been brought down by Melkor. But Melkor hasn't entirely corrupted Middle-earth and this is
shown by the fact that the Valar still bring fair things that were saved from the destruction of
Almaren.
It is now, in Valinor that Yavanna, one of the Valar, sings a song before her brethren and the
Two Trees come forth from the earth. She isn't the source of their Being, who is Eru, but she
participates in the creation through singing and it yields fruit.
And as they watched, upon the mound there came forth two slender shoots; and
silence was over all the world in that hour, nor was there any other sound save the
chanting of Yavanna. under her song the saplings grew and became fair and tall, and
came to flower; and thus awoke in the world the Two Trees of Valinor. [Sil p.31]
Her song enters into the fecundity of the original Music of the Ainur and sub-creates in that
derivation. The Trees wax and wane each day giving light and beauty to the Blessed Realm.
In seven hours the glory of each tree waxed and waned again.... but their waxing and
waning was offset so that Valinor ever dwelt in beauty of the Light of the Two Trees.
Each day had Twelve Hours and the mingling of the Light filled these hours with a
blessedness.
Thus began the Days of Bliss in Valinor... [Sil p.32]
During this time the Valar did not abandon Middle-earth completely. Yavanna would come
at times and heal the hurts of Melkor... [Sil p.34]. She would rework the destruction Melkor
had caused in parts of the creation. He had continued to delve caverns and dark abysses
beneath the earth. Ulmo [another Vala] would also continue to struggle against Melkor.
Children of Ilvatar:
Elves and Men are Children of Ilvatar.
...none of the Ainur dared to add anything in their fashion in the Music concerning
Elves and Men, because they understand not fully that theme by which the Children
entered into the Music [Sil p.35]
For this reason they [the Valar] are to these kindreds rather their elders and their
chieftains than their masters... [Sil p.35]
They were called the Eruhni or 'Children of God', and were for the Valar an
incalculable element: that is they were rational creatures of free will in regard to God,
of the same historical rank as the Valar, though of far smaller spiritual and intellectual
power and status. [Letters p.236]
As the awakening of the Children drew near Eru spoke;
Behold I love the Earth, which shall be a mansion for the Quendi and Atani! [Elves
and Men]
But the Quendi [Elves] shall be the fairest of all earthly creatures, and they shall have
and shall conceive and bring forth more beauty than all my children and they shall
have the greater bliss in this world.
The Elves are in fact of a higher nature than Men in Middle-earth. They are called the
Firstborn.
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...they represent the artistic, aesthetic, and purely scientific aspects of our Humane
nature raised to a higher level than is actually seen in men... [Letters p.236]
They awake into the world before Men and are immortal in the sense that they will live in
Middle-earth and not die. Their immortality isn't really eternal life but serial longevity. They will
carry their sorrows and joys all their lives: it will become a burden for them.
Eru then says:
But to the Atani [Men] I will give a new gift. Men receive a special grace different to that
of the Elves. [Sil p.35]
Our God gifts to Man the special state of being both matter and spirit. We are different to the
angels and it is precisely this difference and future magnanimity that Satan hates.
Therefore he [Eru] willed that the hearts of men should seek beyond the world and
should find no rest therein; but that they should have a virtue to shape their life, amid
the powers of the world beyond the Music of the Ainur ...
The hearts of men in Middle-earth will seek beyond the circles of the world to find deeper
meaning, which is another reflection of our world.
You have made us for yourself O Lord and our hearts are restless until they rest in
thee. St Augustine. We haven't been made self-complete. We will only find our true
fulfilment, completion and potential in Jesus Christ.
This power to shape their own lives is free will. Their fate within Middle-earth is not governed
by what has been laid out in the Music of the Ainur but they have the freedom to choose their
path in life; to choose the good or do the evil. All of Ilvatar's Children have this gift as free
rational beings.
But Ilvatar knew that men being set amid the turmoils of the powers of the world,
would often stray, and would not use the gifts in harmony...
It is one with this gift of freedom that the children of Men dwell only a short space in
the world alive, and are not bound to it, and depart soon whither the Elves know not.
"Death is their fate, the gift of Ilvatar ... [Sil p.36]
Men shall die after a time within Middle-earth and it is a gift.
While the Elves are of a higher nature than men within Middle-earth, men have received
from Ilvatar, a higher if un-revealed destiny outside of Middle-earth [Letters p.286].
Their future outside the circles of the world has not been revealed by Ilvatar. This future
outside the world that is higher than the Elves is like Man receiving a higher destiny than the
Angels in our world.
Why is mans future magnanimity greater than that of the angels? Because we can, through
free will, make a gift of sacrificial love through our bodily flesh. Martyrs do this, as do those
who suffer and offer it up in love for the redemption of the world. Any act of love which
sacrifices [denies selfishness] is also enveloped in this [cf. Mother Teresa].
Why can we do this? Because Jesus, the Word made Flesh, making a gift of Himself in body
and soul, but broken on the Cross, has raised our co-offering of suffering with His to a Divine
Level [Col 1:24]. It becomes a prayer. Many unfortunately never hear or understand this
beautiful Truth of Christian suffering. Angels cannot do this.
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Though of course our future life has been revealed by God through Jesus and in the Church,
but as for the fullness of it:
"Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor the heart of man conceived of the riches
which God has prepared for those who love Him." [1 Cor 2:9]
Gods mysteries are deeper than we can fully perceive, though we can know certain things
about them.
In Tolkiens mythology Death is an original gift for Men. It is through Death that men will
receive their higher destiny. Now this is very interesting.
This the same for the Christian understanding of death in the bodily sense.
Many mistakenly think that Tolkiens death gift for men at the beginning is different from the
Christian understanding but it is not.
If you haven't read the page First and Last Things , please do so as it gives a fuller account of
the original gifts Man had in the Garden of Eden from a Catholic perspective.
Catholic understanding is that original Unfallen Man [women and men] was immortal, but his
life would still end after a time on earth and he would be assumed body and soul into Heaven.
But this original gift of life ending naturally is not the classical understanding of death as
related to Death resulting from Original Sin. Originally, they would 'fall asleep' if you like, when
the time was right. They would make an act of trust in the Creator and request to come to
Him. They would be assumed into Heaven and their life would end on earth.
In a letter from 1958 Tolkien describes how the original death for Men in Middle-earth is much
the same as for original unfallen Man on earth.
"It was also the Elvish [& uncorrupted Nmenorean] view that a 'good' Man would or
should die voluntarily by surrender with trust before being compelled [as Aragorn did].
This may have been the nature of unfallen man; though compulsion would not threaten
him; he would desire and ask to be allowed to 'go on' to a higher state. The
Assumption of Mary, the only unfallen person, may be regarded... like this. [Letters
p.286 footnote]
Thus, the original gift of death was to trust and surrender to Eru when the time was right. The
Men of Middle-earth originally had this gift. However, corruption from darkness [Melkor and
Sauron] caused a disintegration of this gift and men became afraid of it. They feared and
rejected it.
Men of Middle-earth, through their original gift, will enter into their higher destiny.
1. It is the same as Christian understanding because through death a Christian will
come Face to Face with God and receive his/her higher calling: eternal union with the
Saviour and Creator. Originally we didn't really die but fell asleep to meet God
2. It is also the same because now, for Christians, latter death resulting from original
sin has been vanquished by Christ through the Resurrection. The Lord has raised
death to a new level. It no longer has its sting, and is in fact a way back to God, like it
originally was.
Now what is interesting:
is that Tolkien is showing that the original gift was a blessing.
but he is also showing that a thing that often seems like a curse to us, namely death
from original sin, can also be used as a way of greater good: Resurrection. God is
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gift. He donates everything to His Children. God is Father and he provides through all
things. In the Garden of Eden we betrayed our trust in God the Father. The
Fatherhood of God as been denied and spat at.
Tolkien describes how Melkor twists the Truth about Death for men and uses it to cause fear.
But Melkor has cast his shadow upon it [death], and confounded it with darkness, and
brought forth evil out of good, and fear out of hope. [Sil p.36]
There are two things here. Melkors twisting of truth begets lies and his incitation of fear
comes from the denial of Love of the Creator. Love drives out all fear, it begets Trust.
Men come to believe the lie about death from Melkor and see it as a curse,
But they will also begin to deny their trust in the Fatherhood of Eru and the natural
order and hence fear him and his gift: true death.
This is very similar to what happened in the Garden of Eden. Satan is the father of lies and
spirit of fear. He causes distrust of the Creator and hence the Fall. Man enters a terrible new
death.
It is also shown throughout the story. Later the Nmenoreans, through the lies of Sauron will
reject the natural gift of death and wage war upon Valinor. Compare this with Aragorn who
freely chooses the hour of his death and sees it truly as a gift. He surrenders himself back to
the Creator even though he may not fully understand. Also compare Aragorns death with that
of Denethor who burns himself to death like...
... the heathen Kings did so, under the Dominion of the Dark Tower. [LotR p.835]
But in our world, through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus:
Death is not an Enemy! as Tolkien attests. [Letters p.267]
So there is a similar theme for Men in Middle-earth as for Man [men & women] in our world.
But, while living within Middle-earth men have needed ennoblement because of this
corruption from Melkor. Men have distrusted the original gift of Eru and have fallen away. This
is explained later when Men come from the East and speak of a darkness that was upon them
[see First and Last Things]. They have needed to have their nature raised back to a higher
level after this so that they can enter into a deeper wisdom and understanding. And how is
this done?
This is achieved by the intermingling of the race of Men with that of the Elves.
The entering into Men of the Elven-strain is indeed represented as part of the Divine
Plan for the ennoblement of the Human Race, from the beginning destined to replace
the Elves. [Letters p.194]
This is dealt with in depth on the page First and Last Things.
Dwarves:
The Dwarves are an exception in the Divine Plan. They are in fact not part of the children of
Ilvatar. They come about through the disobedience of one of the Valar: Aul.
Aul fashions the dwarves in secret wishing to create creatures of his own. Eru knows of this
act the instant is it done. He says to Aul:
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Why hast thy done this? Why dost thou attempt a thing which is beyond thy power
and authority? For thou hast from me as a gift thy own being only, and no more; and
therefore the creatures of thy hand and mind can live only by that being, moving when
thou thinkest to move them, and if they though be elsewhere, standing idle. Is that thy
desire? [Sil p.37]
Tolkien confirms this in one of his letters.
God spoke to him in anger but not without pity: for Aul had done this thing not out
of evil desire to have slaves and subjects of his own, but out of impatient love, desiring
children to talk to and teach, sharing with them the praise of Ilvatar ... [Letters p.287]
The One rebuked Aul, saying that he had tried to usurp the Creator's power; but he
could not give independant life to his makings. He had only one life, his own derived
from the One, and could at most only distribute it ... Eru says 'this is a mockery of
me'. [Letters p.287]
Aul replies:
I did not desire such lordship. I desired things other than I am to love and to teach
them, so that they too might perceive the beauty of E, which thou hast caused to be ...
As a child to his father, I offer to thee these things, the work of thy hands which thou
hast made. Do with them what thou wilt. [Sil p.38]
Then Aul in grief and repentance humbled himself and asked for pardon. [Letters
p.287]
Aul then raises a hammer to crush his dwarven children.
But Ilvatar had compassion upon Aul and his desire, because of his humility ... Thy
offer I accepted even as it was made ... Dost thou not see that these things have life of
their own and speak with their own voices.
Aul replies:
"May Eru bless my work and amend it! [Sil p.38]
Ilvatar then says:
Even as I gave Being to the thought of the Ainur at the beginning of the World, so
now I have taken up thy desire and given it a place therein ... [Sil p.38]
Ilvatar then commands that the Dwarves shall not awaken in the world before his own
Children. Here is it seen that Ilvatar doesn't like the change in design that is brought about
through the disobedience of Aul, but he knows that Aul has created with imperfect love and
his humility is evident. Aul has created living things, so Eru, being a God of Life, will not now
crush these beings out of existence, but give them life. Though what Aul did was still against
the Divine Plan.
In todays world there are many medical ways of producing life that are against the Divine
Plan. But even though children may come into being through these disordered practices, the
Good Lord always loves them and wishes to bring them into His Love and True Life. And so
the Church will always baptise children brought into the world in this way: but this does not
justify the means of procreation used.
Awakening of the Children:
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The Firstborn begin to awaken in Middle-earth and are called by the Valar to come to Valinor.
Many respond and travel westwards to the Blessed Realm. The Encyclopedia of Arda gives
an account of this time.
When Orom discovered that the Elves had awoken at Cuivinen, great changes
came about. The Valar made war on Melkor to protect the Elder Children of Ilvatar;
Utumno [Melkors dominion] was destroyed and Melkor was brought in chains to
Valinor. The Valar also summoned the Elves to dwell in their land, and many answered
this summons.
A period of three ages [about 2,900 years] followed. Melkor was imprisoned in the halls
of Mandos, and the Valar and Eldar dwelt together in the light of the Two Trees. [arda]
Fanor was the greatest of the Elven craftsmen who had come West from Middle-earth to
Valinor. Fanor wrought the Silmarils, the most hallowed jewels of the Elves that held within
them the Light of the Two Trees. Fanor had captured the beauty and radiance of the Two
Trees in the making of the Silmarils.
In the darkness of Middle-earth, the Dark Elves who had not journeyed to Valinor still
dwelt, and the Fathers of the Dwarves stirred.
These Years came to an end when Manw released Melkor from his imprisonment. For
a time, the Dark Lord pretended friendship with the Eldar, but he turned back to the
darkness. With Ungoliant, he destroyed the Trees, stole the Silmarils and fled back to
the north of Middle-earth. Seeking revenge, Fanor led a great part of the Noldor out of
Valinor and back to Beleriand [a part of Middle-earth].
Melkor [after being unchained] destroyed the most beautiful living things in Valinor, the Two
Trees: their Light was extinguished. He stole the Silmarils and fled back to Middle-earth. See
the page The Trees of Life for more on this and how a sapling of the Trees survived.
So the Years of the Trees came to an end. At this time, the Valar made the Sun and
Moon to give light to the World, and the Years of the Sun began, and with them the
First Age.
Yavanna used the last fruit and leaf of the Two Trees to create the Sun and Moon and
Elbereth had previously used the dew from the White Tree, Telperion, to make the Stars of
the vault of Heaven.
Men would not appear until some time after the end of the Years of the Trees. [arda]
Thus, many of the Elves [though not all] forsook the blessedness of the Undying Lands and
pursued Melkor into Middle-earth. In their wrath, lust and pride, the Elves erred. The Valar
forbade them from going but many disobeyed.
Tolkien refers to this as ...their own particular elvish fall [Letters p.205]
The Elves who had seen the Light of the Two Trees and lived in Valinor were known as the
High Elves in Middle-earth.
The ...high elves had come from the Blessed Realm where they praised and
worshipped Ilvatar, 'the One' Father of All on the Mt of Aman. [Letters p.204]
The Elves waged war upon Melkor, whom they named Morgoth. It was an utterly fruitless war
in which the Elves never won.
First age:
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The First Age comprises mainly of the stories and struggles of the Elves against Morgoth. It
recounts how Men awoke to the world in the East. Only some came Westward seeking
deeper meaning and existence. Those that remained in the East were held in the darkness of
Morgoth and Sauron.
Though Tolkien does suggest that they all had some sort of darkness come upon them after
they awoke. [see First and last Things]. A parallel to Original Sin. This then leads to a sort of
corrupted nature and rejection of the natural gift of true death. This is why they needed
ennoblement.
The Elves befriended the Men who came Westward, who are:
... the descendants of Men who tried to repent and fled Westward from the domination
of the Prime Dark Lord, and his false worship ... they renewed their knowledge of the
Truth and the nature of the world. Thus they escaped 'religion' in a pagan sense, into a
pure monotheist world. [Letters p.204]
They came into knowledge of the One God. Though their knowledge didn't really lead them
into true worship.
There are thus no temples or 'churches' or fanes in this world among the 'good'
peoples. They had little or no religion in the sense of worship. [Letters p.193 footnote]
There were three houses of the Edain [Men] who helped the Elves in the War against
Morgoth. They became known as the Elf-friends. From these three houses will come the three
unions of Elves and Men which will help fulfil the Ennoblement of Men.
The First Age ends with the sailing of Erendil with a recaptured Silmaril to the Blessed
Realm. He obtains the help of the Valar in finally defeating Morgoth. The Valar had forbidden
any to return after the exile of the Elves. Erendil is half-Elven and comes on behalf on both
races of the 'Children of God'. He is then set to sail in the heavens with the Silmaril on his
brow as a sign of hope in Middle-earth. It is this Star of Erendil that Sam sees in Mordor and
hope returns to him during the quest.
The Valar consent to the plea and attack Morgoth; utterly defeating him. He is chained and
sent into the Void. A great part of Middle-earth is engulfed by a tidal wave to cleanse Middle-
earth of the evil. [see Women of Middle-earth for more regarding Erendil and Beren &
Lthien]
Many of the elves are forgiven and then return to Valinor.
Even though Morgoth is chained and cast out, many of his servants, including Sauron,
escape only to later re-emerge.
Second Age:
The Second Age signalled a rising of the Race of Men and static consolidation and
introspection of the Elves.
As a reward for their help in fighting the Elves [and also through the intermingling with the
Elves], Men receive many blessings from the Valar.
The half-Elven receive a choice: either to remain part of the race of Elves or become part of
the race of Men. Elrond and Elros are half-Elven brothers. They are the sons of Erendil.
Elrond chooses to be of Elf-kind and Elros chooses to be of the race of Men.
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But, Elros will receive a restored gift if you like. His gift is to live longer than that of lesser
corrupted men in Middle-earth [3 times longer] and he will be able to die in the original sense
of the gift of Eru of death. That is, he and his descendants will be ale to surrender and give up
their lives at the hour of their choosing.
They will also receive a new abode: Nmenor
Nmenor
Nmenor = Land of the Star,
Nmenor is an island off the coast of Eressa which was an outlying part of the Blessed
Realm. The 'good' Men of Middle-earth were given this great island as a gift. They sailed
there guided by a Star. It is quite possible that this star is the Star of Erendil. [Letters p.204]
The Nmenoreans were Blessed with the island of Nmenor, death was a gift of God, a
good Nmenorean died when he felt it was the right time to do so [Letters p.205,
footnote at bottom of page]
Once again Tolkien confirms that they re-received their preter-natural gifts in a sense.
From contact with the Elves in the Blessed Realm [not far way] the Nmenoreans rose in
great Wisdom and Power.
"... people from the Blessed Realm visited them, and so their knowledge and arts
reached an almost Elvish height. [Letters p.205]
They received many gifts from the Elves including a sapling of the White Tree and the Seven
Seeing Stones.
They came to a deeper knowledge of the Truth: Eru
The Nmenoreans thus began a great new good, as monotheists; but more like the
Jews with only one 'centre' of worship: the summit of the mountain Meneltarma, 'Pillar
of Heaven'. [Letters p.204]
But there was no temple in Nmenor. The top of the Mountain, the Meneltarma or
'Pillar of Heaven', was dedicated to Eru, the One, and there at any time privately, and
certain times publicly, God was invoked, praised and adored: an imitation of the Valar
and the Mountain of Aman [in Valinor]. [Letters p.194 footnote]
The Nmenoreans became great mariners and sailed the oceans. They founded massive
harbours in Middle-earth and set-up cities along the coasts. About this time Sauron began the
stir in Middle-earth again.
The Nmenoreans became aware of this and sailed to Middle-earth with a force so great and
powerful that Sauron surrendered and his armies were scattered. But the King in his pride
took Sauron captive and returned to Nmenor with him. Sauron soon deceived the King with
a honey tongue and fostered in him a jealousy of the Elves who had immortal life.
The King begins to reject the gift of death again. Sauron employs the same old lie of Melkor.
He engenders a distrust of the Elves, Valar and Eru. He promotes fear and lust for power.
The King, being poisoned by this influence, leads the island of Nmenor in a revolt against
the Blessed Realm. The Valar became aware of this and beseech Eru to provide a solution.
As the great armada of Nmenoreans ships came near the Coast of Valinor, a huge tidal
wave rises up, destroys the ships and engulfs Nmenor.
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But they fell again - because of a ban or prohibition ... [Letters p.204]
Men fall again because they were forbidden to try the reach the Undying Lands.
They end up trying to wrench it off the Valar by force. There is great truth here. Is this not
what our modern world is trying to do?
Sauron then fled back to Middle-earth.
But, during this time of corruption and evil in Nmenor, there remained a remnant called the
Faithful, who still revered Eru and the Valar; and loved the Elves. They fled Nmenor as the
great armada left for Valinor, and sailed to Middle-earth. They took with them:
the sceptre of the King.
the Seven Seeing Stones.
a fruit of the White Tree.
and other royal artefacts.
Elendil and his sons were the leaders of this remnant but more importantly, there were of the
royal family, and hence setup the Kingdom of Nmenor in Middle-earth [Gondor and Arnor]
and claimed the Kingship.
...so ended Nmenor, Atlantis in all its glory. but in a kind of Noachian situation the
small party of Faithful, who had refused to take part in the rebellion.... [Letters p.206]
Tolkien has used Atlantis as an inspiration for his Nmenor story and in fact talks of a
recurring dream he had in life that his son also received. Faramir, in the Lord of the Rings,
speaks to owyn of his vision of the ancient Downfall of Nmenor.
For when Faramir speaks of his private vision of the Great Wave, he speaks for me...
That dream and vision has been ever with me - and has been inherited by one of my
children. [Letters p.232]
After the rebellion and Downfall of Nmenor, the Valar withdraw the Blessed Realm from the
circles of the world.
In this myth, the Blessed Realm had an actual physical existence in the real world.
This is then taken away after the rebellion. [Letters p.204]
Eressa and Valinor were removed from the physically attainable earth: the way west
was open, but led no-where but back again - for mortals. [Letters p.197-198]
Before the Downfall of Nmenor, the realm of the gods in Valinor was still present in
the world, and those Elves who wished to reach it could do so by sailing on into the
West. After the Downfall, Valinor was taken away, and the World took on the round
shape we know today. Mortals sailing into the West simply circled the globe and
eventually returned to their starting place.
For the Elves, however, a way was left open to return to Valinor; the Straight Road. An
Elven-ship sailing into the West left the Bent World, and travelled through the air 'as it
were on a mighty bridge invisible', until they came to Tol Eressa and the Undying
Lands.
The Straight Road was not entirely closed to Mortals; some by the special grace of the
Valar could use it, as did the ring-bearers at the end of the Third Age. Other mortal
mariners too, it was said, would sometimes find the Road and come to the shores of
Aman before they died. [arda]
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Once again this Garden of Eden theme arises. After the Fall of Men, the Garden of Eden has
been removed from the world [symbolic biblical language of course].
Middle-earth Kingdoms:
The Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor are from Nmenorean heritage:
...thus Elendil established the Kingdom on the shore of Middle-earth, inheriting a
hatred of Sauron, friendship of the Elves, and a knowledge of the True God. [Letters
p.206]
Among the exiles, for the remnants of the Faithful who had not adopted the false
religion [worship of Sauron] nor taken part in the rebellion, religion as divine worship
[though not perhaps as philosophy and metaphysics] seems to have played a small
part; though a glimpse of it is caught in Faramirs remark on 'grace before meat'
[Letters p.194 footnote]. Faramir looks towards the Blessed Realm before eating. Thus they
lost their sense of reverence for Eru in some way.
The Elves during this time forge the Rings of Power to help in the burden of carrying the
sorrows and joys of their immortality. They try to preserve and halt time. This is dealt with on
the page First and Last Things. It is also around this time that the Istari [Wizards] appear in
Middle-earth.
But the Elves are ensnared and deceived by Sauron who betrays them and forges the One
Ring. The Elves are also led astray by their rejection of the natural gift of Eru to them.
After Sauron claims Lordship over Middle-earth through the One Ring, the Elves and Men
form an alliance and march on Mordor, defeating Sauron and cutting the One Ring from his
hand. For those who know the Lord of the Rings, they will know the story from here.
Lothlrien which comes about in the Second Age is also another return of the Garden of
Eden theme. [see First and Last Things]
Later, the line of Kings is lost in Gondor, but they also lose the priesthood in their religion:
...also when the kings line came to an end, there was no equivalent to priesthood: the
two being one and the same. [Letters p.206]
This is restored with the Return of the King: Aragorn.
...it is presumed that with the emergence of the lineal priest kings, the worship of God
would be renewed, and His Name would be more often heard. [Letters p.206]
Aragorn re-enters the old place of worship, through Gandalfs guidance [remember Gandalf is
an emissary of God] and finds the White Tree. [see The Trees of Life]
...it appears that in later years there was a hallow on Mindolliun, that had been used
by the Kings to offer worship and praise on behalf of the people, only approachable by
the King. It was re-entered by Aragorn. This is where he found a sapling of the white
tree. [Letters p.206]
Aragorn restores the Kingship and Priesthood to the Race of Men. His significance is dealt
with in the page Priest, Prophet and King.
Final thoughts:
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Once again, it is worth stressing that Tolkiens mythology is just a story. But within that it is
important to realise how his writing is essentially Christian. It is good to see how the Hand of
God has used a story like this one and handed on Truths, but through myth.

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SEVEN GREAT THEMES:
The Lord of the Rings is a monumental work of literature. It combines so many aspects in
subtle ways that make it appealing and enthralling, that it's difficult to break them down.
But as most writers do, and as is shown in HoME [the History of Middle-earth], Tolkien built
his story piece by piece; often reworking and re-writing. The themes in the Lord of the Rings
are not in the story by chance. And it's worth studying them.

Joseph Pearce, in his book Tolkien: Man & Myth brings up the notion of five great themes in
the Lord of the Rings. I would say there are Seven.
Sacrificial Love.
Exaltation of the Humble.
Providence and hope.
Forgiveness and Mercy.
Conflict of Good and Evil.
Industrial destruction.
First and Last Things.
These themes are not just humanitarian in origin.
They have their origin in Tolkien's own values and beliefs which are Christian. Forgiveness,
Sacrificial Love, Humility, Hope; these are all lovely in themselves but find a much more
profound and eternal origin and expression in light of Jesus Christ and His Salvation.

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SACRIFICIAL LOVE:
Any heroic story or romance has a hero; a character who exemplifies certain characteristics
that will endear him/her to the reader or audience and set him/her apart as a person of value
and respect.
Tolkien saw his mother die sacrificing her life for her children and passing on the Catholic
Faith to them. He was raised by Catholic Priests where penance, fasting, prayer, abstinence
and self control were all taught and practiced in love for Jesus Christ. He understood heroic
sacrifice involved in war and the sacrificial love required in marriage. He knew about sacrifice
and what it involves.... as do many of the characters in Middle-earth.
Many stories or movies today, display the heroes as people willing to break the moral laws to
achieve their mission in the story; as if the dire circumstances they find themselves absolve
them from any moral responsibility in their situation. This is normally written-in from the desire
of the filmmaker or writer to show reality [which may well be an accurate reality, and certainly
has its place in art], and to amplify the circumstances of the story. But even though it has its
place in art, unfortunately it ends up glorifying or even justifying these wrong actions.
Not so with the epic saga of the Lord of the Rings.
The salvation of Middle-earth is wrought through integrity, friendship and sacrificial love.
Frodo and Sam:
The love of Frodo and Sam for the Shire and all that is good and right in Middle-earth drives
their mission. There is a simplicity in their outlook that isn't caught up in politics or power.
They know that Middle-earth is in peril and that they have the chance to 'put things right'.
They forge on into the heart of Mordor with a perseverance and sacrifice that is extremely
moving.
Sam's love and dedication to Frodo is a brilliant example of service and humility and spiritual
truth. Without Sam, 'Frodo wouldn't have got very far'. Without the heroic love of Sam, the
mission would have failed very early and this further illustrates an important underlying truth;
that 'love can cover many sins' and work extraordinary good when offered simply and un-
complicatedly.
This sacrifice is freely given and accepted by Frodo; Elrond explains this;
But it is a heavy burden. So heavy that none could lay it on another. I do not lay it on
you. But if you take it freely I will say that your choice is right. [LotR p.264]
Tolkien confirms that;
Frodo undertook his quest out of love - to save the world he knew from disaster at his
own expense... [Letters p.327]
There are very distinct elements of the Carrying of the Cross in Frodo's and Sam's trek
towards Mt Doom. The text has so many points of similarity between the burden of the Ring of
Evil that Frodo carries, and the burden of Sin [symbolized by the Cross] that Jesus bore, it is
astonishing.
An extraordinary passage, also noted by Joseph Pearce, relates the parallel of Frodo's
burden to that of 'the suffering Christ':
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Frodo seemed to be weary, weary to the point of exhaustion. He said nothing, indeed
he hardly spoke at all; and he did not complain, but he walked like one who carries a
load, the weight of which is ever increasing, and he dragged along, slower and slower,
so that Sam had often to beg Gollum to wait and not to leave their master behind.
In fact with every step towards the gates of Mordor, Frodo felt the Ring on its chain
about his neck grow more and more burdensome. He was now beginning to feel it as
an actual weight dragging him earthwards. But far more he was troubled by the Eye: so
he called it to himself. It was that more than the drag of the Ring that made him cower
and stoop as he walked. The Eye: that horrible growing sense of a hostile will that
strove with great power to pierce all shadows of cloud, and earth, and flesh, and to see
you: to pin you under its deadly gaze, naked, immovable. So thin, so frail and thin, the
veils were become that still warded it off. Frodo knew just where the present habitation
and heart of that will now was: as certainly a man can tell the direction of the sun with
his eyes shut. He was facing it, and its potency beat upon his brow. [LotR p.616] [M&M
p.110-116]

Another similar passage;
All this last day Frodo had not spoken, but had walked behind half-bowed, often
stumbling, as if his eyes no longer saw the way before his feet. Sam guessed that
among all their pains he bore the worst, the growing weight of the Ring, a burden on
the body and a torment on his mind... [LotR p.914]
Frodo bears the burden of the Ring, but Sam bears the burden of caring for Frodo and at one
point actually carries Frodo. Sam is also shown to be a co-participant in the role of salvation
for Middle-earth; a sort of Simon of Cyrene character who helped Jesus carry his Cross on
the way to Calvary.
For Sam: ...it was a torment greater than Sam had ever thought that he could bear. He
was in pain, and so parched that he could no longer swallow even a mouthful of food
.... breathing was painful and difficult, and a dizziness came on them, so that they
staggered and often fell. And yet their wills did not yield, and they struggled on. [LotR
p.918]
This un-mistaken similarity to the Carrying of the Cross is also seen when Sam takes the
burden of the Ring upon himself after the episode with Shelob;
And then he bent his own neck and put the chain upon it, and at once his head was
bowed to the ground with the weight of the Ring, as if a great stone had been strung on
him. But slowly, as if the weight became less, or new strength grew in him, he raised
his head, and then with a great effort got to his feet and found that he could walk and
bear his burden. [LotR p.716]
But through their love and fortitude they push on. Sam is a tower of strength for the ever
deteriorating Frodo:
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No more debates disturbed his mind. He knew all the arguments of despair and would
not listen to them. His will was set, and only death would break it. [LotR p.919]

Frodo is the 'sacrificial lamb' for Middle-earth; he is weak and defenceless in his trek through
Mordor, he is bruised and stricken but refuses to use the enemys methods - and because of
this wisdom of not using might to fight the battle; in the end, the lamb overcomes the lion.
But his own future enjoyment of the Shire is compromised and his life forever altered.
Both Frodo and Sam sacrifice a quiet life in the Shire and venture into the unknown. On more
than one occasion in the books it is shown that both characters intensely wish they were
home in the known and safe elements of Hobbiton.
Sam's love for Frodo is heroic in its selflessness,
Sam's mind was occupied mostly with his master, hardly noticing the dark cloud that
had fallen on his own heart. He put Frodo in front of him now, and kept a watchful eye
on every movement of his, supporting him if he stumbled, and trying to encourage him
with clumsy words. [LotR p.616-617]
Sam's own conviction begins to waver but he fights it and resists for love of his master;
I'll get there, if I leave everything but my bones behind... And I'll carry Mr Frodo up
myself, if it breaks my back and heart. [LotR p.918]
Frodo and even more especially Sam, epitomizes the gospel truth that, 'One can have no
greater love than to lay down one's life for another'. Their friendship is true friendship. It is
built on self-sacrifice and love.
Frodo expends every fibre of his being and strength to reach Mt Doom; he sacrifices all he is
to get there with the help of Sam. This violent struggle in the heart and soul of Frodo and Sam
to complete the mission is yet another reflection of the 'good fight' that St Paul writes of in the
New Testament, and also of Jesus' words;
The Kingdom of God belongs to the violent and those who take it by force. [Matt
11:12] - which is referring to the violence of love, that gives everything and even oneself. It
also refers to those who fight their inclinations to evil.
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In one of his letters, Tolkien points out that Frodo is not a pacifist. [Letters p.255], i.e. he
is not someone to sit passively back and do nothing in the face of on-coming evil.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing
[Edmund Burke - Irish philosopher].
The strength of wicked people is the weakness of good people [St John Bosco].
[see Priest, Prophet & King for more on Frodo's sacrifice]
Gandalf:
Gandalf is another character where sacrifice is evident and provides a greater good. The
Fellowship is saved from the Balrog by the sacrificial act of the Grey Pilgrim. Frodo says of
Gandalf,
Gandalf was our guide, and he led us through Moria; and when our escape seemed
beyond hope he saved us, and he fell. [LotR p.346]
And the return of a more powerful Gandalf is integral to the final successful outcome of
Middle-earth.
Gandalf is prophetically warned by Aragorn not to enter the Mines of Moria but he continues
with no concern for his own safety. His concern is for the remaining members of the
Fellowship and those of wider Middle-earth in wanting to see the mission continue. Tolkien
writes of Gandalfs confrontation;
Gandalf sacrificed himself. and; ...for in his condition it was a sacrifice for him to
perish on the bridge in defence of his companions... and in sacrificing himself he is
...enhanced in power [that is, under the forms of this fable, in sanctity]. [Letters p.202]
[Letters p.203]
Gandalf is increased in sanctity by his sacrifice and he returns more powerful than before.
Gandalf is like a martyr who gives up his life and it bears extraordinary fruit. He is increased in
sanctity and moves higher in his Order of Istari as he now takes Saruman's place as the head
of the Order. He humbles himself and is raised up. His increase in power is still used for good
in uniting all those who oppose Sauron.
Aragorn:
Aragorn is also written as a man who is also willing to sacrifice,
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But in Moria the burden of Gandalf had been laid on him; and he knew that he could
not now forsake the Ring, if Frodo refused in the end to go with Boromir. [LotR p.359]
He understood that the evil in Middle-earth would only be overcome by people willing to lay
down their lives.
This theme of selflessness in the main heroes of Middle-earth is carried throughout and
echoes yet another truth of Christian life; through the darkness of suffering will come victory
and greater light.
This is shown in the character of Aragorn, who through trial and years of separation wins the
love he desires and inherits his Kingship, a renewed Kingdom. Aragorn meets Arwen when
he is 20 years and waits 60 years until he can marry her. [Nmenoreans have a life span 3
times that of mortal men]
Elrond requests that he be worthy of Arwen. Aragorn 'runs the great race' in the fight against
evil. Gandalf warns him; ...do not stumble now Aragorn plainly understood his path and
choice in life. This is clearly related when speaking with Galadriel regarding Arwen, ...only
through darkness shall I come to it. [LotR p.365] [LotR p.580]
Others:
Thoden is another who lays down his life in coming to the aid of the people of Minas Tirith.
He remains faithful to the old alliance between Rohan and Gondor and understands that he
may well die in doing so.
Merry also risks death in helping owyn destroy the Witch King, Pippin helps save the life of
Faramir, and Arwen sacrifices her immortality to be with Aragorn and bring him joy.
Tolkien excels in ennobling his most simple and humble characters. Selflessness is promoted
as a true path to happiness and the rewards for sacrifice are clearly evident. The Lord of the
Rings is most certainly a lesson in selfless love.

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EXALTATION OF THE HUMBLE:
Diminishment versus Aggrandizement: a theme that is deeply valued in the Lord of the Rings.
Regarding his own book Tolkien once wrote,
There are of course certain things and themes that move me especially. The inter-
relations between the 'noble' and the 'simple' for instance. The ennoblement of the
ignoble I find especially moving. [Letters p.220]
I loved them [the hobbits] myself since I love the vulgar and simple as dearly as the
noble, and nothing moves my heart [beyond all the passions and heartbreaks of the
world] so much as 'ennoblement'. [Letters p.232]
At the very heart of the story is the theme of 'the littleness of the simple defeating the
mighty and proud'. A theme very much at the heart of the Gospel starting with Mary in her
magnificat: 'He has brought down the mighty and raised the lowly'. [Luke 1:52]
The very stature of the hobbits being only 3 foot 6 inches or halfings is a paradoxical outward
projection of their inner value. They are simple folk who work the earth, grow crops, smoke
pipe weed, love eating and telling stories. Sometimes rather insular in their daily life from the
outside world of the big folk they don't worry themselves with the politics or concerns of the
Wise but live day to day and enjoy life to the full.
But their true worth resides in their loyalty, courage and inner strength; and ability to recover
from traumatic experiences which flows from being very child-like.
He who cannot become like a little child will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. [Luke
18:17]
I thank you Father for hiding these things from the learned and the clever, and
revealing them to mere children. [Matthew 11:25]
In terms of the overall story in the Lord of the Rings and related back-history, they were never
considered in the great plans of the wise or powerful, but it is they who shake the foundations
of the earth and save the world. This essence is understood by Elrond;
Such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do
them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere. [LotR p.264]
"God chose the foolish things of the world that He might shame those who are wise.
God chose the weak things of the world, that He might put to shame the things that are
strong..." [cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5].
It is precisely their innocence and natural humility in not desiring power that gives them longer
resistance to the evil influence of the Ring and hence makes the mission to destroy it
possible, though at the end Frodo does succumb.
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But Frodo is still the principal hero. The tale is essentially Frodo-centric as the Quest is what
drives the story and surrounding movements. And as is discussed in depth later in Mercy and
Forgiveness, even though Frodo fails, and succumbs, his mercy and love is what saves him
and the Quest. His humility in offering forgiveness and love towards Gollum is essential in the
overall scheme. Tolkien talks of this;
His humility [with which he began] and his sufferings were justly rewarded by the
highest honour: and his exercise of patience and mercy towards Gollum gained him
Mercy: his failure was redressed. [Letters p.326]
Tolkien also mentioned;
I myself saw the value of hobbits, of the need of putting earth under romance, and on
providing subjects for 'ennoblement' and heroes more praiseworthy than the
professionals : ...we are all equal before the Great Author, qui deposuit potentes de
sede et exaltavit humiles [who humbles the proud and exalts the humble]. [Letters
p.215]
Once again, all of the main heroes carry this humility and healthy distrust of self.
Even with extraordinary power and wisdom, Gandalf the Grey and also the more confident
Gandalf the White carries a distrust of self that leads to deeper wisdom. This is demonstrated
when Frodo offers the One Ring to Gandalf at Bag-End. Gandalf exclaims;
' No! with that power I should have power too great and terrible. And over me the Ring
would gain a power still greater and more deadly.' His eyes flashed and his face was lit
as by a fire within. 'Do not temp me! For I do not wish to become like the Dark Lord
himself. Yet the way of the Ring to my heart is by pity, pity for weakness and the desire
of strength to do good. Do not temp me! I dare not take it, not even to keep it safe,
unused. The wish to wield it would be too great for my strength. I shall have such need
of it. Great perils lie before me. [LotR p.60]

This passage highlights an attribute that is critical to healthy distrust of self; that is knowledge
of self. Gandalf knows his weaknesses and strengths and this leads to true humility. He will
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not even risk the possibility of entering into a situation where the Ring could have power over
him and hence cause his downfall. Gandalf ensures that he never actually touches the Ring
itself.
Gandalf enforces this virtue with his comment to Denethor regarding the Ring;
...nay, stay your wrath, I do not even trust myself in this. [LotR p.796]
And in regards to confronting Sauron in the Palantr Gandalf says;
I am not ready for such a trial if indeed I shall ever be so. [LotR p.581]
Tolkien writes of Gandalfs sacrifice on the bridge;
It was a humbling and abnegation of himself. [Letters p.203]
Gandalf ...sacrificed himself an act that one doesn't make without humility.There can
be no love without humility'; a great spiritual truth taught by St Thrse. [Letters p.203]
Aragorn also knows his limits. When he had the chance to take the Ring he resists [in Bree];
his nobility, wisdom and knowledge make it seem easy for him. But due to the fact that he
knows of the fault of Isildur in taking the Ring, Aragorn understands the dangers. Tied in with
this, are the years of sacrifice he has already made in the fight against Sauron and the
heritage that weighs heavily on his shoulders. As the Fellowship prepare to leave Rivendell to
start the journey,
Aragorn sat with his head bowed to his knees; only Elrond knew fully what this hour
meant to him. [LotR p.273]
Aragorn becomes part of the Fellowship due to his connection with the Ring,
For men you shall have Aragorn son of Arathorn, for the Ring of Isildur concerns him
closely. [LotR p.268]
Aragorn understood the responsibility and importance of righting the wrong of Isildur.
Aragorn was the most noble and skilled man in Middle-earth;
Thus he became at last the most hardy of living men, skilled in their crafts and lore,
and was yet more than they; for he was Elven-wise, and there was a light in his eyes
that when they were kindled few could endure. [LotR Appendix p.1035]
His Elvish up-bringing gave him a wisdom and self-knowledge that rooted him in the truth; the
truth that the Ring was all-together evil. No man could totally resist it in his own strength.
In the Quest, Aragorn is a little unsure in his decisions, especially after Gandalf 'dies' which
displays his healthy self-knowledge, [i.e. he recognizes he doesn't know everything]. But he
uses the many skills he has and listens to his friends. Then, at need and when the time is
right, Aragorn takes up the mantle of royalty, as is shown when he looks into Palantr. He
sees his course, takes action with all his strength and true valour, but remains humble.
Faramir, like Aragorn, understands the need for good self-knowledge, and hence this leads
him to wisdom;
Or I am wise enough to know that there are some perils from which a man must
flee Faramir referring to the Ring. [LotR p.666]
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Sam is the other of the great heroes of the story. Possibly the most important, because he
'seems' like the least important. Tolkien wrote;
Indeed my Sam Gamgee is a reflection of the batmen and privates I knew in the 1914
war... where Tolkien witnessed everyday English men commit heroic acts of sacrifice and
bravery. [J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography p.89]
He also praised Sam with the saying,
...the Englishry of this jewel among Hobbits. [Letters p.88]
This is very much another source of the ennoblement of the ignoble theme that Tolkien writes
that he loves. One can see that Tolkien was extremely moved and edified by the acts of men
who may not have been very educated or even had any faith in a God of Love, but knew
about sacrifice and service and loyalty.
Sam is content to serve his master, and makes him the primary focus of his journey. And
while he exemplifies simplicity, he is not without depth as is eloquently shown in Frodo and
Sam's talk about the seamless web of tales on the Stairs of Cirith Ungol;
...we're in one, of course; but I mean; put into words, you know, told by the fireside, or
read out of a great big book with red and black letters, years and years afterwards.
[LotR p.697]
Sam begins the journey with an immature innocence as Stratford Caldecott is quoted in Man
& Myth [by Joseph Pearce p.115], and after experiencing many hardships and sufferings he
matures; but retains his childlikeness and innocence. But most importantly he does not
harden his heart or become cynical through his experience of life, he grows in love and true
wisdom; he grows into a mature innocence.
Pippin and Merry also pass through this growing up of sorts and come to learn about sacrifice
and courage themselves. Merry helps to kill the Witch-King and save owyn and Pippin helps
save Faramir, which further entrenches Tolkien's theme of exalting the humble.
The ennoblement of the ignoble I find especially moving. [Letters p.220]
Galadriel, after her 'test' with the Ring says,
I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel. [LotR p.357]
Her humility and her resistance to the Ring is rewarded. She is allowed to return to Aman.
Similar themes are found with John the Baptist, he must increase and I must decrease.'
[John 3:30]
At the Field of Cormallen, Frodo and Sam receive the accolades they deserve. The Lords of
the West exalt the smallest heroes and humblest givers. It is a quasi-paradisiacal event as it
shows how it will be in the world to come: the First will be Last and the Last, First.
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Diminishment versus Aggrandizement: the Hobbits, Galadriel, Aragorn, Gandalf, even
Boromir teach of this Christian spiritual paradox. 'He who humbles himself, will be exalted' &
'He who makes himself your servant is the greatest among you.' [Mat 18:1-5 & Luke 22:26]

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PROVIDENCE & HOPE:
These two are connected: Providence and Hope.
Introduction:
Hope is one of the primary Christian virtues [Love and Faith being the others] and Providence
is caught up in the mystery of the Fatherhood of God and His guiding love. We hope is these
things.
In its simplicity, the whole mission of destroying the Ring in the Lord of the Rings is one of
Hope. If those making the decisions, i.e. Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, Aragorn or the Council of
Elrond didn't have hope that destroying the Ring could actually work, would they have done
it? Forget about whether it is the right path to choose or not. If there was no Hope, then why
try?
Intrinsically embedded in the story is an attitude of immense hope even though it is far-off and
frail. A hope that all evil could be completely rid of by choosing a path that is both right and
possible; though obviously fraught with danger and seemingly foolish from a logical and
rational perspective. But still possible and therefore an option, and one of Hope.
As Elrond said;
I have seen three ages of the West of the world, and many defeats and many fruitless
victories. [LotR p.237]
He had learnt and drawn wisdom from it, that the only way to deal with the Ring was to
choose the Path that was the hardest but rightist. He had been present when Isildur took the
Ring for himself, and therefore knew how it would always work its way back to Sauron if a
definitive solution wasn't chosen.
Frodo trusts Gandalf and Elrond's instruction, but also understands the reasons outlined at
the Council of Elrond for destroying it. They decide to choose the right path and trust in
providence. Elrond himself said that they had been summoned in the nick of time;
"...that is the purpose for which you are called hither. Called I say, though I have not
called you to me, strangers from distant lands. You have come and are here met, in
this very nick of time, by chance it would seem. Yet it is not so. Believe rather that it is
so ordered that we, who sit here, and none others, must now find council for the peril
of the world. [LotR p.236]
There is a sense here of an external will leading them to find council for the peril of the world
and choose the appropriate path. They are obedient to wisdom and not temporal gain or
temporal safety or natural sight.
All, except Boromir trust in the fools hope that destroying the Ring will be the definitive
solution of the evil at hand; even though the other paths seem like the easier way. Elrond
mentions;
...the Western road seems the easiest. Therefore it must be shunned. a very
Christian message which is relevant in today's world and echoes the Gospel truth that 'the
way to life is narrow and few tread it, but the road to perdition is wide and many choose it'.
[LotR p.260] [Mat 7:13]
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They trust in doing what is morally right to produce the results and not what is just
necessary to produce the desired result.
Providence:
A Fools Hope is what Gandalf admitted was what they had chosen, in sending Frodo
and Sam into Mordor to destroy the Ring; a lovely echo of God's own choices in our world in
choosing the 'foolish and simple' to confound the wise. [1 Cor 1:19-2:5] [LotR p.797]
Elrond himself admits;
If I understand aright all that I have heard, I think that this task is appointed for you,
Frodo; and that if you do not find a way, no-one will. This is the hour of the Shire-folk,
when they arise from their fields to shake the towers and councils of the Great, Who of
all the Wise could have foreseen it? Of if they are wise, why should they expect to
know it until the hour has struck. [LotR p.264]
It is almost like Frodo was appointed by some higher power, and this is further enforced by
his own free choice to take on the task;
'I will take the Ring, though I do not know the way', as if some other will was using his
small voice ... [LotR p.264], and giving him the strength and courage to accept and take up
the burden.

It is interesting to see what Tolkien himself wrote of this moment;
Frodo was given 'grace': first to answer the call [at the end of the Council] after long
resisting a complete surrender; and later in his resistance to the temptation of the
Ring... [Letters p.326 - footnote]
Just previous to this comment Tolkien writes of grace;
...as the enhancement of our powers as instruments of Providence... This further
confirms Tolkiens theme of Providence in the Lord of the Rings. [Letters p.326 - footnote]
In fact the whole tale of the Ring reaching Frodo is one of providence itself, as Gandalf says
to Frodo...
It was the strangest event in the whole history of the Ring so far. Bilbo arrived and
put his hand on it in the dark. There was more than one power at work Frodo. The Ring
was trying to get back to his master - Gandalf regarding Bilbo finding the ring. [LotR p.54]
Behind that there was something else at work, more than any design of the Ring-
Maker. [LotR p.54]
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Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker. In which case you also are
meant to have it. And that may be an encouraging thought. Gandalf. [LotR p.55]

Gandalf is seeing that there are other powers at play that are influencing the outcome of
Middle-earth, and so he should. He himself was sent from the West to aid Middle-earth and is
indeed a Maiar [or Archangel - angelic spirit]; an incarnate angel taking on physical
form, but capable of pain, weariness and fear. [Letters p.202]
Throughout the entire tale are moments of pure providence as an apparent Finger of God
intervenes when some dire sequence or important occasion needs it.
The fact that Merry and Pippin go with the Fellowship due to Gandalfs intervention is
extremely important. Gandalf himself knew this was important. He says to Elrond;
...it would be well to trust in friendship than to great wisdom. [LotR p.269]
Merry and Pippin end up having a great effect on the outcome of things, e.g.
helping in the redemption of Boromir.
being kidnapped and meeting Treebeard which ends up bringing down Saruman.
Pippin looking into the Palantr which causes Sauron to strike early.
Merry stabbing the Witch King that helps in his killing, but also saves owyn.
Pippin helps save Faramir in Minas Tirith.
Gandalf mentions the fact when he says;
It was not in vain that the young hobbits came with us, if only for Boromir's sake. But
that is not the only part they have to play. They were brought to Fangorn, and their
coming was like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains.
[LotR p.485]
The Dream of Boromir gives one another sense of pure providence in Middle-earth. Boromir
and Faramir both receive the dream, but it is Boromir who takes on the task of discovering its
meaning. Boromir describes that in the dream he saw;
the Eastern sky grew dark and there was a growing thunder, but in the West a pale
light lingered, and out of it I heard a voice remote but clear, crying... [LotR p.240]
Seek for the Sword that was broken:
In Imladris it dwells
There shall be counsels taken
Stronger than Morgul-spells
There shall be shown a token
That Doom is near at hand,
For Isildur's Bane shall waken,
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And the Halfling forth shall stand.
Once again the feeling of the Powers-from-Above guiding those who resist Sauron is
tangible.
Aragorn certainly understood the dream in this way;
His own plan, while Gandalf remained with them, was to go with Boromir, and with his
sword help deliver Gondor. For he believed that the message of the dreams was a
summons, and that the hour had come at last when the heir of Elendil should come
forth and strive with Sauron for the mastery. [LotR p.359]
Other examples are found in Frodo and Sam's journey where they seem to providentially
receive some gift or grace of strength and courage. Firstly Sam seems to receive strength
when wearing the Ring;
And then he bent his own neck and put the chain upon it, and at once his head was
bowed to the ground with the weight of the Ring, as if a great stone had been strung on
him. But slowly, as if the weight became less, or new strength grew in him, he raised
his head, and then with a great effort got to his feet and found that he could walk and
bear his burden. [LotR p.716]
That day it seemed to Sam that Frodo had found new strength, more than could be
explained by the small lightening of the load that he had to carry. [LotR p.917]
Then he receives strength when carrying Frodo;
As Frodo clung upon his back, arms loosely about his neck, legs clasped firmly under
his arms, Sam staggered to his feet; and then to his amazement he felt the burden
light. He had feared that he would have barely the strength to lift his master alone, and
beyond that he had expected to share in the dreadful dragging weight of the accursed
Ring. But it was not so. Whether because Frodo was so worn by his long pains, wound
of knife, and venomous sting, and sorrow, fear and homeless wandering, or because
some gift of strength was given to him, Sam lifted Frodo with no more difficulty than if
he were carrying a hobbit-child pig-a-back in some romp on the lawns or hayfields of
the Shire. [M&M p.113]
It is also shown when Sam speaks aloud the verse to Elbereth when confronted by Shelob - a
voice rises from within his heart;
And then his tongue was loosed and his voice cried in a language which he did not
know. [LotR p.712]
At the end of the story Merry refers to higher powers guiding the fortunes of Middle-earth and
providing good:
...the soil of the Shire is deep. Still there are things deeper and higher; and not a
gaffer in the world could tend his garden in what he calls peace, but for them. [LotR
p.958]
The men of the south talk of Faramir;
He leads now in all perilous ventures. But his life is charmed, or fate spares him for
some other purpose. [LotR p.645]
Another example of providence is that of the White Tree sapling appearing on Mt Mindolliun
and Aragorn finding it guided by Gandalf.
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Imbedded in the Mythology is the foresightedness of the wise in Middle-earth. Galadriel's
messages for Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli show she is foresighted and prophetic. In fact all of
the wise; Elrond, Galadriel, Gandalf, even Aragorn seem to understand and trust in other
powers at play. They understand that fate is not guided by chance, but providence, as is
shown by Galadriel's comment in Lrien;
Do not trouble your hearts overmuch with thoughts of the road ahead. Maybe the
paths that you each shall tread are already laid before your feet, though you do not see
them... [LotR p.359]
Perhaps the greatest providential occurrence in the Lord of the Rings is Gollum's last act and
Frodo's apparent failure.
Jesus being killed on the Cross is the supreme example of God's Providence and Plans
working through anything. The overall providence of Gollum's last act and Frodo's apparent
failure is a classic epitome of how a mission, quest or important work can be achieved
through a combination of imperfect intentions and acts. The Good Lords plans can make a
vocation out of our mess ups if you like [as long as our hearts truly desire to do His will].
Hope:
As already pointed out, infiltrating the essence of Providence in Middle-earth is an attitude of
Hope. Often the nostalgic and bitter-sweet taste in the Lord of the Rings is confused with one
of no-hope or melancholy. Yet this is far from the truth. The story is overflowing with Hope
from start to finish. This does not exclude sorrow and suffering and fear from the story, but
these, rather exemplify the need for Hope.
All through the story, Tolkien emphasizes this reliance on Hope and an underlying joy:
There is little hope for that now. Yet not no hope ... says Gandalf regarding Gollum's
cure [LotR p.54]. He is often an instrument of providing hope for others.
Galadriel says to the Fellowship, But even now there is hope left. And again she re-
iterates, Yet hope remains while the Company is true. [LotR p.348]
And to Aragorn she declares, ... and now it comes to you as a token of hope. [LotR
p.366], referring to the green stone she transfers to him.
Other examples are in descriptions of Gandalf and Aragorn.
While in Minas Tirith with the wizard;
Pippin glanced up in some wonder at the face now close beside his own, for the
sound of that laugh had been gay and merry. Yet in the wizard's face he saw at first
only lines of care and sorrow; though as he looked more intently he perceived that
under all there was a great joy; a fountain of mirth enough to set a kingdom laughing,
were it to gush forth. [LotR p.742]
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Frodo also finds joy in his heart on the Stairs of Cirith Ungol;
...and he laughed, a long clear laugh from his heart. Such a sound had not been heard
in those places since Sauron came to Middle-earth. [LotR p.697]
And in the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen found in the appendix, Tolkien writes of Aragorn;
Thus he became the most hardy of living Men, skilled in their crafts and lore, and was
yet more that they; for he was Elven-wise, and there was a light in his eyes that when
they were kindled few could endure. His face was sad and stern because of the doom
that was laid on him, and yet hope dwelt ever in his depths of his heart, from which
mirth would rise at times like a spring from the rock. [LotR Appendix A p.1035]
A clear example of this is in a small but beautiful text where Frodo and Sam are in the depths
of Mordor, the land of the enemy. Frodo had already fallen asleep.
There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains,
Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart as he looked
up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold,
the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing
thing; there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach. His song in the Tower
had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a
moment, his own fate, and even that of his master's, ceased to trouble him. He crawled
back into the brambles and laid himself by Frodo's side, and putting away all fear he
cast himself into a deep untroubled sleep. [LotR p.901]
This attitude, that the shadow is only a small and passing thing, is one that flows from his
faith.
In early manuscripts of the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien writes that after the destruction of the
Ring, Gandalf raised a toast to Frodo and Sam exclaiming:
...I name before you all, Frodo of the Shire and Samwise his servant. And the bards
and minstrels should give them new names: Bronwe athan Harthad and Harthad
Uluithiad, Endurance beyond Hope and Hope Unquenchable. [The History of Middle-
earth, vol. IX, Sauron Defeated: "Many Partings", p.62]
This was eventually removed and never used in the final text, but continues to underline the
essence and reliance on hope.
Frodo and Sam epitomize the virtue of Hope. Even when the whole mission and world around
them seemed on the brink of destruction, they forged on. Even if they themselves have no
chance of surviving after they completed the act, they continued in the quest for the sake of
others. If Frodo was succumbing, Sam would give him strength. They hoped beyond hope.
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They also were the Hope of the Western world, even though few knew of the quest, they
carried on their shoulders the Fate of the World.
Not only does Tolkien consider hope, but he spells out the errors of despairing, as is shown
at the Council of Elrond;
Despair is for those who see the end beyond all doubt, we do not. It is wisdom to
recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may
appear to those who cling to false hope. Well, let folly be our cloak, a veil before the
eyes of the Enemy! [LotR p.262]
Denethor despaired from what he had been lead to believe from looking into the Palantr, but
the Lords of the West continue to hope beyond hope in the Quest and the final destruction of
Sauron.
What is interesting here is the difference between Denethor, Steward of Gondor, despairing
from what he sees in the Palantr, and Aragorn, true King of Gondor, acting in hope from what
he sees in the Palantr [he takes the Paths of the Dead].
Gandalf also states, I hope for victory, but not by arms. [LotR p.861]
In one of his letters Tolkien makes a comment;
I am only concerned with Death as part of nature, physical and spiritual of man, and
of Hope without guarantees. [Letters p.237]
This is also re-enforced by the comments of Men in the Silmarillion:
...of us is required a blind trust and a hope without assurance. [Sil p.265] [Celebration
p.98]
This notion of hope without guarantees brings into light the Catholic understanding about
salvation offered through Jesus.
This salvation is conditional, there are no guarantees that we will persevere, thus
Catholics believe that there is no complete assurance of salvation in this life unless
we are faithful unto the end. Then there is a moral assurance of salvation. i.e. God
has promised us and He will keep his word.
Catholic belief is that there are four parts to our salvation: God's Grace,
Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification.
We are ultimately saved through God's Grace alone, because everything is merciful
grace and it is He who works all things and forgives all sins and knows all hearts.
Mankind will never understand the depths of My Mercy.- Our Lord to St
Faustina.
There is nothing we can do to merit our salvation because it has been freely given. [1
Tim. 2:5-7].
But, He has put in place a plan and made us partners in it, so that if we accept the
message of Jesus, are Baptized, and love him as Our Lord and Saviour we become
Justified by His Grace, through Faith in Him. But this alone is not enough; because
tomorrow we may apostasize [reject Jesus] and abandon a morally good life.
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[James. 2:24, Rom. 2:68, 1 Cor. 3:9, Matt. 25:3440, Luke 6:46, Matt. 7:2123,
19:1621, Pet. 2:2021]
After justification, comes Sanctification; this is basically faithfulness to Our Lord
throughout the long race we run through life and suffering; living the Gospel and
allowing grace to work in our lives which will bear fruit, lead to good works and make
us holy; i.e. loving one another. [Gal. 6:2, Gal. 6:610, James. 2:24, Phil. 2:12,
Hebrews 12:43-56]. The action of God's Grace in us will cause purification in our lives
and daily conversion. This can only happen through a healthy prayer life.
We can never earn our salvation through good works but if we truly are disciples and
love Jesus, these acts of love will be present in our lives. John says if we say we love
Him and do not keep his commandments then we are liars.
[1 John 2:34, 3:1924, 5:34, John 15:56, Rom. 11:2223, 1 Cor. 15:12, 1 Cor.
6:910, Gal. 5:1921, Eph. 2:89, Rom. 9:16].
Mother Teresa once said, It is not how much we do... but how much love we put
in the doing.
This message is very relevant in the 21st century. This is St Therese of Lisieux' 'little
way' of doing every action in our small lives with the greatest love. [St Therese]
After this, comes Glorification where God welcomes us into his Kingdom and we
share in His paradise.
For those who have never known Jesus [God alone knows each soul], they will be
judged on love i.e. their charity.
Thus, we have immense hope in God through what He has promised to us in Jesus
[and God always keeps His promises], but there is no guarantee, because we have
free will and could reject him later in life. We don't know what we may do; therefore it
is conditional upon our faithful response.
Tolkien talks of his story being about, Hope without guarantees which continues to
remain in line with the Order of Grace and the Catholic doctrine about our salvation. It also
reflects the Christian struggle in this world that each believer faces.
The heroes in the Lord of the Rings carry a hope without any guarantees. They struggle in
their fight without any assurance that their efforts will be successful, but this makes their Hope
and Trust in Providence all the more meritorious.
In the end their efforts bear fruit and the Quest is fulfilled and their Hope is consummated.
Frodo decides to depart over the seas to find rest. [LotR p.967]
There is great joy and peace in Middle-earth but the end of the story is tinged sorrow and
sadness as Frodo leaves Sam and his friends. Gandalf says to the hobbits;
I will not say do not weep, for not all tears are an evil. [LotR p.1007]
This mixture of joy and sorrow is summed up by Tolkien with the words;
Christian joy produces tears because it is qualitatively so like sorrow, because it
comes from those places where Joy and Sorrow are at one, reconciled, as selfishness
and altruism are lost in Love. [Letters p.100]
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Frodo and Sam were part of a great story, a massive movement of struggle, which reflects
the part each of us could play in this world; and which could turn out to be magnificent in the
eyes of God.
The Lord of the Rings delivers Hope and Joy and the message that 'darkness cannot triumph
forever'.

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CONFLICT OF GOOD & EVIL:
At its heart Tolkien's story is essentially one of traditional Good and Evil.
It conveys the Truth of the temptation of evil, the corruption of power, the blasphemy of
despair and the folly of pride. It hails the triumph of humility, the essence of truth, the need of
mercy and the guiding framework of morality.
All of life for him [Tolkien] was part of a cosmic conflict between the forces of good
and evil, God and the devil... said George Sayer, a life long friend of Tolkien. [Celebration
p.8]
As is outlined in Creation, Tolkien's mythological story has an eternal divine Creator. From
this creation, a spirit that was once good, rebels, falls and desires to destroy what Eru, the
Father of All, has created.
This sets up the arena for a huge battle; between that which is good in Middle-earth [or Arda
as a whole] and that which is evil.
And this fight will affect and involve every living thing in Middle-earth, even those who do not
desire to be involved; [e.g. the hobbits, beasts and men of the east] as it lasts for many
thousands of years.
The battle is one of classical mythology and theology. Every culture and religion has an
understanding of Good and Evil, but differ in details of the what's, how's and whys regarding
the existence of Good and Evil and their relationship to Man.

In the conflict of Good and Evil, the Lord of the Rings carries an unmistakable mark of
Christianity and Christian philosophy.
There is a 'positive compatibility with the Order of Grace' as mentioned by Father Steve
[Allegory], a friend of Tolkien who proof-read early manuscripts of the Lord of the Rings. As
Tolkien himself points out,
Theologically [if the term is not too grandiose] I imagine the picture [story] to be less
dissonant from what some [including myself] believe to be the truth. [Letters p.283
bottom of page]
The existence of Good and Evil is accurate; but what is also accurate are all the effects and
consequences of good and evil as they find themselves layered into the Lord of the Rings.
The mythology sets up and reflects a Moral and Spiritual Order.
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Even the presence of evil is not something existing from the beginning or created by Eru [the
Father of All],
I do not deal with absolute evil but objective evil. [Letters p.242]
Sauron and Melkor weren't created evil to begin with, but they became evil through pride and
hated Eru and his works, especially the Elves and Nmenoreans, [much like Satan]. The evil
in the Lord of the Rings is objective, like Satan, i.e. it doesn't originate from within the heart of
man or elves, though it may end up there through temptation and corruption. It is an entity in
itself. It is also immortal.
The presence of evil pervades and corrupts everything it touches in Middle-earth. Saurons
realm of Mordor is a classic example of evil squeezing the life out of every living organism.
Those who have given themselves over to evil are twisted and visibly horrible. There is a
hideous destruction and parasitic twisting of life itself. Very much like the affect of sin in our
lives and on our souls.
The Seen and Unseen worlds also set up. The Elves [those who have lived in the Blessed
Realm] are described as living at once in both worlds and the Ring-Wraiths are neither dead
nor living. When wearing the One Ring, Frodo enters into a semi spiritual world;
Yet even so, as Ring-bearer and as one that had borne it on finger and seen that
which is hidden, your sight is grown keener. You have perceived my thought more
clearly than many who are accounted wise. You saw the Eye of him that holds the
Seven and the Nine. [LotR p.357]
The Rings of Power, untouched by Sauron could be used for good with foresightedness, but
the One Ring gave depth of perception and sight wholly for evil purposes.
Go to Peter Kreeft's homepage for an audio MP3 clip on evil in Lord of the Rings [here -
towards bottom of page].
The understanding of Divine Providence and other powers at play is communicated and
shown to be crucial in the outcome of the story.
Those of good origins or who are morally good, display qualities of purity, sanctity, wisdom,
humility, love, sacrifice, trust, courage and hope. They respect nature, life and freedom.
This philosophy of goodness and evil remains consistent and objective throughout the tale
and throughout the thousands of years of struggle. Eomer asks Aragorn how he should judge
in such evil times, and Aragorn replies,
As he ever has judged. Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear; nor are they
one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among Men. It is a man's part to
discern them... [LotR p.428]
Here Tolkien dispels the notion of relativistic or subjective morality. Good and Evil are the
same for all. Morality is not hard to know, it is hard to do.
The Elves almost have a supernatural ability to sense 'hidden' things;
For a moment it seemed to the eyes of Legolas that a white flame flickered on the
brows of Aragorn like a shining crown. [LotR p.423]
The presence of evil is also sensed by Aragorn who received an Elvish upbringing and
carries Nmenorean blood. Twice during the passage of the Great River, Aragorn is woken
from sleep by a foreboding of evil at hand:
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'Why are you waking?' asked Frodo, 'It is not your watch.' 'I do not know,' answered
Aragorn; 'but a shadow and a threat has been growing in my sleep. It would be well to
draw your sword.'; and again; I felt something in my sleep, why have you drawn your
sword. [LotR p.375 and p.387]
The men of good will are true of heart and word: Aragorn and Faramir are archetypes of this.
For Faramir, his integrity is shown when Frodo says;
Or are you trying to snare me with a falsehood and Faramir replies, I would not
snare even an orc with a falsehood. [LotR p.649]
For Aragorn he always looks to put right the works of evil. After the fall of Gandalf, Aragorn
says, At least we may yet be avenged. Let us gird ourselves and weep no more! [LotR
p.324]
To avenge is very different than to revenge. Avenge means to put right and is closely
associated with the virtue of justice. It is to put right a wrong doing, but to do it in the right and
proper manner, to see justice done. Revenge is concerned with retaliation to the offender to
the same level as the original offence; and is caught in the false theory of 'two wrongs can
make it right'.

Also denoted is a classical symbolism of Light and Darkness in the struggle of Good and Evil.
Galadriel and the Elves shimmer with white light or white clothing.
Elbereth is referred to as Ever-White.
Gandalf is the White Rider with a white horse
Minas Tirith has white walls, a White Tower and a White Tree.
The council of the wise is called the White Council.
Glorfindel shines with a white light at the Ford of Bruinen and his horse is also white.
Saruman is white before he falls.
Sting [Frodos sword] glows with a soft blue light.
Glamring [Gandalfs sword] shines with cold white light when the presence of orcs are
near.
Most things evil tend to hide in the dark. Orcs only come out at night. They hate the sunlight.
Gollum hates the sunlight and moonlight and only travels by day at need;
I have heard that he doesn't like the Sun or Moon... says Frodo regarding Gollum. [LotR
p.599]
Shelob lives in dark tunnel.
The Ring-Wraiths are Black Riders on black horses.
The Black Gate guards the entrance to Mordor.
The Dark Lord lives in his Dark Tower in the Land of Shadow.
Sauron steals only the black horses from Rohan.
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Aragorn points out that the swans the Fellowship see from their boats are black.
[LotR p.372].
Sunlight and Moonlight is hated by Orcs, Gollum and Black-Riders. This is a recurring theme
in the Lord of the Rings, regarding the Sun, Moon and the Stars. They are the enemies of
Darkness [Letters p.425 No.347] because they are created from the Fruit and Dew of the Two
Trees in the Blessed Realm; thus the Sun and Moon and Stars are reflections of that which is
eternally good.

On the battle field between these poles of Light and Dark [Good and Evil], are the temptations
and trials at play in the story. On a larger scale is the resistance and defiance of evil by the
major races of Middle-earth: Elves, Men of Nmenor and Rohan, even Dwarves.
Tolkien describes the physical resistance of the good people of Middle-earth as a
major act of loyalty to God in terms of the overall mythology. [Letters p.207]
This good and evil reality is displayed in an external and internal manner. All of the principle
characters are tempted in some way. Aragorn, Gandalf, Frodo and Sam have doubts and
moments of weakness. For the Fellowship this is very well laid out when Galadriel searches
their hearts,
...each had felt that he was offered a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay
ahead, and something that he greatly desired: clear before his mind it lay, and to get it
he had only to turn aside from the road and leave the Quest and the war against
Sauron to others. [LotR p.349]
Boromir further describes the test,
Maybe it was only a test, and she thought to read our thoughts for her own good
purpose; but almost I should have said that she was tempting us, and offering what
she pretended to have the power to give... [LotR p.349]
Free will is demonstrated in all the major characters. As mentioned earlier [in Creation], free
will is an essential part of Tolkien's tale. In one of his letters Tolkien is at pains to point out
that even when listening to Saruman;
it was always open to reject, by free will and reason, both his voice while speaking
and it's after impressions. Saruman corrupted the reasoning powers. [Letters p.277]
Frodo is a classic example as he eventually fails in his quest but good triumphs through love
and forgiveness. Even after the Ring has gone, he still has regrets due to the power that the
Ring had over him. Very much like the lure of sins in our lives and the constant struggle within
us. The effect of sin continues to resonate in the world even after the Redemption of Christ
[because our response is based on free will]. Frodo still is effected by the evil and regrets
letting it go which reflects the truth about the nature of sin and how conversion is a life long
process. [Letters p.328]
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It is not complete until the end, so we pray for final perseverance, as Tolkien once said.
[Letters p.338]
Thoden is one who is physically altered by the presence of evil in his life. He is healed by
Gandalf and there is great symbolism with Light and Darkness in the healing. Saruman is
corrupted by a lust for power and even desire to be like God in creating an army to help him
secure the Ring.
In doing so Saruman negatively effects Saurons ability to find the Ring and displays another
philosophical truth found in Tolkien's writing,
...evil oft shall evil mar [LotR p.756] and ...often does hatred hurt itself... as
proclaimed by Thoden and Gandalf respectively [M&M p.118]. Evil defeats itself. In killing
Jesus, Satan defeated himself.
Saruman causes evil to be thwarted by his own evil actions. On this point Frodo says to Sam
in the Land of Shadow that the common practice of Orcs killing one another was the spirit
of Mordor. Treachery and betrayal. [LotR p.905]
Galadriel is also tempted by the Power of the Ring but passes the test. She had previously
announced her rejection of evil,
She lifted her white arms, and spread out her hands towards the East in a gesture of
rejection and denial. [LotR p.355]
Specifically in the War of the Ring story, the Ring is the embodiment of evil. Sauron poured
much of his former strength into the Ring. It enslaves, corrupts, temps and destroys
individuality, much like sin in our lives and the desire of the devil over us.
Consider Gollum,
...he hated it and loved it. He had no will left in the matter... says Gandalf referring to
the Ring [LotR p.54].
Echoing the truth that the corruption of sin erodes the will. Gollum becomes wretched and
almost transparent; he 'fades' as he is consumed by desire and lust for the Ring. He loses his
identity. He commits crimes and hideous acts because of it. He finally betrays himself.

In the same way the Ring-Wraiths are enslaved by their Nine Rings and epitomize corruption
of the spirit and slavery to sin.
Orcs are hideous and corrupted, though not created evil. Frodo talks of this fact;
No, they eat and drink, Sam. The Shadow that bred them can only mock, it cannot
make: not real new things of its own. I don't think it can give life to the Orcs, it only
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ruined them and twisted them; and if they are to live at all, they have to live like other
living creatures. [LotR p.893]
This is completely in line with Christian theology, that the devil cannot create, he can only
corrupt, destroy and bring about spiritual death.
Denethor and Boromir are pure examples of men with good intentions but are lead astray
through pride and despair and weakness. Both come to unfortunate ends due to their trust in
their own strength.
Boromir believes he won't be corrupted by the Ring.
Denethor believed he has the strength to use the Palantr.
Sauron wanted to be God. He desired to dominate the wills of others. Tolkien said that the
story was,
...about God and his sole right to divine honour. The Eldar and the Nmenoreans
believed in The One, the true God, and held worship of any other person an
abomination. Sauron desired to be a God-King, and was held to this by his servants...
[Letters p.243]
Something that is shown in the race of Elves and Nmenoreans as the enemies of Sauron
and Morgoth
This reflects Tolkien's own views on life;
So it may be said that the chief purpose in life is to increase our love of God and
honour him. [Letters p.400]
The story also reflects the noble struggle and survival of the human spirit. The Dignity of Man
as Children of God. The desire to be free, but true freedom. Not the modern ideas about
freedom, 'I'll do what I want, when I want', which does not lead to true freedom, but actually
chains people to their disordered passions.
The story looks at freedom as the freedom from the enslavement of evil.
It also deals with the issue of Reward for Good. At the end, all those who resisted evil came
to receive their rest or hearts desire: Galadriel, Thoden, Frodo and Sam, Gandalf and
Aragorn.
The saga finishes on an overall positive note, darkness cannot triumph forever [M&M p.66],
even though there may be sadness and loss.
It also enforces the Catholic understanding of conversion and salvation; ...so we pray for
final perseverance. [letters p.338]

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MERCY & FORGIVENESS:
Tolkien's understanding of Mercy and Forgiveness is imprinted on his story. For someone
who lived through two world wars and fought in WWI it is amazing to see how Tolkien's
outlook deeply embraces the Christian philosophy of forgiveness.
It is shown in Gandalfs wise words regarding Gollum, after Frodo suggests,
What a pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance. [LotR p.58]
Gandalf replies: Pity, it was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Pity and Mercy: not too strike
without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt
from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so.
With Pity.

Frodo cannot understand, that after all the horrible things Gollum had done, Gandalf and the
Elves had allowed him to live. He deserves death, protests Frodo...
Gandalf replies: Deserves it! I dare say he does. Many that live deserve death. And
some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal
out death and judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends. I have not much
hope that Gollum can be cured, but there is a chance of it. [LotR p.58]
This attitude of Frodo is something that changes through the course of the story; there is a
classic cyclical theme in this part of the writing. Frodo comes to see Gandalfs wisdom and in
fact, in living that wisdom, in showing Gollum mercy, Frodo plays his part in fulfilling the
Quest.
The sacrificial love of Frodo and Sam in making it to Mt Doom is consummated by the Mercy
of the hobbits towards Gollum: Bilbo's mercy and then the mercy of Frodo.
Without the mercy of Bilbo, Gollum wouldn't have been there to guide them into Mordor and
more importantly he wouldn't have been at Mt Doom to inadvertently complete the Quest.
Frodo succumbs after months of carrying the Ring into the heart of the enemys realm and it
is only Gollum's attempt to take the Ring that ends up achieving the Quest and fulfils
Gandalfs prophetic intuition that Gollum still had a part to play for good or ill. [LotR p.58]
Indeed as Gandalf understood and said to Frodo,
...the pity of Bilbo, may rule the fate of many - yours not the least. [LotR p.58]
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But more than just a physical result achieved through Mercy, - [ i.e. Gollum is physically
spared through Bilbo's mercy and therefore can continue in existence to be physically at
Sammath Naur - the Chamber at Mt Doom],
- is the eternal result of Mercy
that occurs when Frodo offers love to Gollum. Tolkien explains on more than one occasion,
that it is Frodo's mercy towards Gollum and willingness to forgive that proves the most
important in causing the Mission to succeed. In a spiritual sense, his mercy has an effect in
the eternal realm. There is a reward for his goodness, - the salvation of the peoples of Middle-
earth.
This is one of the most beautiful messages of the Lord of the Rings.
Frodo's enlightenment and conversion is shown by his comment on Mt Doom after the
Destruction of the Ring,
But do you remember Gandalf's words: Even Gollum may have something yet to do?
But for him, Sam, I could not have destroyed the Ring. the Quest would have been in
vain, even at the bitter end. So let us forgive him! [LotR p.926]
Gandalf had already foreshadowed this in his comment; A wretch, "...may betray himself
and do the good he does not intend. [LotR p.797]
This deep mystery of Forgiveness, Mercy and Providential Goodness is brilliantly explained
and deepened by Tolkien in a letter from 1956, [it's worth quoting the entire discourse]:
The final scene of the quest was so shaped simply because having regard to the
situation, and to the 'characters' of Frodo, Sam, and Gollum, those events seemed to
me, mechanically, morally, and psychologically credible. But, of course, you wish for
more reflection, I should say that within the mode of the story, the 'catastrophe'
exemplifies [an aspect of] the familiar words: 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those that trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.'
'Lead us not into temptation' etc... is the harder and the less often considered petition.
The view, in the terms of my story, is that every event or situation has [at least] two
aspects:
the history and development of the individual [it is something out of
which he can get good, ultimate good, for himself, or fail to do so],
and the history of the world [which depends on his actions for its own
sake] - still there are abnormal situations in which one may be placed.
'Sacrificial' situations, I should call them: such positions in which the 'good' of the
world depends on the behaviour of an individual in circumstances which demand of
him suffering and endurance far beyond the normal - even, it may happen [or seem,
humanly speaking], demand a strength of body and mind which he does not possess:
he is in a sense doomed to failure, doomed to fall to temptation or be broken by
pressure against his 'will': that is against any choice he could make or would make
unfettered, not under duress.
Frodo was in such a position: an apparently complete trap: a person of greater power
could probably never have resisted the Ring's power for so long; a person of less
power could not hope to resist it in the final decision. [Already Frodo had been
unwilling to harm the Ring before he set out and was incapable of surrendering it to
Sam.]
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The Quest therefore was bound to fail as a piece of 'world-plan'. and also was bound to
end in disaster as the story of humble Frodo's development to the 'noble', his
sanctification. Fail it would and did as far as Frodo was considered alone was
concerned.
But at this point the 'salvation' of the world and Frodo's own 'salvation' is achieved by
his pity and forgiveness of injury. At any point, any prudent person would have told
Frodo that Gollum would certainly betray him, and could rob him in the end. To 'pity'
him, or forbear to kill him, was a piece of folly, or a mystical belief in the ultimate value-
in-itself of pity and generosity even if disastrous in the world of time.
He did rob him and injure him in the end - but by a 'grace', that last betrayal was at the
precise juncture when the final evil deed was the most beneficial thing any one could
have done for Frodo! By a situation created by his 'forgiveness', he was saved himself
and relieved of his burden. He was very justly accorded the highest honours... [Letters
p.233-35]
Again this is re-iterated by Tolkien when answering a question as to why Frodo was honoured
when in fact he had succumbed at the end;
If you re-read all the passages dealing with Frodo and the Ring, I think you will see
that not only was it quite impossible for him to surrender the Ring, in act or will,
especially at its point of maximum power, but that this failure was adumbrated from far
back. He was honoured because he had accepted the burden voluntarily, and had then
done all that was within his utmost physical and mental strength to do. He [and the
Cause] were saved - by Mercy: by the supreme value and efficacy of Pity and
Forgiveness of injury.
Corinthians 1 Chap10:12-13 may not at first sight seem to fit - unless 'bearing
temptation' is taken to mean resisting it while still a free agent in normal command of
the will. I think rather of the mysterious last petitions of the Lord's Prayer: Lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil. A petition against something that cannot
happen is unmeaning. There exists the possibility of being placed in positions beyond
ones power.
In which case [as I believe] salvation from ruin will depend on something apparently
unconnected: the general sanctity [and humility and mercy] of the sacrificial person. I
did not 'arrange' the deliverance in this case: it follows the logic of the story. [Letters
p.251-252]
Answering a similar question Tolkien explains further,
Frodo indeed 'failed' as a hero..... but ... I do not think that Frodo's was a moral
failure. At the last moment the pressure of the Ring would reach its maximum -
impossible, I should have said, for any one to resist, certainly after long possession,
months of increasing torment, and when starved and exhausted.
Frodo had done what he could and spent himself completely [as an instrument of
Providence] and had produced a situation in which the object of his quest could be
achieved. His humility [with which he began] and his sufferings were justly rewarded
by the highest honour: and his exercise of patience and mercy towards Gollum gained
him Mercy: his failure was redressed. [Letters p.326]
This is the central component of Mercy in the Lord of the Rings.
But there are other smaller gems, included throughout.
Gandalf shows his attitude of Mercy is universal when he confesses to Denethor,
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...you think only of Gondor, but as for me I pity even his slaves. [LotR p.795]
And again on the road home, Gandalfs shows mercy and hope of redemption towards
Saruman even at the very end. He also mentions to Saruman;
You could have met the King and received his Mercy, [LotR p.961] referring to Aragorn.
Then crucially in the Shire at the end, where the story has done a complete loop, Frodo
forgives Saruman for all the hurt he had reaped upon the hobbits and their lands. Frodo's
mercy towards Saruman coupled with his comment on Mt Doom, demonstrates that his
understanding is not just mere words but is entrenched in his whole psyche; he has learned
Mercy and Wisdom through suffering and experience as Tolkien points out,
...he is wise by experience. [Letters p.204]
But more importantly... he is also Wise through Grace, - i.e. the Quest has taught Frodo a
supernatural lesson and enlightened his reason. Forgiveness and Mercy covers a multitude of
sins. God can work immense good through anything - even a potentially evil act.
Another example of this is Boromir's own particular repentance after trying to take the Ring.
He realizes his fault and confesses that he tried to take the Ring from Frodo.
I have failed, he says. But Aragorn says to him, No. You have conquered. Few have
gained such a victory. Be at peace. [LotR p.405]

Aragorn words are not just for Boromir's comfort before death, but they are the truth. Boromir,
before he dies, sees his fault and asks forgiveness, he gains a victory over himself in seeing
how the Ring tempted him; he repents and dies in peace.
This act of Boromir, through providence, is crucial in helping the Quest succeed. Frodo and
Sam make for Mordor alone, Pippin and Merry come to Fangorn, and Aragorn, Gandalf and
the others ride to the help of Rohan. Once again the lesson is that God can work good
through all things, though this does not justify the evil that is performed, and often requires
humble men true of heart: like Frodo, Sam and Aragorn.
A special comment from Tolkien worth pointing out is regarding the suffering of the Germans
after World War II which truly shows the mans quality.
One must remember that Tolkien had fought against the Germans personally in World War I
and most of his friends had died on the fields of France. He has also seen his son go to the
Second World War against the Germans and lived through the risk of losing him.
The appalling destruction and misery of this war mount hourly: destruction of what
should be the common wealth of Europe, and the world, if mankind were not so
besotted; wealth, the loss of which will affect us all, victors or not. Yet people gloat to
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hear of the endless lines, 40 miles long, of miserable refugees, women and children
pouring West, dying on the way. There seem no bowels of mercy or compassion, no
imagination, left in this dark diabolic hour ... I do not mean that it may not all, in the
present situation, mainly created by Germany, be necessary and inevitable. But why
gloat! We were supposed to have reached a stage of civilization in which it might still
be necessary to execute a criminal, but not to gloat, or to hang his wife and child by
him, while the orc-crowd hooted. The destruction of Germany, be it 100 times merited,
is one of the most appalling world catastrophes. [Letters p.111]

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INDUSTRIAL ADVANCEMENT:
As already mentioned in the Man, the deterioration of the farmlands and woods around the
rural home of J.R.R. Tolkien in his youth greatly affected him. He climbed in the trees and
loved the fields and green nature that surrounded his home in Sarehole. When he moved into
the city of Birmingham for his schooling he hated the busy streets, cars, factories and
machines that surrounded his new abode.
Industrialization and logging of the forests near by changed him and made him deeply
distrusting towards technology.
His love of trees is shown by a comment he made to long time friend George Sayer,
...think of the power of a forest on the march... [Celebration p.5] referring to an uprising
of Trees against their cullers. He would often stop on his walks and feel the texture of the bark
and wood on the trees along the way.
Frodo's experience when touching a tree in Lothlrien has certainly risen from this aspect.
[see First and Last Things].
In a letter to a correspondent Tolkien wrote;
I am [obviously] much in love with plants and above all trees, and always have been;
and I find human maltreatment of them as hard to bear as some find ill-treatment of
animals. [Letters p.220]
Treebeard and the Ents have come to life in the story through this love of nature and trees
that Tolkien possessed. The destruction of the Shire and Fangorn forest are also caught up in
this theme. The crushing affect of what Saruman did in the Shire is shown by the text;
It was one of the saddest hours of their lives... as the Hobbits witnessed the aftermath
of the destruction. [LotR p.993]
The box of dust gifted to Sam by Galadriel to help rehabilitate the Shire is another illustration
of the nature theme in the Lord of the Rings; as is the destruction at Isengard and the mass
produced machinery of war that Saruman invents.
But they are not the only expressions of this love: all of the sweeping vistas, beautiful
landscapes and magnificent descriptions of the surrounding geography in Tolkien's world
have arisen from this theme. Lothlrien, Rivendell, the Caves at Helms Deep are examples
that reflect this.

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As pointed out later in Metaphysical Elements, the plant Athelas, otherwise named Kingsfoil
flows from Tolkien's profession of philology and love of nature. In an article written by George
Sayer, a personal friend of Tolkien, he describes a walk he took with Tolkien in the woods
near his home. Tolkien often pointed out plants and philologically described where their
names had evolved from and what their meanings were.
One in particular was called Herba Benedicta - 'the blessed plant', which Tolkien said was
incorrectly translated into english as St Benedicts herb [Celebration p.5]. Tolkien goes on to
explain that in that particular region in years gone by; belief was that the plant had a special
grace of protection from the devil [obviously a slight error in that region in terms of Christian
belief].
He also points out that in ancient times, when picking calendine (a herb) different variations of
Our Fathers and Hail Mary's were prayed and this was an example of Christian prayer
replacing the recitation of pagan runes as the religion of the region become more Christian.
One can see how the plant Athelas was placed into the story.
Tolkien strongly believed that scientific invention and progress must be bounded by morality.
If there is any contemporary reference in the story at all, it is what seems to me the
most widespread assumption of our time; if a thing can be done, it must be done. This
seems to wholly false. The greatest examples of the action of the spirit and reason are
in abnegation. [Letters p.246]
[abnegation = self-denial, rejection of false doctrine, self-sacrifice].
This is what is happening in our day. We can create life in a test tube. If we can, why not do
it?
Knowing Church teaching and having read the Church Fathers and St Thomas Aquinas,
Tolkien understood very well the existing hierarchy between all of the sciences. Advances in
modern technology which are consequences of a deepening and expansion of knowledge in
the natural sciences (e.g. engineering, physics, chemistry, medicine, molecular biology etc..
to name a few) must be informed and enlightened by the higher natural sciences (ethics,
anthropology, ontology, and epistemology): which are the 4 main branches of natural
philosophy and metaphysics; which are the highest of the natural sciences....because they
seek to understand the highest causes and meanings of the universe....
Then these natural sciences must be informed, enlightened, elevated and purified by the
supernatural science...theology (the study of God - which was called the Queen of the
Sciences in the middle ages). The data for this science comes from the Old Law (given to
Israel) and the New Law, Jesus Christ who is the fullness of God's revelation to mankind.
Hence, any principle or theory, in the lower natural sciences that contradict/differ from proven
principles in philosophy (the highest natural science) flowing from the natural light of the
reason; and which contradict/differ from proven doctrine and principles in theology (the
supernatural science) flowing from faith in Divine Revelation (the Old Law and New Law)
must be examined very carefully; and accepted if true or rejected if false.
This is one of the roles of the Catholic Church in the world; to be the pillar of truth (1 Tim
3:15) for humanity; to be a sure guide for mankind to discover the truth of the universe, and
come to salvation. Pope John Paul II was amazing at doing this: reminding the world of the
truths of God, man and the universe.
On the subject of mass produced objects, factory jobs and automated production and
machinery Tolkien once said:
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...because humility and equality are spiritual principles corrupted by the attempt to
mechanize and formalize them, with the result that we get not universal smallness and
humility, but universal greatness and pride, until some Orc gets hold of a ring of power
- and then we get and are getting slavery. [LotR p.246]
Towards the end of WWII Tolkien wrote to his son outlining his thoughts:
Well the first War of the Machines seems to be drawing to its final inconclusive
chapter - leaving, alas, everyone the poorer, many bereaved or maimed and millions
dead, and the only thing triumphant: the Machines. As the servants of the Machines
are becoming a privileged class, the Machines are going to be enormously more
powerful. What's their next move? [Letters p.111]

But it must be pointed out that he wasn't entirely against technology, as is shown when he
used a recording machine to record excepts of Gandalfs style of speaking and from all
accounts was very child-like in his enjoyment of using it for the first time [Celebration p.8-9].
Tolkien's attitude is certainly radical in terms of machines and general rejection of
advancement but it still flowed from his Catholic faith. He saw the negative aspects of
automation and machinery from a human and spiritual point of view. He saw it taking away
individuality and turning people into robots: like the drab existence of factory work. He also
saw raping of the earths resources to fuel a capitalistic culture and hedonistic existence.
In 1981 Pope John Paul II wrote an Encyclical letter regarding work, employment, technology
and the use of the earths resources [download it here]. We can use the earth as God has
given us to live as he has intended. We can have legitimate dominion over all creatures and
plants and minerals, but this is not a free licence to ransack every resource in the world
without thought or regard for its replenishment and on-going sustenance. Nor does it give
licence to the maltreatment of animals [it is important to point out that animals don't actually
have rights but when we abuse them we sin against our own dignity: that is why it is wrong]. It
also talks of the Dignity of Agricultural work.
While there is nothing wrong with scientific advancement, technology and medical research, it
must always be carried out within the bounds of the natural morals laws. Automation and
mass production often is driven by greed and power, and short term gain is often the push
behind a lot of medical options.
While Tolkien loved nature and trees, his love always found reference in the Good Lord:
...those who believe in a personal God and Creator do not think the universe itself
worshipful, though devoted study of it may be one of the ways of honouring Him...
[Letters p.400]

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FIRST & LAST THINGS:
While the Lord of the Rings is very grounded with earthy and real themes, the story is also
very Eschatological and prophetic in its outlook and existence.
Eschatological means last things [from Greek eskhatos meaning last], and in a Christian
sense it is referring to God's purpose and fulfilment to come, both in a global sense and also
in a personal sense. Last things is very much related to Death, Judgment and Heaven and
Hell.
But to start talking about these Last things, it's worth considering some of the First things.
The themes here [and parallels in the section Trees of Life] will take a few moments to flesh
out so please be patient in reading this because it's important to grasp the whole picture.....so
that understanding of Tolkien's work can be deepened.
In the history of the Church many scholars, saints and faithful have made commentary on the
symbolism of the Old Testament and Jewish Law; and the fulfilment of those in Jesus Christ.
St Thomas Aquinas was a key in this study as was St Augustine. In St Thomas's great work,
called the Summa, he meditated on many of the truths of the Christian Faith and further
expanded their significance, beauty and meaning.
The creation stories in Genesis are parables, almost mythic in their nature, but they contain
the Truth about our Origins and Fall.
Adam and Eve, were made in the image and likeness of God [not just likeness], and this
elevates them above the mineral, plant and animal world. As it does for us all.
The Church teaches that our first parents received several gifts from their Heavenly Father.
These can be broken down into categories Natural and Supernatural.
Natural Gifts:
Two great natural gifts were given as part of their image and likeness to God.
Intellect - allows us to know, understand and to judge [reason]
Will - the power of the will enables us to love or hate what we know, understand or
judge.
God is pure intellect and will [spirit] and in giving us these gifts, we reflect God.
Supernatural gifts:
But over and above these natural gifts, God granted higher gifts to his unfallen children.
Divine gifts:
Sanctifying Grace - the grace that makes us holy - it is a supernatural gift and
elevated them beyond their human nature and vivifies their 'heart'. It gave them
participation in God's own divine nature. God condescends to share and gift us His
Life directly.
The Indwelling of the Blessed Trinity: - God within us. God would live in their souls.
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This leads to the understanding that we are adopted sons and daughters of God, a divine gift.
The infinite God has made it possible that his presence resides in a finite creature.
Preter-natural gifts:
[preter = Greek for beyond]
These are what are called the 4 I's.
Infused knowledge: - God gave them knowledge. Adam knew the nature of each
creature when he named them and he knew many other things without having to be
taught. They had a harmony with nature and also received a conscience so that they
knew how to behave and live.
Integrity: - there was complete harmony within themselves. Their reason was
obedient to God and hence the powers under their reason [e.g. the will] were
obedient. There was no war or disorder between the flesh and spirit. . All other
creatures were also obedient to Adam.
Impassability: - [derived from passion] There would be no pain, sickness or suffering.
The original life given by God was free of depression, sadness or grief.
Immortality: - there would be no death, they were not to die. They were to love God
above all things and love their neighbour. When the time was right they would be
assumed into Heaven. [This is why Mary was assumed, she had no sin. She is the
Second Eve, so she received what was gifted to original Eve].
There were Two Trees in the Garden of Eden:
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
The Tree of Life.
God said, 'Obey me. Do not eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.' Lucifer
tempted Adam. He attacked him through Eve. Lucifer chose this path because Adam would
have seen him as a foreigner, but he trusted Eve. Eve listened to the face of the Fallen-Angel.
Lie and Untruth came through Eve. Lucifer said 'You will not die, if you eat that fruit, you
will become like God.' Then the Punishment came.

There was also the Tree of Life: The fruit of this Tree was to sustain their gifts: the divine and
preter-natural gifts. They received spiritual food from this Tree. They would never die if they
ate from this Tree. It would sustain their participation in God's life.
Then sin changed all this. There was rebellion. When we turned against God, everything
turned against us. There was an order in creation that became disorder.
Infused knowledge became ignorance.
Integrity became conflict between spirit and flesh, the lower appetites became
disordered.
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Impassibility became pain, suffering, sadness and grief.
Immortality became Death.
Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden, out of Paradise, away from the Tree of Life,
through the Eastern Gate [Gen 3:23]. The Law of Labour was introduced and they had to
work to survive. There was pain and suffering in life, e.g. child birth and sickness. There was
unrest and division in creation itself. [Gen 3:16-20].
God sent them forth from the Garden. Cherubim [angels] with Flaming Swords guarded the
Garden. Adam and Eve were no longer worthy to eat of the Tree of Life. They could not
return, hence they couldn't eat from the Tree of Life and therefore had no participation if the
life of God. They would die.
But before they were sent forth, God gave them the First Gospel, the first Good News. He
promises he will save them. The Second Eve [Mary], this time will be obedient to the face of
an Angel [Archangel Gabriel came to her] thus undoing Eve's disobedience; this time through
her will come Truth [not lies like the first Eve], and that Truth will be Jesus, the Son of Man,
the one who will undo the fault of Adam and Restore us.
They will be Restored but will receive a greater Tree of Life, the Cross: with greater gifts
flowing from it. The restoration will raise them even higher than the original state they held.
From the new Tree of Life will come the Eucharist, the Eternal Bread from Heaven. Jesus
promises, 'If you eat this Bread and drink my Blood you have Eternal life.' This is the new
spiritual food from the Tree of Life, the new fruit. From Christ's side that was pierced on the
Cross, flowed Blood and Water, great symbol's of the Eucharist and Baptism and through
these we receive Eternal life [Immortality] and become Children of God again [Sanctifying
Grace and Indwelling of the Blessed Trinity]. Salvation flows from the New Tree of Life, the
Cross.
The First Things are returned and elevated in the Last Things.
Where does this fit into the Lord of the Rings?
Where do these 'first and last things' come together in Tolkien's writing?
The Lord of the Rings carries themes of Death and Immortality, Memory and Longing, Grace
and Nature, and of course, Time and Eternity. But first let us look at Tolkien's personal view.
Tolkien had a profound attachment to the mystery of the Fall of Man. He had known great
grief and sorrow in his life from being orphaned. He had seen horrific atrocities in WWI and
many of his friends die. He had seen the aftermath of war, then witnessed it happen all over
again with the outbreak of WWII [though he didn't fight in WWII, his son did].
This of course had an enormous effect on him. The death of his parents at a young age and
seeing death all around him in the war fields of France certainly altered him. [If one reads his
letters it is clearly seen how he contemplated this aspect of our human existence.]
But through this he held firm and constant in his faith and believed even more strongly in it. It
became a refuge for him and a source of great consolation and strength. He held a deep
conviction in the quality and virtues of Mercy and Charity.
Why did Tolkien turn out so well?
From having received a good Catholic formation Tolkien knew that all suffering and death
was a consequence of sin and evil in the world. Without Faith and Prayer & the Sacraments
mans heart is divided and confused and restless; and open to attack from the devil. Tolkien
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came to realize that while there remains sin in the world, there will always be wars and
murder, sickness and pain, hatred and selfishness.
This is reflected in his comment,
I am a Roman Catholic so I do not see history as anything other than a long defeat.
[Letters p.255]. Tolkien is talking of history on Earth.
But his hope was founded on the Rock. The victory he doesn't mention in his comment will be
found in the next world, when Christ will 'wipe away every tear, and there will be no more
pain, death or suffering.' [Rev 21:4]. It is precisely through this defeat, Death, that we will
find true Victory. We will know Immortal Life with he who is Love.
This is demonstrated in his comment regarding praying before the Blessed Sacrament,
something Tolkien did regularly,
Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great
thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament ..... there you will find romance, glory,
honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth, and more than that:
Death: by the divine paradox, that which ends life and demands surrender of all, and
yet by the taste [or foretaste] of which alone of what you seek in your earthly
relationships [love, faithfulness, joy] can be maintained, or take on that complexion of
reality, of eternal endurance, which every mans heart desires. [Letters p.53]
The Blessed Sacrament is a common name used for the Great Presence of Jesus under the
appearances of bread and wine, consecrated and consumed at Mass. This Heavenly Bread
[unleavened wafer or way-bread] is put on display in a gold monstrance on an alter in a
Catholic or Orthodox Church and believers can come and adore and worship Jesus, truly
present under the appearance of bread. Many of the paradoxes and symbolism that Gods
often uses are tied up in Jesus, the Kings of Kings, choosing to reside and be with His people
in such a humble and simple manner.
This life, for Tolkien was very much a participation in the Passion of Christ, and he saw
Heaven as the time when he would fully participate in the Resurrection, even though we
receive glimpses of the evangelium and joy in this life. [cf. Truth and Myth].
But as shown in the Cross of Christ, God can use anything for good and turn any punishment
or suffering into Divine Grace for us. Tolkien mentions this himself when he talks of the death
that the Race of Men face in the Lord of the Rings;
A divine 'punishment' is also a supreme 'gift', if accepted, since its object is ultimate
blessing, and the supreme inventiveness of the Creator will make 'punishments' [that
is changes of design] to produce a good not otherwise to be obtained: a 'mortal' Man
has probably [an Elf would say] a higher if un-revealed destiny than a longeval one.
[p.286].
This philosophy in the Lord of the Rings comes not only from a basic Christian belief of God
working good through all things for those who love Him, but also from his Catholicism, which
believes that we can make up in our bodies, 'that which is lacking in the Passion of Christ'
[Col 1:24]. This is not to say that Jesus didn't suffer enough to pay the price for our sins, but
that he left it open for us to offer our suffering in union with His to the Father, like a prayer
[e.g. fasting] for any intention. In the Resurrection Jesus has raised Life to a Divine Level, but
in suffering on the Cross, he has also raised suffering to a Divine Level that gives meaning to
all our pains and grief's.
There is a deep mystery and peace found in accepted and offered suffering that many saints
have written about and lived. [see here, here, here and here for Saints who have borne the
stigmata].
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Tolkien mentions finding Death in prayer. This is the fundamental Truth of Christian Life. It is
in dying to oneself, laying down one's life that one is saved. Death during this life is about
renouncement in love, charity for others and then at the end, it is just a door into eternity and
life, True Life with God. But the strength to do this is found in prayer and the Sacraments; i.e.
true relationship with Jesus. Just look at Mother Teresa who prayed for 3-4 hours each
morning before continuing her works of mercy. It is also something that Tolkien tried to live.
Death & Immortality: Grace and Nature: Memory and Longing: Time and Eternity:
The sense of mortality vs. immortality is found at the very beginning of the novel in the Ring
verse;
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal-Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where Shadows lie.

Nine Rings for mortal men doomed to die; men are mortal and they will die. At the beginning
of the story this apparent doom is spelled out.
The Elves seem to be the more elevated creatures;
...they represent the artistic, aesthetic, and purely scientific aspects of our Humane
nature raised to a higher level than is actually seen in men... [Letters p.236]; but their
immortality is not that of Eternal Life, but rather Serial Longevity - they continue in Middle-
earth and never die.
Men have received death, the Gift of the One [the One being God], and their fate outside the
circles of the world is not explained. Tolkien has left open the possibility of Eternal Life and
further reunion for men in the mythology. Their life beyond the world is still to be explained in
the mythology [from the second music of the Ainur: the Silmarillion].
But as mentioned above, Tolkien considered Men the more blessed who would inherit,
...a higher if un-revealed destiny. [p.286]
Tolkien wrote in a letter
the story is about serial longevity and hoarded memory [Letters p.284] which is
particularly apt for the Elves, but for men the words of Aragorn are much more true;
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In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! we are not bound for ever to the
circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory. Farewell! [LotR Appendix
A p.1038]
He has written into the story a type of Fallen Nature theme and from this, the desire for
Immortality. This Fallen Nature of men is hinted at in the Silmarillion when they are called
from the East after their birth into the world. This theme of East and West seems to coincide
with orthodox Catholic doctrine that believes that Adam and Eve passed out from the Garden
of Eden through the Eastern Gate [this is biblical symbolic language, not necessarily to be
taken literally] though the Garden of Eden was itself in the East. In Tolkien's world, men come
from the East but speak of a darkness that was upon them.
Tolkien writes of this period;
Men have fallen - any legends put in the form of supposed ancient history of this
actual world of ours must accept that - but the peoples of the West, the good side are
Re-formed. That is they are the descendants of Men who tried to repent and fled
Westward from the domination of the Prime Dark Lord, and his false worship, and by
contrast with the Elves, renewed their knowledge of the Truth and the nature of the
world. Thus they escaped 'religion' in a pagan sense, into a pure monotheist world.
[Letters p.204]
[Monotheist = belief in One God].
Tolkien has woven the possibility of a fall of sorts, into the history of Men in Middle-earth
before they answered the call to come Westward. Tolkien himself spoke of this to an
American friend. In a brief article, christianitytoday.com quotes his American friend,
He described his problem in depicting the fall of mankind near the beginning of the
story. How far we have fallen! he exclaimed - so far, he felt, that it would seem
impossible even to find an adequate prototype or to imagine the contrast between
Eden and the disaster which followed... [read the article here]
The Elves have suffered their own sort of fall when they went East into exile from the Blessed
Realm pursuing Morgoth who stole the Silmarils and destroyed the Two Trees;
The High Elves were exiles from the Blessed Realm of the gods [after their own
particular Elvish fall] and they had no 'religion' [or religious practices], for those had
been in the hands of the gods, praising and adoring Eru, 'the One', Ilvatar the Father
of All on the Mount of Aman. [Letters p.204]
[the gods are like the arch-angels of the Blessed Realm].
This semi-Elven fall in a small way, also coincides with the West versus East theme when
passing into exile from the Blessed Realm.
There is no direct cross over and exact time reflection between the Christian story of
the Fall and Tolkien's own invented one, but the essence of it and effects are there.
In some way Tolkien tried to fit his story into contemporary Christian understanding:
...the fall of man is off in the past and off stage, and the Redemption of man is far in
the future. [Letters no.387]
Another fall of sorts happens [many thousands of years later] when the Nmenoreans, after
being poisoned by the words and influence of Sauron on their island of Nmenor, become
jealous of the Elves and lust for immortal life. Tolkien confirms this theme; it is about,
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...about Death and a desire for deathlessness. [Letters p.262]
And from this desire for deathlessness Tolkien mentions;
...to attempt by device to recover longevity is thus a supreme folly and wickedness of
mortals. [Letters 286]
They launch an assault upon the Blessed Realm from Nmenor. After this fails and Nmenor
is destroyed by a great tidal wave, the Blessed Realm is removed from the physical circles of
the world, and the Kingdoms of the Nmenoreans founded later in Middle-earth are known as
the,
Realms in Exile. [LotR p.1059 - Tales of Years]
These 'Realms in Exile' are Gondor and Arnor founded by the Faithful [Elendil and his
people]. Very much like the Church. [LotR p.1059 - Tales of Years]
Tolkien mentioned,
...so ended Nmenor [Atlantis in all its glory. but in a kind of Noachian situation, the
small party of Faithful, who had refused to take part in the rebellion... escape and are
saved. [Letters p.206]
He compares Elendil's Faithful to that of Noah in the Old Testament.
This assault upon the Blessed Realm is very reminiscent of the Tower of Babel story from the
Old Testament, and the removal of the Blessed Realm from the physical world is very
reflective of the removal of the Garden of Eden from the world.
According to it [the mythology] there was first an actual Earthly Paradise, home and
realm of the Valar, as a physical part of the Earth. [Letters p.237]
In Nmenor, Sauron convinces the King to attack Valinor. This is a recurring theme that
Sauron feigns to offer, much like Satan 'You will be like God'. It is a challenge against the
natural order when they sail a great Armada against the Blessed Realm.
From this fallen nature he has woven in the fact that men needed ennoblement, they needed
to have their nature raised to a higher level. This is achieved by the intermingling of the Elvish
race with that of Men. Tolkien says;
The entering into Men of the Elven-strain is indeed represented as part of the Divine
Plan for the ennoblement of the Human Race, from the beginning destined to replace
the Elves. [Letters p.194]
Even though Tolkien had said that,
...the Redemption of man is far in the future, this ennoblement from the Elven strain is
indicative of his mythology following Christian theology.
This happens with the Three Unions of the Eldar and the Edain [Elves and Men]. This is
where the Race of the Nmenoreans comes from [Aragorns fore-fathers].
They were part of the Divine Plan for men.
After the First Age, the Three Houses of Men were rewarded for their help in the wars against
Morgoth.
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From this, the Nmenoreans were,
Blessed with the island of Nmenor, death was a gift of God; a good Nmenorean
died when he felt it was the right time to do so. [Letters p.205, footnote at bottom of
page].
Once again this seems to reflect in a small way, the status of life we originally had in the
Garden.
Tolkien's story, including the Silmarillion, is embedded with an eternal truth regarding Death
and Immortality.
The real theme for me is about something that is much more permanent and difficult:
Death and Immortality... [Letters p.246];
and, I am only concerned with Death as part of nature, physical and spiritual of man,
and of Hope without guarantees. [Letters p.237]
Tolkien explains that mortality and immortality were gifts:
immortality and mortality being the special gift of God... [Letters p.194]
Men complain; of us is required and blind trust and a hope without assurance. [Sil
p.265] [Celebration p.98]
The Nmenoreans, corrupted by Sauron, begin to reject the free gift of Eru.
The rejection of the natural order is what brings about the whole critical situation in the
Second and Third Ages of Middle-earth.
Tolkien mentioned once;
Death is not an Enemy! I said, or meant to say, that the 'message' was the hideous
peril of confusing true immortality with limitless serial longevity. Freedom from Time
and clinging to Time.
The confusion is the work of the Enemy, and one of the chief causes of human
disaster. Compare the death of Aragorn with a Ringwraith. The Elves call 'death' the
Gift of God [to Men]. Their temptation is different: towards a fainant melancholy,
burdened with memory, leading to an attempt to halt Time. [Letters p.267]
And again:
The 'Elves' are 'immortal', at least as far as this world goes: and hence are concerned
rather with the griefs and burdens of deathlessness in time and change, than with
death. [J.R.R. Tolkien in a Letter from late 1951]
This attempt to halt time leads to the creation of the Rings of Power where the Elves can
preserve, slow, heal and even halt the effects of Time. It is in forging the Rings, driven by this
desire, that they are ensnared by Sauron [who at the time could still show himself as an angel
of light - like the devil].
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This is not to say that what the Elves bring about in Middle-earth [i.e. Rivendell and
Lothlrien] isn't beautiful and magnificent, but that the desire to resist the natural order has
helped in the creation of the One Ring. The Elves played a part and must take responsibility
in this way, just as Isildur carries the fault of Men for not destroying it when he had the
chance.
And in the end, the One Ring, if held by a mortal, would in fact bring about the total imbalance
of the natural order for the wearer: Gollum and Bilbo living longer than usual, invisibility,
increased perception and of course complete loss of identity and individuality. But all of this is
false and leads to complete enslavement for the individual. In fact all the Rings of Power
change the natural order for those of mortal origins.
The One Ring and the Nine sullied by Sauron, feign to offer immortality, glory and wealth.
The Nine Nmenorean Kings who fell to the Power of the Rings in fact did not die after
accepting the Rings but continued in a half existence, living and dead, slaves to the will of
Sauron. The One Ring falsely offers immortality, but only offers eternal enslavement.
Even though the Elves lived forever in Middle-earth, there is still a danger in any rejection of
the natural gift of Eru. This is the same for Men desiring what the Elves have received.
From the Death and Immortality theme rises a longing and nostalgia in the story to be
released from Three Ages of struggle and war against evil. There is a reminiscence of a
passed nobility, strength and wisdom. A memory of what was high and blessed. This is
communicated through the Elves and Gondorians and is expressed by Tolkien himself;
"...one that moves me supremely and I find small difficulty in evoking: the heart-
racking sense of the vanished past [best expressed by Gandalf's words about the
Palantr]. [Letters p.110]
Tolkien understood this vanished past extremely well as is shown in a quote from one of his
letters;
...but certainly there was an Eden on this very unhappy earth. We all long for it, and
we are constantly glimpsing it: our whole nature at its best and least corrupted, its
gentlest and most humane, is still soaked with the sense of 'exile'. [Letters p.110]
That lost paradise that we long for is present in the story. Faramir mentions his yearning for
the restoration of the Nmenorean Kingdom of Gondor and the end of struggle and War,
For myself I would see the White Tree in flower again in the courts of the Kings, and
the Silver Crown return, and Minas Tirith in peace: Minas Anor again as of old, full of
light, high and fair, beautiful as a queen among other queens: not a mistress of many
slaves, nay, not even a kind mistress of willing slaves. War must be, while we defend
our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword
for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love
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only that which they defend: the city of the Men of Nmenor; and I would have her
loved for her memory, her ancientry, her beauty, and her present wisdom. Not feared,
save as men may fear the dignity of a man, old and wise. [LotR p.656]
Notice how Tolkien compares the Restored Kingdom of Gondor with the Dignity of Man;
almost as if the Restored Kingdom would be equal the unfallen nature of Man. This is not
surprising as the Nmenorean Kingdom is very reflective of the Church. [as is discussed in
Trees of Life]
Union with God and freedom from sin and evil. Every one of us desires to see the Face of
God again [even though we may not recognize it] and participate in the New Garden of Eden,
the New Creation; we have a memory of that lost union and long for the restoration that has
been granted to us in Jesus Christ.
And Tolkien has translated this into his wider story.
There is a sense of deep longing, exile and memory in Tolkien's writing which is naturally
inherent from the mythology and story, but is reflective of Christian tradition and truth. So
these facts from the mythology and story have flowed from his faith and relationship with God.
We shall never recover it, for that is not the way of repentance, which works spirally
and not in a closed circle; we may recover something like it, but on a higher plane.
[Letters p.110], i.e. the new Tree of Life, the Cross, gives us greater gifts. Salvation delivers
us to a greater state.
It has also flowed from his love of the Church. Catholic Liturgy has this sense of longing and
exile in it.
What is Liturgy? From the Catholic Encyclopedia;
Liturgy [leitourgia] is a Greek composite word meaning originally a public duty, a
service to the state undertaken by a citizen. Its elements are leitos [from leos = laos,
people] meaning public, and ergo [obsolete in the present stem, used in future erxo,
etc.], to do. From this we have leitourgos, "a man who performs a public duty", "a
public servant", often used as equivalent to the Roman lictor; then leitourgeo, "to do
such a duty", leitourgema, its performance, and leitourgia, the public duty itself.
[explanation here and here]
So in Christian use, liturgy meant the public official service of the Church that corresponded
to the official service of the Temple in the Old Law. It is the official structured prayer life of the
Church which includes the Mass, Sacraments, Blessings, Offices of the Hours and any other
rite or ceremony that is an official service or expression of worship of God by the Church.
There is a an intense desire to see the Kingdom of God restored, and in its prayer life and
expression, the Church reflects this. The Liturgy expresses the desire of the Body of Christ to
be fully united with Jesus, and is, in an imperfect way, a reflection of the Eternal worship that
occurs in Heaven [M&M p.152] - [Celebration p.65]. The night prayer of Matins is a classic
example of this as the Universal Church prays, 'Maranatha, come Lord Jesus' to hasten the
coming of Christ, bring an end to all suffering and deliver us from evil.
He has also translated the bitter-sweet life that we all must lead while separated like we are
from God. Even the great joys God can give us here on earth and the victories he can work in
our lives through the Resurrection and Sacraments are still tinged with a sense of exile and
separation from Him. We hope and long for salvation and final glorification.
This mixture of joy and sorrow is summed up by Tolkien with the words,
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Christian joy produces tears because it is qualitatively so like sorrow, because it
comes from those places where Joy and Sorrow are at one, reconciled, as selfishness
and altruism are lost in Love. [Letters p.100]
As mentioned earlier above, the Elves created the Rings of Power with an expressed desire
to change the natural order. They had become weary of the long battle against evil and
continued sense of struggle and loss which was amplified by their immortality.
Lothlrien and Rivendell, held in power by the Elven Rings, cause a temporal shift in the
passing of time, and create for those mortals who pass through, a foretaste and sense of
eternity.
The chapters in the book that are spent in Lothlrien exude an ethereal quality that is
beautifully conveyed by Tolkien.
Lothlrien is misunderstood at the time of the War of the Ring as is shown by the comments
of Boromir, Faramir and Eomer [LotR p.329, p.422, p.652]. Aragorn warns Boromir that
anyone who enters Lothlrien will not remain the same.
Say not unscathed but if you say unchanged then maybe you will speak the truth.
And again Aragorn forewarns Boromir that Lothlrien is ...fair and perilous; but only evil
need fear it, or those who bring some evil with them... [LotR p.329, p.329]
In this, Aragorn spells out the pure nature of the land and the unstained quality embedded in
it. But it is the Ring of Adamant the Galadriel keeps that holds the land in sway. Frodo's first
look on Lothlrien is worth recounting:
It seemed to him that he had stepped through a high window that looked on a
vanished world. A light was upon it for which his language has no name. All that he
saw was shapely, but the shapes seemed at once clear cut, as if they had been first
conceived and drawn at the uncovering of his eyes; and ancient as if they had endured
for ever.
He saw no colour but those he knew, gold and white and blue and green, but they were
fresh and poignant, as if he had at that moment first perceived them and made for them
names new and wonderful. In winter here no heart could mourn for summer or for
spring. No blemish or sickness or deformity could be seen in anything that grew upon
the earth. On the land of Lrien there was no stain. [LotR p.343]
This vision of Lothlrien is as if Tolkien himself had stepped back into the Garden of Eden,
and was experiencing for the first time the created world around him. It is described through
the eyes of Frodo [the principle character], but like he is the everyman, we see it too.
While Lothlrien rises from an Elven desire to halt time, Tolkien pours into it his vision of what
we lost when we fell from Grace.
There is a timelessness and beginning-ness that is experienced by the Fellowship as if they
were the first beings to see the created world - a new creation. This is evident with the
description of the tree that Frodo touches:
... he laid his hand upon the tree beside the ladder: never before had he been so
suddenly and so keenly aware of the feel and texture of a tree's skin and of the life in it.
He felt a delight in wood and the touch of it, neither as forester nor as carpenter; it was
the delight of the living tree itself. [LotR p.342]
Obviously this description of the tree is also caught up in Tolkien's love of trees and plants.
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Following the small dust-box gift of Galadriel to Sam, she says to him regarding its use;
...then you may remember Galadriel, and catch a glimpse far off of Lrien, that you
have seen only in our winter. For our spring and our summer are gone by, and they will
never be seen on earth again save in memory. [LotR p.366]
This far off glimpse and memory has been mentioned by Tolkien before [see Truth and Myth].
Tolkien explains his belief that in myth we see a brief vision, a far-off gleam or echo of
'evangelium' in the real world. and it offers a glimpse of the greater Truth.
As the Fellowship leave Lothlrien Tolkien describes the scene as if they are slipping back
into time and a fallen world:
For it seemed to them: Lrien was slipping backwards, like a bright ship masted with
enchanted trees, sailing on to forgotten shores, while they sat helpless upon the
margin of the grey and leafless world. [LotR p.367]
All these quotes further entrench the theme of Grace and Nature, Time and Eternity that flows
from the quality of the Lord of the Rings.
Rivendell is also held by the power of an Elven-Ring and the descriptions throughout the
book promote this sense of a lieu of beauty and peace. There is a spiritual haven as is shown
by Frodo's experience of the Hall of Fire:
At first the beauty of the melodies and of the interwoven words in Elven-tongues,
even though he understood them little, held him in a spell, as soon as he began to
attend to them. Almost it seemed that the words took shape, and visions of far lands
and bright things that he had never yet imagined opened out before him; and the fire lit
hall became like a golden mist above seas of foam that sighed upon the margins of the
world. Then the enchantment became more and more dreamlike, until he felt that an
endless river of swelling gold and silver was flowing over him, too multitudinous for its
pattern to be comprehended; it became part of the throbbing air about him, and it
drenched him and drowned him. Swiftly he sank under its shining weight into a deep
realm of sleep. [LotR p.227]
Also worthy of note is Pippin and Merrys first description of Treebeards eyes:
One felt as if there was an enormous well behind them, filled up with ages of memory
and long; slow steady thinking; but their surface was sparkling with the present...
[LotR p.452]
Two of Tolkien's most poignant pieces of verse and poetry are found in the chapter Farewell
to Lrien. Galadriel's two songs encapsulate all the themes discussed in this section. The
deep sense of passing time, exile, nostalgia for things lost, immortality and fallen nature. It is
extremely mythic and full of Truth.
It is especially symbolic that she sings these verses as the Fellowship leave Lrien, a type of
Garden of Eden; [this is discussed further in Women of Middle-earth].
I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew:
Of wind I sang, a wind there came and in the branches blew.
Beyond the Sun, beyond the Moon, the foam was on the Sea,
And by the strand of Ilmarin there grew a golden Tree.
Beneath the stars of Ever-eve in Eldamar it shone,
In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion.
There long the golden leaves have grown upon the branching years,
While here beyond the Sundering Seas now fall the Elven-tears.
O Lrien! The Winter comes, the bare and leafless Day;
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The leaves are falling in the stream, the river flows away.
O Lrien! Too long I have dwelt upon this Hither Shore
And in a fading crown have dwelt twined the golden Elanor.
But if of ships I now should song, what ship would come to me,
What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a sundering Sea?

Ahh !
like gold fall the leaves in the wind,
long years numberless as the wings of trees!
The years have passed like swift draughts of the sweet mead in lofty halls
beyond the West, beneath the blue vaults of Varda wherein the stars tremble in
the song of her voice, holy and queenly.
Who now shall refill the cup for me?
For now the Kindler, Varda, the Queen of the Stars, from Mount Everwhite has
uplifted her hands like clouds and all the paths are drowned deep in shadow;
and out of a grey country darkness lies on the foaming waves between us,
and mist covers the jewels of Calacirya for ever.
Now lost, lost to those from the East is Valimar!
Farewell!
Maybe thou shalt find Valimar.
Maybe even thou shalt find it.
Farewell!

Varda is the name of that Lady whom the Elves in these lands of exile name Elbereth
[LotR p.368]
Moving stuff, especially if one knows the whole history of Middle-earth; and even more
moving in-light of our Fallen Nature.
One could be quite easily drawn to think that Tolkien was a depressing pessimist! But from
reading the mans letters it is quite clear that his hope was in God, not things of this earth.
And in such a pathological age, which Pope John Paul II calls the 'Culture of Death', it is not
surprising this theme of death is often misunderstood as one of despair or pessimism.
It is not.
These explicit excerpts and overall themes express the vision and philosophy of Tolkien
himself. All these themes [death, immortality, fallenness, grace, longing, memory, time and
eternity] are enveloped in hope and faith.
Screen writer Phillipa Boyens, from the Lord of the Rings movies has expressed this
understanding in Starlog Magazine,
if you go into the book even more, is that [the theme of ] death is about faith. Death
and faith is the same thing, which is an extraordinary concept. And I discovered that
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concept in the book through my involvement with this project. [October edition 2003,
www.starlog.com]
The Lord of the Rings shows that true happiness is found not in time but in eternity.
[M&M p.123]
Tolkien had faith and hope in life beyond Death. The only main character in the text whose
death is recounted is that of Aragorn [and Boromir]. Aragorn is of the race of men, like
Tolkien, and he expresses Tolkien's hope;
But let us not be overthrown at the final test, who of old renounced the Shadow and
the Ring. In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! we are not bound for ever
to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory. Farewell! [LotR
Appendix A p.1038]
At the end of the text, the departure of Frodo is sad but not without hope:
and among them, filled with a sadness that was yet blessed and without bitterness,
rode Sam, and Frodo and Bilbo and the Elves delighted to honour them. [LotR p.1006]
In the context of Tolkien's mythology, Frodo himself epitomizes the nature of the themes
expressed above: Alas there are some wounds that cannot wholly be cured, says
Gandalf regarding Frodo; then Tolkien adds in one of his letters, not in Middle-earth... as if
Frodo could be healed in Valinor, the Blessed Realm, a quasi Garden of Eden, removed from
the physical realms of the world. [Letters p.328]
Frodo says where shall I find rest on the road back from Rivendell. [LotR p.967]
Tolkien then continues,
Frodo was sent or allowed to pass over the Sea to heal him - if that could be done,
before he died. He would eventually have to 'pass away': no mortal could, or can, abide
for ever on earth, or within Time.
So he went both to a purgatory and to a reward, for a while: a period of reflection and
peace, and a gaining of a truer understanding of his position in littleness and in
greatness, spent still in Time amid the natural beauty of 'Arda Unmarred', the Earth
unspoiled by evil. [Letters p.328]
Frodo is allowed to return to the Garden of Eden of Middle-earth, to enjoy a time of unfallen-
ness' in the beauty of an Unspoiled/Unfallen Arda [the created world]; an Arda before evil and
corruption. He then would pass on into eternity. Frodo receives his reward at the very end.
This theme of final perseverance, with both Aragorn and Frodo teaches that there may be
suffering, doubts and problems in life, but Frodo and Aragorn remained faithful to goodness
and both received their rewards at the end. As did Gandalf.
It also teaches the Truth of the finality and inescapability and desirability of death.
[Celebration p.181]

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THE PARALLELS:
These parallels [or more tangible symbols] to be discussed, may or may not have been
deliberately written into Tolkien's story, but they certainly flow from certain religious
ideas.
Theologically I imagine the picture [ed - story] to be less dissonant from what some
[including myself] believe to be the truth. But since I have written a tale, which is built
on or out of certain 'religious' ideas, but is NOT an allegory of them... [Letters p.283]
These 'religious' ideas and parallels are in the story, but not as direct metaphors. It is
important not to be univocal; i.e. not to be too literal or expect exact reflection of these when
looking at Tolkien's works or writing. But they are there in essence.
Priest, Prophet and King.
The Trees of Life.
25th of the Month.
Three, Seven and Nine.
The Lembas.
Metaphysical Elements.
Women of the Middle-earth.











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PRIEST, PROPHET & KING:
Three ministries foreshadowed in the Old Covenant, and fulfilled in the messianic Jesus, are
very much echoed in the Lord of the Rings: Priest, Prophet and King.
This parallel, mentioned by Steven D. Greydanus in his article and Stratford Caldecott in his
essay, involves the characters of Aragorn, Frodo and Gandalf [decentfilms.com - article here,
Celebration p.29].
Frodo - the Priest
Gandalf - the Prophet
Aragorn - the King
All of these are Christ-like and reflective of him in some aspects.
But certainly as Tolkien himself says;
"There is no embodiment of the 'creator' in this story..." [Letters p.237]
As already mentioned in Truth and Myth, they are not direct allegories.
The similarities and parallels in the characteristics and happenings between these characters
and Christ's life, death and resurrection are quite striking.
Each goes through a type of death and resurrection experience.
Frodo is poisoned by Shelob, leaving Sam to think he is dead, but in fact survives and
continues the Quest with his faithful servant.
Gandalf falls with the Balrog and is seemingly lost to all but returns healed and more
powerful to 'complete the task'.
Aragorn passes through the Paths of the Dead under the mountains of Gondor, to
raise the army of the dead [oath breakers] and turns up unlooked for at the Battle of
Pelennor field to claim his Kingship. Indeed owyn and Eomer had given up hope of
seeing Aragorn alive again.
Each goes into the heart of the realm of the enemy to defeat him just as Jesus descended
into Hell.
Frodo enters the dark lair of Shelob and the Black Land of Mordor and defeats
Sauron.
Gandalf falls into the black abyss of shadow with the Balrog and defeats him.
Aragorn goes into the Paths of the Dead, and raises the army of the dead against the
servants of Sauron. Legolas mentions to Pippin, "Strange and wonderful I thought
it that the designs of Mordor should be overthrown by such wraiths of fear and
darkness. With its own methods was it worsted." [LotR p.858]. This is reminiscent
of Satan killing the Son of God, which is then used to redeem man.
Frodo, Gandalf and Aragorn all freely choose when they can leave Middle-earth and pass on:
Frodo takes the ship and passes into the West.
Gandalf takes the ship into the West.
Aragorn freely chooses the hour of his death.
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Frodo:
Frodo is the sacrificial lamb of Middle-earth; but he is also the one who makes a great
sacrifice and offering of his life, thus taking up a priestly role as the intermediary for Middle-
earth, in accomplishing the act of destroying the Ring and saving the world. Frodo is both
victim and priest for middle-earth [cf. Hebrews]. He lays down his life for the many and
becomes the mediator for all.
He gives up his overall enjoyment of the Shire and in a way sacrifices himself. He carries the
Ring into Mordor like Christ carrying the cross and is finally overcome. He freely takes up the
Ring at the Council of Elrond and suffers the consequences;
"I am wounded Sam, it will never really heal." [LotR p.1002]
Only in the Blessed Realm will he find rest, so he takes Arwen's place and goes with Bilbo,
Gandalf and the Elves.
Frodo himself points out the sacrifice he made:
"' But, ' said Sam and tears started in his eyes, ' I thought you were going to enjoy the
Shire for years and years after all you have done.' "
"So I thought too once. But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire,
and it has been saved but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in
danger: someone has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them." [LotR
p.1002]
Tolkien echoes this in one of his letters;
"Frodo undertook his quest out of love - to save the world he knew from disaster at his
own expense..." [Letters p.327]
Thus echoing St Paul's words;
"Just as through one man's disobedience all became sinners, so through one man's
obedience, all shall become just." [See Romans 5:19], and;
"Christ loved the Church and gave his life for it." [Ephesians 5:25]
Frodo, like Jesus, is overcome at the end.
He 'dies' in a sense as he is physically overcome by the Evil of the Ring. Just a Jesus' body is
destroyed and killed, but his spirit is faithful, so Tolkien mentions that Frodo's failure at the
end was not a moral failure, but rather a physical one. Frodo, after months of carrying the
Ring, is exhausted, starving and tortured by the Eye of Sauron.
Tolkien, in one of his letters of 1963 [Letters p.326] says the no-one would have been able to
resist the final weight and evil of the Ring, and that Frodo did not fail morally, but the quest
was saved because of his earlier sacrifice of love in not killing Gollum and showing him
mercy. Because of this, mercy was shown to Frodo and the Quest was achieved through a
paradox of love and forgiveness.
Frodo offers and his sacrifice is received. The sacrifice of love is the greater and more potent,
so it bears greater fruit.
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[See also the page Sacrificial Love and Mercy and Forgiveness for additional info on Frodo's
sacrifice.]

Gandalf:
Gandalf carried the Ring of Fire, Narya the Great [or Red] [LotR p.1004].
Upon entering Middle-earth, Crdan the Elf [at the Grey Havens] bequeathed to him the Red
Ring saying;
"For great labours and perils lie before you and lest your task prove too great and
wearisome take this Ring for your aid and comfort. It was entrusted to me only to keep
secret, and here upon the Western shores it is idle; but I deem that in days ere long to
come it shall be in nobler hands than mine, that may wield it to the kindling of hearts to
courage." [Unfinished Tales of Middle-earth and Nmenor p.407]
And again the same dialogue is given slightly differently in the Tale of Years in the Appendix
A of the Lord of the Rings;
"Take this ring, Master, for your labours will be heavy; but it will support you in the
weariness that you have taken upon yourself. For this is the Ring of Fire, and with it
you may kindle hearts in a world that grows chill." [LotR p.1060]
Gandalf's role was one of a Steward, not directly challenging Sauron, but going between all
who opposed him, uniting and kindling their hearts to courage in the battle against evil.
In a disagreement with Denethor, the Ruling Steward of Gondor, Gandalf proclaims;
"But I will say this: the rule of no realm is mine, neither of Gondor nor any other, great
of small. But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, those are my
care. And for my part, I shall not wholly fail my task, though Gondor should perish, if
anything passes through this night than can still grow fair or bear fruit and flower
again in days to come. For I also am a Steward. Did you not know?" [LotR p.742]
Gandalf's role is very much like that of a prophet guided by the Holy Spirit; kindling hearts in
all regions, prophetic in vision and wisdom. Throughout the ages the Holy Spirit has chosen
certain prophets, saints and patriarchs to speak the truth, and in a similar way Gandalf is
prophetic in his mission against Sauron. His staff is reminiscent of the Standard in the Desert
carried by Patriarch Moses in the Old Testament. It for this that he was sent into the world;
"I was the enemy of Sauron, for that reason I was sent to Middle-earth." [Letters p.204]
Tolkien confirms Gandalfs mission in another letter:
"...they are actually emissaries from the True West, and so immediately from God, sent
precisely to strengthen the resistance of the 'good'." [Letters p.207]
In his encounter with the Balrog he professes his faith [if you like] as a servant of the Holy
Spirit;
"I am a servant of the Secret fire, wielder of the flame of Anor". This is a peculiar
comment by Gandalf, because nowhere in the appendices, indices or Tolkiens letters is there
any explanation of this proclamation. But the full meaning is found when Tolkien once told an
American friend that this 'secret fire', is the Breath/Spirit of Life [the Flame Imperishable] at
the heart of the world [www.christianitytoday.com, article here].
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The Encyclopedia of Arda [arda] gives its own description of the Flame Imperishable;
"...apparently also called the 'Secret Fire', the Flame Imperishable seems to represent
that aspect of Ilvatar through which he was able to grant free will and true life to the
beings he created", which also confirms Tolkien's own words about it being the source of
life, a kind of the Breath of Life. [Ilvatar is the One God].
Anor is the Sun, and so literally the 'flame of Anor' would be the light of the Sun, the fiery fruit
of Laurelin, one of the Two Trees of Valinor. The Tree Laurelin gave Light to the Blessed
Realm.
Tolkien says that when Gandalf returned from death he was;
"...enhanced in power [that is, under the forms of this fable, in sanctity]..." and; "...both
his wisdom and power are much greater." [Letters p.203 & p.202]
Gandalf the Grey is characterized by his humanity and Gandalf the White is typified by his
apparent divinity.
His prophetic wisdom is shown at many stages in the Lord of the Rings:
understanding the value of the hobbits.
seeing Gollum's part in the overall plan.
allowing providence to guide the outcome of Middle-earth, [e.g. Treebeard & the
Ents].
seeing the future in Men for Middle-earth.
understanding the only way for saving Middle-earth is to destroy the One Ring.
and seeing the course of action to take in the War of the Ring.

Aragorn:
Like real cultures and historical mythologies, Tolkien gave his characters many names. These
names, given by different groups or persons to the characters, were usually prophetic and
symbolized something of the purpose of the characters life.
Following are some of the names attributed to Aragorn:
Estel
Envinyatar
Elessar
Thorongil
Wingfoot
Strider
Longshanks....and there may be others.
In reference to his Kingship, six of these standout: Aragorn, Estel, Envinyatar, Elessar, Strider
and Thorongil.
The root of Aragorn is ara meaning King [Letters p.246]. The character of Aragorn is one with
immense nobility and integrity. He is;
"...the greatest traveller and huntsman the world has ever known..." according to
Gandalf. [arda]
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He is set up, along with Frodo, Sam and Gandalf as one of the great heroes of the narrative.
At the time of Aragorn and Arwen's betrothal, Arwen proclaims;
"Dark is the Shadow, but my heart rejoices; for you, Estel shall be among the great
whose valour will destroy it." [LotR Appendix A p.1035]
Arwen's comment is backed by the Encyclopedia of Arda [arda],
"In fact an early manuscript of Appendix A does give an account of the meaning of
Aragorn's name. According to that account, after Arathorn had named his son,
Aragorn's grandmother Ivorwen interpreted it as 'Kingly Valour'. Ultimately, Tolkien
rejected this version of the story, but it is not known whether he also intended to reject
'Kingly Valour' as the meaning of Aragorn's name."
As the story progresses Tolkien begins to reveal more and more about the Kingly nature of
Aragorn. He proclaims to Eomer;
"I am Aragorn son of Arathorn, and am called Elessar, the Elfstone, Dunadan, the heir
of Isildur, Elendil's son of Gondor..." and warns that; "death shall come to any man that
draws Elendil's sword save Elendil's heir." [LotR p.423 & p.500]
His companions, Gimli and Legolas are surprised by his mood but not shocked because he
proves himself worthy and they see his true stature;
"He seemed to have grown in stature, while Eomer had shrunk; in his living face they
caught a brief vision of the power and majesty of the kings of stone. For a moment it
seemed to the eyes of Legolas that a white flame flickered on the brows of Aragorn like
a shining crown." [LotR p.423]
He also shows he is foresighted in his prophecy to Eomer that they will meet again;
"...though all the foes of Mordor should stand between us." [LotR p.762]
The name given to him at his birth is Elessar, which means "the Elfstone." [LotR
p.366].
The name given to him by Elrond [his foster-father] is Estel meaning Hope as in, 'he
is the hope of his people.' [LotR Appendix A p.1032].
And in the high tongue of Nmenor, Envinyatar is "the Renewer." [LotR p.845].
Strider is translated into Telcontar in the Elvish tongue [see further on regarding this
name].
And Thorongil means Eagle of the Star. [LotR Appendix A p.1064]
All these are naturally fulfilled in Aragorn as he takes up his heritage and becomes King of
the Re-united Kingdom; but also they have similar meaning in reference to Jesus the True
King.
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Aragorn is the true King of both Arnor and Gondor. When Elendil and his sons [Isildur and
Anarion] set foot upon the shores of Middle-earth after the destruction of Nmenor, they
founded a Kingdom that had a northern and southern part. Isildur became King of both realms
after the death of Elendil and Anarion in the Last Alliance of Elves of Men; and he entrusted
the Southern Kingdom to his son. But it was still one Kingdom.
Isildur was riding home north when he was killed in the Disaster of the Gladden Fields [where
the Ring slipped from his finger into the Great River]. His son became King in the North.
Through the years and wars the Northern people were wiped out except for a dwindling
remnant, but this remnant still held the line of the King from Father to Son, and the heir
became known as the Chieftain of the Dnedain. This was Aragorn's title as head of the
Rangers in the North and in him the blood of Nmenor and the Royal Throne ran true and
unmingled. [LotR p.950]
In the South, the Kingdom remained strong for many thousands of years but later fell into
decay and the line of Kings failed. Stewards were set up to rule the Kingdom with the hope
that one day the King would come again and the line of Kings would be restored.
The Stewards were from a noble family line of Nmenorean blood but eventually that became
mingled with the blood of lesser men, whereas in the north, the line remained strong and true,
but hidden and protected. It is said that Aragorn resembled more than any other, the Tall Ship
Kings of Nmenor. [Silmarillion p.364]
Just before Minas Tirith is about to be attacked, Denethor, the Steward of Gondor, says to
Gandalf;
"Yet the Lord of Gondor is not to be made the tool of other men's purposes, however
worthy. And to him there is no purpose higher in the world as it now stands than the
good of Gondor; and the rule of Gondor, my lord, is mine and no other man's, unless
the king should come again." [LotR p.741]
Denethor's comment fore-shadows Aragorns appearance and restoration: "Unless the King
come again" was part of an oath that a newly sworn in Steward would recite in Gondor,
partly in hope and partly in tradition.
In Christian tradition, the saying Maranatha means Come Lord Jesus and is a prayer to
hasten the Lord's coming. Jesus' Second Coming is not referred to as a returning or coming
back because he has remained with us [he never left us]. He is in the tabernacle of each
Catholic or Eastern Church. But he will come again.
In fact, there is a shadow of this in Lord of the Rings as Aragorn has actually already been
among the men of Gondor before his Official claim to Kingship, but under another name and
guise. He fought and served under the name of Thorongil in both Gondor and Rohan when he
was younger. He is much older than other men because of his Nmenorean lineage. He is 80
in the Lord of the Rings but that is young for someone of his race. He is 240 when he dies.
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Hence he served as Thorongil under the fathers of Thoden, King of Rohan and Denethor,
Steward of Gondor.
As already mentioned Thorongil means Eagle of the Star. In the Book of Revelation in the
Christian Bible, the eagle is represented as an angelic being flanking the throne of God and
flying in the heavens like the cherubim and angels. The eagle is important in Jewish theology
as well, as an emblem of God in the Book of Exodus. Other great cultures and kingdoms have
used the eagle as a sign of strength and royalty; for example the Roman Empire, and of
course the more infamous use of the Nazis in WWII.
After the final victory and rescue of Frodo, Faramir and owyn see the Eagles flying towards
the city of Minas Tirith proclaiming: [Minas Tirith is also known as the Tower of Guard or
Tower of Anor]....
"Sing now, all ye people of the Tower of Anor,
for the Realm of Sauron is ended forever,
and the Dark Tower is thrown down.

Sing and rejoice ye people of the Tower of Guard,
for your watch hath not been in vain,
and the Black Gate is broken,
and your King hath passed through,
and he is victorious.

Sing be glad, all ye children of the West,
for your King shall come again,
and he shall dwell among you
all the days of your life.

and the Tree that was withered shall be renewed,
and he shall plant it in the high places,
and the City shall be blessed.

Sing all ye people."
This song of the eagles is extremely evocative of the mystery of Emmanuel, 'God will dwell
among us' and also of Christ the King. The versus are incredibly similar to many of the
praises and acclamations of the creatures and eagles in the Book of Revelation and the Old
Testament after witnessing the victory of the Lord and the presentation of the New Jerusalem:
Now God's home is with his people!
He will live with them and they will be his people.
God himself will be with them and he will be their God.
He will wipe away all tears from their eyes.
There will be no more death,
no more grief or crying or pain.
The old things have disappeared."
and again from an Easter acclamation:
Lady Full of Grace: Rejoice, O Pure Virgin!
Again I say: Rejoice! Your Son is risen from His three days in the tomb!
With Himself He has raised all the dead! Rejoice, all you people!
Shine! Shine! O New Jerusalem! The Glory of the Lord has shone on you!
Exalt now and be glad, O Zion!
Be radiant, O Pure Theotokos, in the Resurrection of your Son!"
[Troparion of the Eastern Church]
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Added to this, is the imagery and words that describe the Field of Cormallen which is once
again very much like the imagery found in Revelation concerning the King and the White
Rider [Rev 19:11-12]. And the song sung in honour of Frodo and Sam, fulfils the exaltation of
the humble [LotR p.932].
Long live the Halflings! Praise them with great praise!
Cuio i Pheriain anann! Aglar'ni Pheriannath!
[May the Halfings live long! Glory to the Halfings!]
Praise them with great praise, Frodo and Samwise!
Daur a Berhael, Conin en Annun! Eglerio!
[Frodo and Sam, princes of the West, glorify them!]
Praise them!
Eglerio!
[Glorify them!]
A laita te, laita te! Andave laituvalmet!
[Bless them; bless them, long we will bless them!]
Praise them!
Cormacolindor, a laita tarienna!
[The Ring Bearers, bless them to the heights!]
Praise them! The ring-bearers, praise them with great praise!"
[translated Letters p.308].
Not only is there interesting similarity in the sung versus but also in the words used for the
taking up of the Kingship by Aragorn.
"...and there in the midst of the fields they set up their pavilions and awaited the
morning; for it was the Eve of May and the King would enter his gates with the rising of
the Sun." [LotR p.936]
And again, ...the City was made ready for the coming of the King. [LotR p.942]
This is very much like the Bride [the Church] being made ready for coming of Christ and the
New Jerusalem, the New Creation to follow.
Why the New Jerusalem?
Tolkien mentioned the Eve of May [and uses capitals to denote it, though he did use
capitals for a lot of phrases, but why use capitals for this?].
Because;
"...the month of May is traditionally dedicated to Mary in many cultures. May is
considered the season of the beginning of new life [the start of Spring]. Already in
Greek culture, May was dedicated to Artemis, the goddess of fecundity. In Roman
culture, May was dedicated to Flora, the goddess of bloom, of blossoms. The Romans
celebrated ludi florales [literally: floral games] at the end of April, asking the
intercession of Flora for all that blooms. This is also related to the medieval
[superstitious] practice of expelling winter. May 1 was considered the beginning of
growth." [New Advent]
In the catholic tradition May is the Month of Mary; this is because new life has come to us
through Mary. Tolkien had an extremely strong love and devotion to Mary. Also interesting but
probably coincidental, is the way Tolkien writes it, Eve of May; Mary is the Second Eve,
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through Mary came the Redeemer, New Life came to us in Jesus but through Mary. This is
why May was chosen as Mary's month.
Traditional understanding and study of scripture places the original creation in Spring & May
in the Garden of Eden; and also Jesus' death and resurrection takes place in spring. And the
New Creation and restoration of the Reunited Kingdom in Middle-earth occurs in May.
Aragorns Kingship and Coronation takes places on the 1st of May with the rising of the
Sun. There is a new creation in Gondor and in Middle-earth in general, as Aragorn weds
Arwen. The restoration of the long sundered lines of half Elven" occurs. [Letters p.445]
In coming to save the Kingdom of Gondor, Aragorn passes through the Paths of the Dead
and summons the Oathbreakers to the Stone of Erech, where they are called upon to fulfil
their oaths and depart in peace. The oaths they had sworn were to fight in the earlier wars
against Sauron, but they had fled preferring the darkness. Aragorn, much like Christ
descending into Hades, passes through the Paths of the Dead, and calls those bound to him
as the Heir of Elendil. The Gospels recount that when Christ had risen, many of the dead
were seen around the streets of Jerusalem, themselves risen through the grace of Christ.
Tied in with this, is the manner in which he comes to Minas Tirith. Eomer, Eowyn and the
Rohirrim cannot understand why Aragorn would take the Road to the Dimholt, and in fact they
try to counsel him to do otherwise. It seemed like folly to them. For the apostles who followed
Christ, it also seemed like folly that Jesus would take the road of suffering and darkness, and
enter into glory through a different road than they had imagined. He becomes the King of
Israel through an unforeseen Path. Aragorn does much the same.
After the Battle of the Pelennor field, Aragorn decided he wouldn't enter Minas Tirith until the
time was ripe, but in the end at the request of Gandalf he entered for the sake of those who
had been hurt by the Witch-King. Ioreth, woman of Gondor, had reminded Gandalf of an old
piece of lore;
The Hands of the King are the hands of a healer, so shall the rightful King be known.
[LotR p.844]

Aragorn enters the City and heals owyn, Merry and Faramir.
Faramir's healing is especially moving with Aragorn calling Faramir back from a 'dark vale',
which is very Christ-like, and reminiscent of the Good Shepherd. He then 'breathed' on the
athelas leaves and crushed them. A living freshness filled the room as if the air itself
awoke and tingled and sparkled with joy; he then cast them into bowl of steaming water
and "all hearts were lightened. [LotR p.847]
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"Suddenly Faramir stirred and opened his eyes, and he looked on Aragorn who bent
over him; and a light of knowledge and love was kindled in his eyes, and he spoke
softly, " My Lord, you called me. I come. What does the King command?" [Faramir did
not know Aragorn]. Aragorn tells him to be ready when he returns, Faramir replies, "I will
lord, for who would lie idle when the King has returned. [LotR p.848]
Then, "...at the doors of the House of Healing many were already gathered to see
Aragorn, and they followed after him; and when at last he had supped, men came and
prayed that he would heal their kinsman or their friends whose lives were in peril
through hurt or wound, or who lay under the Black Shadow. And Aragorn arose and
went out, and he sent for the sons of Elrond and they laboured far into the night. And
word went through the City: the King is come again indeed." There is a strong Christ-like
resemblance here. [LotR p.853]
The King has come again..." went through the city and they named him Elessar so the
name foretold at his birth was adopted by own his people. [LotR p.853]
Aragorn was distrusted in the north, and spurned by men that in fact he protected [e.g. Bree].
Another parallel of a scriptural verse regarding Jesus: 'a prophet is never recognized in his
home town.' [Mark 6:4].
Aragorn is the Renewer, as the name Envinyatar denotes. But what is he renewing? Minas
Tirith and the Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor. Minas Tirith becomes the Bride prepared for
Christ and the Reunited Kingdom becomes the New Jerusalem. [LotR p.845]

Not only is he the renewer, but he also saves Minas Tirith. Boromir requests of him; "Go to
Minas Tirith and save my people."
When Thoden came to the aid of Minas Tirith he, "... gazed on her in her agony." But she
is truly released when Aragorn appears bearing the Standard displaying the White Tree with
the Seven Stars. [LotR p.404] [LotR p.819]
All things were made new after his coming which is very Christ-like. The City became full of
life' and is repaired. He restored the two halves of the Kingdom, north and south. He becomes
King of the Reunited Kingdom and serves a part of more than just defeating Sauron, but
brings Restoration to other aspects. The Wedding of "Aragorn and Arwen restored the
long sundered lines of half-Elven." [Letters p.445]
Divine and Human are reconciled in Jesus becoming flesh through Mary; and Aragorn
[mortal] and Arwen [immortal] restore the Kingdom of the Nmenoreans; the men who
recognized Eru [monotheists], the One God and creator of Middle-earth.
The website Encyclopedia of Arda mentions that;
"...in both the North and South kingdoms of the Dnedain, there had been no King for
many centuries. At the time of Aragorn's coronation, there had been no King of Gondor
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for 969 years, and no King of a united Arnor for 2,158 years. The last King to rule both
realms jointly had been Aragorn's distant ancestor Isildur; though his Kingship was
cut short at the Disaster of the Gladden Fields before he could truly take up the rule of
his twin realms." [arda]
This paragraph from the Encyclopedia of Arda brings up another point of Aragorns role as
King. He undoes the wrong-doing of Isildur [of not destroying the One Ring when he had the
chance] in his fight against Sauron. This is also stated in the text;
"...since it seemed fit that the Isildur's heir should labour to repair Isildur's fault, I went
with Gandalf on the long and hopeless search." [LotR p.245]
Just as Jesus undoes the fault of Adam, Aragorn looks to undo the fault of Isildur.
An additional point that is symbolic in the Restoration is the verse that goes with the name of
Aragorn;
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was
broken,
the crownless again shall be King."
Apart from there being great story telling with the sword being reforged and symbolizing the
Restored line of Kings [as has almost certainly been used before in other myths] there is
interesting imagery in the dates and names of Narsil and Andril [Aragorns reforged sword].
The origins of Narsil's name are complex, and contain an element of symbolism. Tolkien
himself described the name's derivation in his Letters:
"Narsil is a name composed of 2 basic stems without variation or adjuncts: vNAR 'fire',
& vTHIL 'white light'. It thus symbolised the chief heavenly lights, as enemies of
darkness, Sun [Anar] and Moon [in Q] Isil." [Letters p.425 No.347]
Andril had these traced on its blade [sun and moon and stars] [LotR p.269].
"...and the sword of Elendil filled Orcs and Men with fear, for it shone with the light of
the sun and of the moon, and it was named Narsil." [Sil]
Narsil was forged by Telchar and symbolized the Chief Heavenly Lights that were made from
the fruit and dew of the Two Trees in the Blessed Realm. The Blade is broken beneath Elendil
when he falls fighting Sauron at the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. The light of the sword is
extinguished but the shards are kept as Heirlooms of the King and would not be reforged until
Isildur's Bane is found again [i.e. Isildur's Bane = the Ring, after it is lost in the Great River].
Narsil is reforged for Aragorn, as he begins the Quest with the Fellowship. It is reforged on [or
just before] December the 25th! He renames it Andril, Flame of the West. This is the date of
the reforging and the departure of the Fellowship from Rivendell. The Quest begins on 25th
December, just as Jesus is born to start the official plan of salvation and reunites the human
and divine. The Sword symbolizes the healing of a broken line. That of the Kings of Nmenor
but there is also similar symbolism here with the broken relationship with God.
Also, the sheath that Galadriel gifts to Aragorn is;
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"overlaid with a tracery of flowers and leaves wrought of silver and gold and on it
were set in Elven runes formed of many gems the name Andril and the lineage of the
Sword." [LotR p.365]
These flowers and leaves of Silver and Gold reflect the origin of the original name, Narsil; that
of the light of the Sun and Moon that were made from the flowers and leaves of the Silver and
Golden Trees, Teleperion and Laurelin in the Blessed Realm.
The name and lineage is reminiscent of the East-West theme in the Lord of the Rings. Andril
is Flame of the West. The West is very much a location of good and the East is often where
evil resides. The Blessed Realm exists in the West. In the section First and Last Things, it is
outlined how Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden through the Eastern Gate,
and Cherubim holding Flaming Swords were placed to guard the Entrance [Gen 3:24].
Aragorn, being very much a Second Adam type of figure, carries a Flaming Sword from the
West, in his restoration of the Kingdom of Gondor.
Other Gems:
Other small excerpts that indicate his royalty, supremacy and almost divinity are continued
below:
At the end when Gandalf and the others say goodbye to him, Tolkien writes;
"With that they departed, and it was then the time of sunset; and when after a while
they turned and looked back, they saw the King of the West sitting upon his horse with
his knights about him; and the falling Sun shone upon them and made all their harness
to gleam like red and gold, and the white mantle of Aragorn was turned to a flame.
Then Aragorn took the green stone and held it up and there came a green fire from his
hand." [LotR p.960]
Telcontar [Strider] is also adopted by Aragorn as the "name of my house and all the heirs
of my body", another parallel with Christ's Body, His Church.
Legolas mentions the love that all come to have for Aragorn as a true King of Men and Lord
of the West when he comments to Gimli that they were;
"...held to the road by the will of Aragorn, and also by love of him." [LotR p.856]
Gandalf says to Saruman when they meet him on the road travelling north; You could have
met the King and received his Mercy. [LotR p.961]
When Aragorn takes up the Crown he repeats the words of Elendil, "Out of the Great Sea to
Middle-earth I am come. In this place will I abide and my heirs unto to the ending of the
world."
And Gandalf proclaims, "Now come the days of the King, may they be blessed while the
thrones of the Valar endure!" [LotR p.946] [LotR p.946]
Aragorn is crowned King;
"But when Aragorn arose all that beheld him gazed in silence for it seemed to them
that he was revealed to them now for the first time. Tall as the sea-kings of old, he
stood above all that were near; ancient of days he seemed and yet in the flower of
manhood; and wisdom sat upon his brow, and strength and healing were in his hands,
and a light was about him. And then Faramir cried, 'Behold the King'." [LotR p.947]
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"And in that moment all the trumpets were blown and the King Elessar went forth and
came to the barrier, and Hurin of the Keys thrust it back; and amid the music of harp
and of viol and of flute and the singing of clear voices, the King passed through the
flower-laden streets and came to the Citadel, and entered in; and the banner of the Tree
and the Stars was unfurled upon the top most tower, and the reign of King Elessar
began of which many songs have told." [LotR p.947]
The similarities of biblical writing in the two paragraphs above cannot be ignored in Aragorns
Kingship [see the Trees of Life regarding the Standard of the Tree and Stars and the
significance of the Keys].
"In the days that followed his crowning, the King sat upon his throne in the Hall of the
Kings and pronounced his judgments." His supremacy is confirmed. [LotR p.947]
Arwen's words to Aragorn on his deathbed, "Would you then, lord, before your time leave
your people that live by your word." Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word
that comes from the Lord [Luke 4:4] [LotR appendices p.1037].
In the appendices, Aragorn is described at his death, which he freely chooses the time of:
"Then a great beauty was revealed in him, so that all who after came there, looked on
him in wonder; for they saw that the grace of his youth, and the valour of his manhood,
and the wisdom and majesty of his age were blended together. And long there he lay,
an image of the splendour of the Kings of Men in glory undimmed before the breaking
of the world." [LotR appendices p.1038]
Aragorn becomes the Great King of Men heading into the Fourth Age. He brings unity,
healing and restoration. His wisdom is clearly laid out by Tolkien and he is shown to be pre-
eminent as the foremost leader in Middle-earth now that the Elves are departing. Many
leaders in Middle-earth come to pay him homage or send emissaries.
Certainly there are aspects of the True King that have worked their way into Tolkien's writing
of Aragorn King.

Final thoughts:
Priest, Prophet and King: some aspect of each of these offices is reflected in each of the
characters of Frodo, Gandalf and Aragorn.
But there is another reflection in these characters and offices: just as Jesus calls us all to
share in his Kingship, Priestly ministry and Prophetic fulfilment when we become adopted
sons and daughters of God; Frodo, Gandalf and Aragorn represent what we are, could be and
should be.
Frodo is the everyman; he is very much us, forging his way in a dangerous world. Weak,
often powerless and fragile, he gives all through his littleness.
Gandalf and Aragorn show us what we could be in God's full plan if we let him transform us
through grace, life and prayer. Through the grace of Christ we are regenerated to an unfallen
nature and even higher than that. Dignity, nobility and integrity are displayed in Aragorn and
Gandalf.
These aspects are communicated in a subtle way when Gandalf says to Frodo and Sam at
the Field of Cormallen,
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"...in Gondor the New Year will always now begin on the twenty-fifth of March when
Sauron fell, and when you were brought out of the fire to the King. He has tended you,
and now he awaits you. You shall eat and drink with him. When you are ready I will lead
you to him." [LotR p.931]
At the fall of evil, Frodo is brought out of the fire to the King, just as each one of us is brought
out of the fire to the Father when Jesus died for us. We are delivered to the King where we
can feast at the Banquet of the Lamb.
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TREES OF LIFE:
Background:
The creation story in Middle-earth tells of the Two Trees that gave Light to the Blessed
Realm; and the light that they radiated was the Flame Imperishable, the source of life, the
Flame of Ilvatar [God].
Telperion was the Silver Tree.
Laurelin was the Golden Tree.
The Trees were destroyed by Melkor [a fallen Vala, or angelic being: he would become
known as Morgoth] and Ungoliant, an evil form of life. The Light of the Two Trees was
captured in the Silmarils, the great hallowed jewels made by Fanor, greatest of the Elven
craftsmen.
The Silmarils were then stolen by Melkor and taken to Middle-earth. Many of the Elves living
in the Blessed Realm then rebelled and forsook the Undying-lands, and passed into exile to
re-claim the Silmarils. They passed into the East.
Before the Two Trees died however, their last flower and fruit were made by the Valar into the
Moon and the Sun [the enemies of darkness].
And Elbereth [Queen of the Valar], had previously made the Stars of Heaven with the dews of
the White Tree, Telperion.

Even though the elder tree, Telperion did not survive, it was not the last of the White Trees.
Yavanna [another angelic being of the Valar] had made an 'image' of it in Tirion, called
Galathilion.
Many thousands of years later a sapling of this tree was gifted to the Nmenoreans from the
Elves of Eressa which was part of the Blessed Realm [those who had remained and not
forsaken Valinor] while the Nmenoreans lived on the island of Nmenor off the coast of the
Eressa.
The Encyclopedia of Arda gives an account of this time:
In the early days of Nmenor, its people still had the friendship of the Elves of
Eressa. Among the gifts the Eldar gave to the early Nmenoreans, one of the greatest
was a white seedling of the tree Celeborn that stood in the middle of their island.
Planted in the King's Court in Armenelos, the seedling grew into a fine White Tree that
came to be known as Nimloth. Its blossoms appeared as the Sun set, and their perfume
filled the night in Nmenor's royal city.
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The tree of Tol Eressa, Celeborn, was itself descended from Galathilion, the White
Tree that stood in Tirion that was made by Yavanna herself. Its descendant Nimloth
stood in the courts of Armenelos for thousands of years. [arda]
So the Nmenoreans had in their possession, an image of the White Tree, Telperion. They
also received the Seven Seeing Stones [Palantri] from the elves at this time, as well as
beautiful singing birds and many other gifts of exquisite nobility and integrity.
The Nmenoreans are Aragorn's ancestors and received this abode off the coast of the
Undying-lands for the help they had given in the wars against Morgoth during the First Age.
The Nmenoreans were descended from unions of the Three Houses of the Edain [Edain =
Men] and the High Elves, the Eldar.
The Men of Nmenor rose in great power and wisdom from what they had received from the
Elves and from the Elven blood that was in them. Through enlightenment from the Elves of
the Blessed Realm, they gave honour and reverence to Eru, the One God and to the Valar.
During this time Sauron began to stir in Middle-earth. The Nmenoreans became aware of
this and sailed to Middle-earth with a force so great and powerful that Sauron surrendered
and his armies were scattered. They foundered harbours along the coasts Middle-earth. But
the King in his pride took Sauron captive and returned to Nmenor with him.
Sauron soon deceived the King with a honey tongue and fostered in him a jealousy of the
Elves who had immortal life.
Sauron gained control of Nmenor's government and saw the White Tree as a link to
his enemies the Valar, and ordered it destroyed. So the White Tree of Nmenor was cut
down and burned on the altar-fire of Sauron's temple. [arda]
The King, being poisoned by this influence, lead the island of Nmenor in a revolt against the
Blessed Realm. The Valar became aware of this and besought Eru to provide a solution. As
the great armada of Nmenoreans ships came near the Coast of Valinor, a huge tidal wave
rose up, destroyed the ships and engulfed Nmenor.
But, during this time of corruption and evil in Nmenor, there remained a remnant called the
Faithful, who still revered Eru and the Valar; and loved the Elves. They fled Nmenor as the
great armada left for Valinor, and sailed to Middle-earth. They took with them, the sceptre of
the King, the Seven Seeing Stones, a fruit of the White Tree and other royal artefacts. Elendil
and his sons were the leaders of this remnant but more importantly, there were of the royal
family, and hence setup the Kingdom of Nmenor in Middle-earth [Gondor and Arnor] and
claimed the Kingship.
But the line of Galathilion did not end in Sauron's flames. Isildur the son of Elendil
had stolen a fruit from the Tree before it was lost. The fruit grew into a seedling that
Isildur carried to Middle-earth with him after the Downfall of Nmenor. That seedling
was planted in Minas Ithil, and was destroyed before the end of the Second Age. Its
seedling in turn grew into the first of the White Trees of Minas Tirith, a line that was to
outlast Sauron himself. [arda]
Sauron then returned to Middle-earth.
The Seven Seeing Stones were kept in Seven of the Towers & Cities in the Nmenorean
Kingdom [Three in Gondor & Three in Arnor, and Isengard].
In three abodes in the North were:
Annminas - 'Sunset-Tower' [arda]
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Tower of Amon Sl
Tower of Elostirion
The three cities in the south were:
Minas Anor, Tower of the Setting Sun.
Minas Ithil, Tower of the Rising Moon.
Osgiliath, Citadel of the Stars.
[Osgiliath was the chief of these cities where the master stone was kept].
The Sun, Moon and Stars in Middle-earth were all made from some element coming from the
Two Trees [their fruit, and dew]. Tolkien explains that these [Sun, Moon and Stars] were the
enemies of Darkness, not just in a physical sense but also an eternal sense. [Gollum and
Orcs hate the sunlight and moonlight].
The Nmenoreans, having had contact with the Elves from the Blessed Realm while in
Nmenor, and having a reverence of Eru and the Valar, would have understood this
significance and named the Cities in honour and reverence of these great sources of light for
the world. And hence honoured the creation of them and the source of them; the Two Trees
that radiated the Light of the Imperishable Flame, the breath of life from Ilvatar.
These heavenly lights; Sun, Moon and Stars are caught up heavily in the mythology of the
Lord of the Rings, but are extremely symbolic in the Good versus Evil arena that is set up in
the story.
Osgiliath was destroyed in the ensuing wars against the evil forces of Sauron. Sauron took
Minas Ithil and burned the White Tree growing there, [Minas Ithil was renamed Minas Morgul,
Tower of Spells] but Minas Anor remained and was renamed Minas Tirith, the Tower of Guard
and became the Seat of Power in the Kingdom.
The Steward and the King:
Just as in the Garden of Eden there were Two Trees:
Tree of Life.
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
There were also Two Trees in the Blessed Realm [a quasi-Garden of Eden of Arda]. These
Two Trees were destroyed in Valinor just as the Two Trees in the Garden were taken away
from humanity.
In the Lord of the Rings, Minas Tirith [and also the Kingdom of Gondor] is similar in
symbolism to the Church and the New Jerusalem in Heaven. It has Seven Levels and is the
centre of the Kingdom with the White Tree Telperion in the courtyard of the King where the
fountain flows.
[This is further developed in Priest Prophet & King], and embedded in this, are even more
parallels, particularly in reference to the Trees of Life [as already outlined in First and Last
things].
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As pointed out in Women of Middle-earth, the Pilgrimage of Faith of the Church and it's
faithful here on earth is often compared with the imagery of the Church being a boat on a
voyage in dangerous seas, with Mary helping in bringing the boat home to safe shores is very
traditional, spiritual and theological.
Tolkien describes Minas Tirith in detail in his book. Twice he mentions it being like a large
sea-going vessel:
For partly in the primeval shaping of the hill, partly by the mighty craft and labour of
old, there stood up from the rear of the wide court behind the Gate, a towering bastion
of stone, its sharp edge as a ship-keel facing east. [LotR p.735]
Up it rose, even to the level of the top most circle, and there it was crowned by a
battlement; so that those in the Citadel might, like mariners in a mountainous ship,
look from its peak sheer down upon the Gate seven hundred feet below. [LotR p.735]
The Nmenoreans were exceptional mariners so this also ties in with their heritage, but it is
interesting considering Tolkien's love for the Church.
When Osgiliath was destroyed, the King took up his abode in Minas Anor and renamed it
Minas Tirith. All his house and heirlooms were removed also, including the descendant of the
White Tree that had been kept living in the Courtyard of the King. The last White Tree was
replanted in the Courtyard of Minas Tirith and there it remained.
In time, the line of Kings failed and the Stewards took up the responsibility of ruling the
Kingdom. They were of noble but not royal blood. Symbolically the White Tree in the
Courtyard died after the line of Kings failed, but its withered root stood in the courtyard until
the time of the War of the Ring. The Stewards fulfilled an almost Pope-like duty; seeing over
the Kingdom until the King came again.
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The origins of the office of the Pope are found in the historical tradition of the Church from the
very first years of Christendom, and are backed up by the Gospel account where Jesus says
to Peter,
...you are my Rock, on this Rock I will build my Church. And the gates of Hell will
never prevail against it. To you I give the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. [Mat 16:17-
19].
The Keys verse comes from Hezekiah, the royal heir to David's throne and King of Israel in
Isaiah's day, who replaces his old Prime Minister with a new one. He does this by giving him
the Keys of the Kingdom and everyone present understood this institution in the role and
primacy as Prime Minister [Isaiah 22.20-22]. In Biblical language and Old Testament
understanding, the giving of the Keys of a Kingdom represented the entrustment of
responsibility and power for the Kingdom. When Jesus does this to Peter, he is conferring on
him a special grace of primacy and responsibility in His Church on earth.
When Aragorn, the rightful and true King is about to enter Minas Tirith, Hurin of the Keys
throws open the Gates to Aragorn. The Stewards guardianship is over, the King has come;
And in that moment all the trumpets were blown and the King Elessar went forth and
came to the barrier, and Hurin of the Keys thrust it back; and amid the music of harp
and of viol and of flute and the singing of clear voices the King passed through the
flower-laden streets and came to the Citadel, and entered in; and the banner of the Tree
and the Stars was unfurled upon the top most tower, and the reign of King Elessar
began of which many songs have told. [LotR p.947]
The White Tree:
When Aragorn is acclaimed King, he accepts the Throne but waits for a sign, to prove he is
the rightful one to truly take the Crown and marry Arwen [Elrond said he can only marry
Arwen if he is King]. When Aragorn saves Minas Tirith, he unfurls the Standard of Arwen,
displaying the White Tree and the Seven Stars [emblems of the Kingdom, Gondor and Arnor].
Gandalf says, And Aragorn himself waits for a sign. [LotR p.949]
He then finds the sapling of the White Tree high above Minas Tirith and outside the Walls of
the City. This is the sign.
It is Gandalf, who leads him that way,
Turn your face from the green world and look where all is barren and cold.
And of the Tree, Gandalf says,
Verily this is a sapling of the line of Nimloth the fair; and that was a seedling of
Galathilion, and that was a fruit of Telperion of many names, Eldest of Trees. Who shall
say how it comes here in the appointed hour? But this is an ancient hallow, and ere the
King failed or the Tree withered in the court, a fruit must have been set here. For it is
said that, though the fruit of the Tree comes seldom to ripeness, yet the life within may
then lie sleeping through many long years, and none can foretell the time in which it
will awake. Remember this, for if ever a fruit ripens, it should be planted, lest the line
die out of the world. Here it has lain hidden on the mountain, even as the race of
Elendil lay hidden in the wastes of the North. [LotR p.949]
The White Tree is planted in the Courtyard of the King in Minas Tirith, where the fountain
flows.
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As already mentioned in First and Last Things, the Cross of Jesus is the new Tree of Life,
that restores the Trees that were taken away from us in the Garden of Eden.
The Sapling found by Aragorn is symbolic of this restoration. But it is found outside the City
walls just as Jesus was crucified on the Cross outside the Holy City, Jerusalem. And the tree
is also found; in a cold and barren place... which is very similar to that of the Cross being
on Golgotha.
In Jewish understanding of the time; at Passover when the Paschal Lamb had been
sacrificed in the Temple, what remained was deemed to be unworthy and unholy and was
thrown outside the walls of the City to be burnt. Very much a precursor to Jesus, the Lamb of
God, being rejected by Israel, crucified outside the City, but being the only worthy and pure
oblation for sin.
The White Tree on the Standard is raised up as Aragorn comes to save Minas Tirith, just as
Jesus was raised up on the Cross,
When I am raised up, I will draw all men to myself. '' [John 12:32].
The White Tree is a renewal of the Eldest of Trees [Telperion], just as the Cross of Christ is
the renewal of the Tree of Life from the Garden of Eden.
Sing be glad, all ye children of the West,
for your King shall come again,
and he shall dwell among you
all the days of your life.

and the Tree that was withered shall be renewed,
and he shall plant it in the high places,
and the City shall be blessed.

Sing all ye people.
The above verse is sung by the Eagles as they bring tidings of victory to Minas Tirith.
Tolkien had mentioned that the ennoblement of Men was part of the Divine plan and
something that is brought about by the providence of the Creator [Letters p.194]. Once again,
the sense of providence in finding the Tree is evident.
It is after the Tree is found, that the restoration of the long sundered Half-Elven lines can
proceed, where Aragorn and Arwen marry. The ennoblement of Men is restored according to
the Divine Plan just a Jesus restores Humanity to a Divine level in the Cross.
In summary:
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the King is come.
the Keys are surrendered.
the White Tree is found restored.
Arwen sacrifices her immortality.
and the City is made new..
There is incredible symbolism here that does reflect in some way the Divine Plan of Salvation
of our own God as it has always been understood by His Church.

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THREE, SEVEN & NINE:
One smaller point that also lends credence to symbolism in the story is the use of numbers in
the Lord of the Rings.
1, 3, 7 and 9 [3x3] are often employed by Tolkien to denote something of importance from a
good and divine perspective; or possibly evil point.
Tolkien mentioned he didn't like any type of meaning hunting in his story;
i.e....the 5 wizards = the 5 senses... [Letters p.262].
So in mentioning numbers, this is not trying to explain how the quantities represent something
but show that the use of these particular numbers is important because they are of biblical
and philosophical origins. And they are used repeatedly throughout the story.
3 and 7 in tradition and scripture signify or embody Holy Presence and Perfection.
3, 7 and 9 are used philosophy when referring to eternal things - Aristotle, Dante.
Tolkien was a great admirer of the philosophy of Dante. He once said,
I would not dream of being compared with the supreme poet Dante. [M&M p.100]
At the beginning of the novel, the Ring verse introduces the first use of the numbers 3, 7, 9
and 1
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the land of Mordor where shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the land of Mordor where shadows lie.
This is also specifically shown in the old lore and rythme of Gondor quoted by Gandalf:
Tall ships and tall Kings
Three times three,
What brought they from the foundered land
Over the flowing sea?
Seven stars and seven stones
And one white tree.
Once again, 3, 7, 1 and 9 are dominant quantities in Middle-earth. There were Nine ships that
escaped from Nmenor before its destruction [three times three].
Below is a list of the use of these numbers:
7 male Valar
7 female Valar
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7 hours do the Two Trees wax and wane.
3 Elven Rings
7 Dwarven Rings
1 Ruling Ring
3 Unions of the Eldar and the Edain [Men and Elves]
3 Houses of the Edain.
3 Kindreds of Elves, The Vanyar, the Noldor and the Teleri
1 White Tree, emblem of Arnor and Gondor
7 Stars of the house of Elendil, as displayed on Banner of Arwen
1 who betrays the Fellowship, Boromir
3 Hallowed Jewels - Silmarils
3 hairs given by Galadriel to Gimli
7 Stars traced on the blade of Andril, along with the Sun and Moon.
7 days after Aragorn goes to Black Gate that owyn accepts Faramir [LotR
p.940]
7 years old is the Scion of Nimloth when found by Aragorn and Gandalf.
3 great cities built by Elendil and his sons in the Southern part of the Kingdom
7 days after deciding the number of the Fellowship, they would depart [LotR
p.269]
7 hundred feet above the plain is the top most level in Minas Tirith [LotR
p.735]
7 thousand march of the Black Gate from Minas Tirith.
7 gates and levels in Minas Tirith, [modelled on the city Gondolin]
9 ships of Elendil and his Sons escape from Nmenor to Middle-earth
1 jewel at the summit of the Crown of King Elessar
7 gems in a circlet on the Crown of King Elessar
7 stones from over the see and one white tree
3 ages of the world under oppression of evil
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9 Rings for Mortal Men which leads to 9 Ringwraiths
3 foot high is the sapling of the White Tree found by Aragorn
3 hobbits bore the One Ring
3 times the lifespan of mortal men was gifted to Elros
3 eagles come to get Frodo and Sam on Mt Doom
3 times did Frodo wear the Ring
33 is the age of Frodo when he receives the Ring.
This last number and age of Frodo is very indicative of Tolkien's thoughts as it is the age of
Christ when He undergoes His Passion and dies on the Cross. When receiving the ring Frodo
begins his long passion and suffering which will finally be accomplished with him leaving for
the Undying Lands.
Part of Dante's philosophical description of Hell has 9 levels [ref]. If is interesting that
Tolkien's evil Riders are of the order of Nine and possibly reflect this philosophical belief
[Dante].
Also of note are the Nine Ships [three times three] that escaped from the destruction of
Nmenor and the subsequent appearance there after of the Nine Nmenorean Kings who
were seduced by Sauron and eventually became the Nine Riders. It is almost as if Tolkien is
saying that upon each ship there was one who betrayed them.

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25
th
OF THE MONTH:
The day on which the Ring is finally destroyed is the 25th of March and the day on which the
Fellowship commences their Quest is the 25th of December. [LotR Appendix B - Tale of the
Years p.1069].
In historical Christian calendars these are the dates of the Birth of Jesus and the
Crucifixion of Jesus. The fact that these dates are probably not the actual dates of these
great events in Christ's life isn't really important, as what counts is the fact that the Church
chose these dates to honour and celebrate them.
25th of December [or very close] is also the day on which Narsil, the ancient Sword of Elendil
is reforged and renamed Andril by Aragorn.
In one checks Christian history, it gives a more detailed account: [from Catholic
Encyclopedia].
All Christian antiquity [against all astronomical possibility] recognized the 25th of
March as the actual day of Our Lord's death. The opinion that the Incarnation also took
place on that date is found in the pseudo Cyprianic work "De Pascha Computus", c.
240.
It argues that the coming of Our Lord and His death must have coincided with the
creation and fall of Adam. And since the world was created in spring, the Saviour was
also conceived and died shortly after the equinox of spring. Similar fanciful
calculations are found in the early and later Middle Ages, and to them, no doubt, the
dates of the feast of the Annunciation and of Christmas owe their origin.
Consequently the ancient martyrologies assign to the 25th of March the creation of
Adam and the crucifixion of Our Lord; also, the fall of Lucifer, the passing of Israel
through the Red Sea and the immolation of Isaac. [article here]
This understanding of the 25th of March has changed in more recent times within the Church,
but it seems extremely coincidental that the start of the Quest begins on the traditional date of
the Birth of Jesus, and the end of the Quest ends on the traditional date of the Death of
Jesus. The day that Middle-earth is saved is on the same date that our own world has been
saved.
This certainly provides the link or bond if you like, between Tolkien's mythology and
traditional Christian understanding. When all of the other themes and parallels are weighed
up and you add in this seeming coincidence, it does add credence to Tolkien's desire to pass
truth, Christian Truth, through his story.

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THE LEMBAS:
Tolkien stated once that the lembas;
...also has a much larger significance, of what one might hesitatingly call a 'religious'
kind. This becomes later apparent especially in the chapter 'Mount Doom'. [Letters
p.274-275, 1958]
This 'religious' significance of the Lembas that becomes apparent in Mordor is the ability to
rely solely on the sustenance provided by consuming it, and the strength it gives to the wills of
Frodo and Sam.
The Lembas had a virtue without which they would long ago have lain down to die. It
did not satisfy desire, and at times Sam's mind was occupied with food, and the
longing of simple breads and meats. and yet this waybread of the elves had a potency
that increased as the travellers relied on it alone and did not mingle it with other foods.
It fed the will, and it gave strength to endure and to master sinew and limb beyond the
measure of mortal kind. [LotR p.915]
This 'magic' or supernatural effect of the Elven-waybread has been commented upon by
many who have read the story. Catholic commentators have often pointed out the similarity
between the effect of the lembas and that of the Eucharist or Blessed Sacrament.
And why is this? Or what is the Eucharist?
For anyone who has read anything about Eucharistic Miracles [go here and here] the Lembas
is extremely evocative of this sort of phenomenon.
The Eucharist, which is Greek for thanksgiving, is often used to refer to the Mass or to the
True Presence of Jesus under the appearances of bread and wine at Mass.
When Catholics go to Church on a Sunday [or during the week] they receive Spiritual Food
[even though some go without any idea of what they go to]. At Mass, Catholics partake of the
Bread of Life, which is eating and drinking Jesus under the appearances of consecrated
unleavened bread and wine.
The Mass is the most important prayer of the Church. It is celebrated everyday of the week all
round the world.
The Mass is the memorial of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus; and because it is a
memorial; the Sacrifice of the Cross and its fruits are present and flow from the Altar of the
Mass. For a more detailed explanation of what Mass is go here.
Throughout the history of the Catholic Church there have been thousands of instances where
believers have experienced miracles when receiving Jesus under the appearances of bread
and wine [Eucharist] at Mass. In fact there are many miracles where during Mass, the bread
has transformed into Real Flesh and the wine has changed into Real Blood; like God is
wanting to remind his people that Jesus is really there.
There have been miracles of healing and visions; many Saints have survived on the
Eucharist alone for years. While in France, I visited the home of Marthe Robin, a holy French
woman in line to be beatified, who lived solely on the Bread of Life for 50 years. She ate
nothing else as she bore the Stigmata of Christ. There are other true stories of this
phenomenon in the history of the Church, where believers relied only on the True Presence of
God in the Eucharist, thus fulfilling the words of Jesus that, ' if you do not eat the flesh of
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the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will have no life in you.' [John 6:53]. [go here
and here to read about Eucharistic miracles].
This True Presence of Jesus under the appearances of bread, [often a wafer-thin unleavened
bread called the Host] can be placed in a receptacle [Monstrance] and put on display on the
altar in a Catholic Church so believers can come to worship Jesus sacramentally present.
This type of prayer is called Adoration and is a powerful prayer. Songs can be sung and
structured group prayer can be setup. It can also be a time for silent personal prayer. Many
monastic orders revolve their day to day life around Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Tolkien often frequented Adoration.
The consecrated Hosts are kept in a Tabernacle [a holy enclosure] in the Church and fulfils
the prophecy that God 'will live among his people'.
Jesus being present in the Tabernacle of a Catholic Church is a fulfilment of the Jewish
Tradition of God's presence residing in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle of the Temple in
Jerusalem. But now he resides in every corner of the world.
Tolkien had a huge love of Adoration as is shown in this letter to his son.
Out of darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to
love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament.... There you will find romance, glory, honour,
fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth, and more than that: Death: by the
divine paradox, that which ends life, and demands the complete surrender of all, and
yet by the taste [or foretaste] of which alone can what you what you seek in your
earthly relationships [love, faithfulness, joy] be maintained, or take on the complexity
of reality, of eternal endurance, which every man's heart desires. [Letters p.53-54]
But I fell in love with the Blessed Sacrament from the beginning - and by the Mercy of
God have never fallen out again... [Letters p.340]
Regarding receiving the Bread of Heaven:
Tolkien: Seven times a week is more nourishing than seven times at intervals. [Letters
p.338]
Sometimes processions are carried out with a Priest at the head carrying the Monstrance
containing the Heavenly Bread. If you've seen the movie The Mission [1986] with Robert
Deniro and Jeremy Irons, the final scene shows this. There have also been miracles of
healings and extraordinary happenings when the Eucharist has been carried in Procession
through villages and nature.
The lembas, the Elvish way-bread, gives an incredible strength to those who eat it. Not just a
physical strength, but also strength to the will. Considering Tolkien's love of the Eucharist,
one can see how this has influenced his writing.
Gollum in his evil state [almost possessed by his lust and desire for the Ring], is repulsed by
the lembas when he tastes it.
Frodo broke off a portion of a wafer and handed it to him on its leaf-wrapping. Gollum
sniffed at the leaf and his face changed: a spasm of disgust came over him, and a hint
of his old malice.... Dropping the leaf he took a corner of the lembas and nibbled it. He
spat, and a fit of coughing shook him... [LotR p.608]
This ties in with the moral and spiritual order that exists in Middle-earth: the Elves having
made the lembas and having seen the Light of the Two Trees, and Gollum who lives under
the darkness of the Ring, corrupted and twisted. They are diametrically opposed.
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The following are the references to the lembas found in the text;
When Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are pursuing the Orcs across the planes of Rohan:
Often in their hearts, they thanked the Lady of Lrien for the gift of lembas, for they
could eat of it and find new strength even as they ran. [LotR p.417]
Legolas still stepped as lightly as ever, his feet hardly seeming to press the grass,
leaving no footprints as he passed; but in the way-bread of the Elves he found all the
sustenance he needed... [LotR p.418]
When Merry and Pippin are escaping the Orcs:
Lembas does put heart into you. A more wholesome sort of feeling... [LotR p.448]
The taste brought back to them the memory of the laughter and fair faces of the
Elves... [LotR p.447]
Tolkien replied to a letter he had received regarding certain symbolism in the story:
Tolkien: ...another saw in waybread [lembas] = viaticum, and the reference to its
feeding the will and being more potent when fasting, a derivation from the Eucharist...
[Letters p.288]
Tolkien doesn't deny the comments, but refers to his belief and desire that in reading the
Myth one is drawn to the Truth. The meaning and origin of Viaticum sheds even more light
upon the origin of the lembas and the use of the word in reference to the Eucharist in the
Church.

The Catholic Encyclopedia explains the historical development: [Catholic Encyclopedia]
Among the ancient Greeks the custom prevailed of giving a supper to those setting
out on a journey. This was called hodoiporion. The provision of all things necessary
for such a journey [food, money, clothes, utensils and expense] was called ephodion.
The adjectival equivalent in Latin of both these words is viaticus, i.e. 'of or pertaining
to a road or journey'.
Subsequently the substantive viaticum figuratively meant the provision for the journey
of life, and finally by metaphor, the provision for the passage out of this world into the
next. It is in this last meaning that the word is used in sacred liturgy by the Church.
[read the full explanation here]
Thus, in Catholic terms, viaticum refers to the last reception of the Eucharist before death and
before the journey into Eternal Life, but the use of the word has evolved from a physical
journey one took in life.
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With this explanation, one can see that in the lembas, Tolkien has amalgamated the
supernatural qualities of the Eucharist with the original journey understanding of viaticum: the
lembas sustains the characters supernaturally on their journeys in the story.

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METAPHYSICAL ELEMENTS:
I would strongly suggest reading the page Creation before this one as it lays down a
foundation and history of Middle-earth. Terms and concepts discussed on this page will
reference elements from the page Creation.
Introduction:
The Norse Myths and Greek Legend [and other] elements of the Lord of the Rings have been
inhabited by a hidden power residing behind the natural fabric of the story.
While some fragments of the story are similar to other myths and have drawn upon them,
[e.g. Orthesa, Shrak, Kalevala, Beowulf, Orpheus, Atlantis, the Edda, and Njall Saga] it has
many examples of invisible grace working through and beyond natural things.
But to understand this mystery and grace, let us start with philosophy.
Metaphysics? What does this mean? It is a term used in philosophy, something Tolkien had
studied. He had read the works of St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas and also the writings
of Aristotle and Plato.
Meta in Greek means over, and -- since when you jump over something you find
yourself behind it, in space and after in time -- it is also understood as behind and
after. The word metaphysics is said to originate from the mere fact that the
corresponding part of Aristotle's work was positioned right after the part called
physics. But it is not unlikely that the term won a ready acceptance as denoting the
whole field of knowledge because it conveyed the purpose of metaphysics, which is to
reach beyond the nature [physics] as we perceive it, and to discover the true nature
of things, their ultimate essence and the reason for being.
Metaphysics in the classical sense is the study of the most universal principles of being. It is
the study of what holds being in Being; in other words, it is the study of the most Primary
Cause in the universe.
As already pointed out in Creation, the Cause of Middle-earth is Eru, the One God. He has
brought Middle-earth into being with the word, E! [It Is!] ; Let these things Be ... and these
things were beheld and formed in the Music of the Ainur....
Music and Words have a power in Middle-earth.
The singing of the Elves in the shire drives away the Black Riders.
Elrond raises the Bruinen river with Elvish words.
Gandalf ignites the faggot of wood in the Mountain Pass with a word.
When Gandalf recites aloud the incantation on the Ring it causes the sky to darken.
When Frodo cries the name of Elbereth on Weathertop the Black Riders are
repulsed.
Frodo replies with a song in Cirith Ungol and Sam finds him.
Sam uses the words to Elbereth to break the Watchers at Cirith.
the melodies & music in the Hall of Fire in Rivendell bring visions and dreams.
Yavannas singing brings forth the Two Trees in the Blessed Realm.
Lthien sings before the Valar and they bring Beren back from Death.
and there are many more examples....

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Cause and Effect:
Each of these small examples above shows how Music and Words cause an effect in Middle-
earth; either for Good or for Evil [e.g. Ring verse]. There is a power in the spoken Word and a
power in Music [or Song, which is words, put to music]. This is not by chance in Tolkiens
mythology.
When Gandalf uses words [or spells] to cause an effect for good in the story he is deriving his
power from the ultimate Cause of All Good in Middle-earth, namely Eru, the One God. And
Eru, in creating the world [Arda] out of his goodness has used a particular word [through his
Music] to create,
E! ... Let these things Be!
Tolkien confirms many times that the Valar [and Maiar] derive their power and authority from
Eru [cf. Creation]. When the name of Elbereth is spoken aloud it also has power. This is dealt
with on the next page Women of Middle-earth.
Arda is also brought into Being through the Music of the Ainur. There is a sense of tapping
into the fabric of what holds Middle-earth together when the Elves sing. The chapter in
Rivendell in the Hall of Fire is extremely evocative of this:
At first the beauty of the melodies and of the interwoven words in Elven-tongues,
even though he understood them little, held him [Frodo] in a spell, as soon as he
began to attend to them. Almost it seemed that the words took shape, and visions of
far lands and bright things that he had never yet imagined opened out before him; and
the fire lit hall became like a golden mist above seas of foam that sighed upon the
margins of the world. Then the enchantment became more and more dreamlike, until
he felt that an endless river of swelling gold and silver was flowing over him, too
multitudinous for its pattern to be comprehended; it became part of the throbbing air
about him, and it drenched him and drowned him. Swiftly he sank under its shining
weight into a deep realm of sleep. [LotR p.227]
This description evokes a sense of power in sub-creation. The elves are sub-creating [making
music] and in a mystical way it draws them into the power that has brought the primary-
creation in Middle-earth into Being. It reflects and acts as a sign of the Music of the Ainur and
hence a sign to Eru.
Below it will be described how Sacraments [visible forms of invisible Grace] in the Catholic
Church are signs of Gods action. They point to God. They signify what they effect and effect
what they signify. The music in the Hall of Fire is extremely sacramental: it signifies and
points to the original Music from the primary-creation, but it also effects something of the
same mystery, it calls those present into a participation in this Music with-in the sub-created
music of the Elves.
Upon listening to the music Frodo enters into a mystical foretaste and understanding of what
he will receive when he goes to the Undying Lands in the Blessed Realm, where creation is
unstained by evil. Interesting to note that it is just after this that he has his first piercing
'glance' from Arwen, who will give up her place so he can go to this quasi-Garden of Eden -
Valinor.
The Catholic Mass is a sign of the Sacrifice of Calvary, but it also makes present the Sacrifice
of Calvary on the Altar and from this each person present enters into the mystery to receive
its Graces. For a better explanation of the Mass, see here.
There are many other examples of this mystery in Lord of the Rings. When we say mystical -
it is derived from the word mystery. The Church uses this term because the Truths of God can
never be totally exhausted and understood in human concepts. We can never fully grasp the
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whole depth of God in our human intellect. A mystery has no limit to the depth to which man
can continue to discover about it. It is in this sense that the Church uses the term mystery.
But it must be understood that God has revealed certain things about Himself in the revelation
of Jesus Christ. He has made them known so that they can be known, but they are
inexhaustible in their profundity and beauty.
A small side point is the language of Mordor as it is a perversion of the beautiful Elven
language. It is named the Black Speech. It is a mockery of the melodious musical language of
the Elves. The language of the Elves is in tune with this theme in the Music.
There is a power in entering into this reality of being and the source of All Good in Middle-
earth: that is to say, Eru and his Music. [see Creation and the Silmarillion].
This is a metaphysical reality.
It is also a preter-natural reality [preter-natural = beyond-the-natural].
This is because the Elves are beings that see this truth because they live at once in both
worlds, the Seen and Unseen.
They represent:
...the artistic, aesthetic, and purely scientific aspects of the Humane Nature raised to
a higher level than is actually seen in Man. [Letters p.237]
...the Elven-wise, lords of the Eldar from beyond the furthest seas. They do not fear
the Ringwraiths, for those who have dwelt in the Blessed Realm live at once in both
worlds, and against both the Seen and the Unseen they have great power... [LotR
p.216]
Frodo then asks Gandalf,
I thought I saw a white figure that shone and did not grow dim like the others. Was
that Glorfindel then?
Yes, you saw him for a moment as he is upon the other side: one of the mighty of the
Firstborn. He is an Elf-lord of a house of princes. [LotR p.216]
This is something very true of our world. God has spoken and it IS [see Creation for more on
this]. Will and Intellect is one thing in God. There is no disunion or conflict in Him. He is the
Prime Cause of all things, and this produces an effect. He is in movement in the Trinity as the
Father gives to the Son and the Son gives to the Father and they both do this in Spirit, united
in Love. This overflows into a self-giving in creating...
When we enter into the reality of this;
the reality that we are created by God for love and to be loved;
that we are creatures, owing our life to Him;
that we have been redeemed by Him, owing our salvation to Him;
and when we begin to accept this truth and reality,... it is then that the Word of God, Jesus,
has power in our life and can begin to transform us through prayer and the sacraments.
Matter and spirit comes into Being through this Prime Cause, the Word of God [Jesus]. When
the Word of God is proclaimed, it has power. When the Church proclaims the Truth it has
power. When a Priest prays a prayer of the Church or celebrates a Sacrament [see below for
more on the Sacraments] it causes an effect. That is, it signifies and points to God, but also
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effects the reality and mystery of God being present: it calls down Gods Grace. This is why
Sacraments are referred to as efficacious.
The opposite is actually true too. Satanic incantation also causes effects, but very evil effects.
Curses are a reality. There is power in spoken word that breaks through into the unseen
realm, either for Good or Evil. The Lord of the Rings also shows this. The ring verse, when it
is spoken out loud by Gandalf at the Council of Elrond causes the environment [created
matter] to change and darken.
Sauron and the Orcs hate the created world. Legolas mentions:
It seems their delight to slash and beat down growing things that are not even in their
way. [LotR p605]
Mordor twists the very life out of creation. Sauron hates Eru and hates everything he created,
like Satan hating God and hating man.
This is also true in our world.
The Church has always taught that objects [created matter] can have blessings prayed over
them.
A prayer can be prayed over an object, it can be blessed, so that it through the signification of
that object, it can carry a special Grace from God. This is not superstitious, but ties in with the
fact that all matter and spirit can be blessed by God [see below for more regarding created
matter] and the Church has the authority to do this.
This is why the Catholic Church uses 'blessed objects' - Holy Water for example.
The Blades from Westernesse that Merry and Pippin carry are like blessed objects. They are:
...the work of Westernesse, wound about with spells for the bane of Mordor... [LotR
p.405]
The Orcs feared to take them from Merry and Pippin.
It is precisely because of these good Nmenorean 'spells' that are prayed when the blade is
forged that this sword causes hurt to the WitchKing when he is stabbed by Merry.
...work of Westernesse ... no other blade, not though mightier hands had wielded it,
would have dealt that foe a wound so bitter, cleaving the undead flesh, breaking the
spell that knit his unseen sinews to his will. [LotR p.826]
Another example is Gollum cursing and choking when he tries to eat the Lembas bread of the
Elves; and the Lembas is like the Eucharist [see Lembas]. The Elven cloaks are also like
blessed objects that carry a special grace of protection [see Women of Middle-earth].
Below is a list of other objects [created matter] that cause a blessed or beyond the natural
effect in the story.
Phial of Galadriel
the Sword of Elendil
the Lembas [waybread]
the Miruvor
Gandalfs staff
the Rings of Power [good ones]
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the Palantri [seeing Stones]
the Athelas [plant with healing power]
the Elvish cloaks
Sam's small Galadriel garden-box.
This is also true of satanic curses being placed on objects or people. Satan always mocks
and perverts some truth or good about God or man. Satan wishes that all matter [especially
man as matter and spirit] be pulled to his own perversion.
There is a profound mystery at the heart of Christendom of the Fall of Man and the
Incarnation, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. What God created was 'good' and
through original sin has become twisted and corrupted, but not entirely corrupted, so that all
of his creation, even the earth itself yearns for salvation, the return of the Creator and union
with the Creator.
St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas, two of the greatest scholars in the Catholic Church,
wrote much on these topics, of the Natural and Supernatural, of the Fall from Grace and
Restoration. [see First and Last Things].
As has already been mentioned, the Catholic Church celebrates what it calls Sacraments
which is derived from the Latin:
sacramentum - meaning visible form of invisible grace.
And where did this Latin term sacramentum come from? In the scriptures St Paul uses the
Greek word mysterion when referring to the visible reality of the hidden mystery of God
revealed to us in Jesus. When this term was translated into Latin it rendered two words:
mysterium and sacramentum.
This is where the sacramentum part of the Church comes from. Christ took on our flesh, he
became the visible form of All Grace and Salvation to redeem us in our matter and spirit, and
the Church [the Body of Christ] perpetuates this as a visible sign in the world of God's Love.
And the Seven Sacraments within the Church are the specific visible signs of God's
presence: they are the visible symbols of the conference of His Invisible Grace, but they are
specifically caught up with the mystery of created matter.
Why is this?
The Church, very much evolved from the Jewish tradition, uses created things to signify
God's presence; this sacramental understanding has rightly come through from Judaism and
into the early Church. Now this isn't just some lovely idea but comes from God himself who
then fulfils this in the Incarnation, the Greatest Sacrament, in coming to his people; i.e. Jesus
took on the form of human flesh, created matter, to redeem that very thing, Creation.
He used created matter [visible and real things] to become Salvation for the World.
This union of Nature and Grace is critical in the overall understanding of who we are and our
relationship to God. If we misunderstand the relationship between body and soul, matter and
spirit, we will fail to grasp the reality that the Word became Flesh. Jesus reconciles fallen
humanity [matter and spirit, body and soul] by uniting it to his Divinity: Jesus is the God-man.
The human being, created matter & spirit, is not evil, or entirely corrupted. Our nature is
fallen, yes, it is bent, but it is still good, because God has created it ... and he has also
redeemed it: Christ redeems every part of us: so that as we are transformed through his
grace throughout our lives [if we open ourselves to that] our whole being is being redeemed -
including our bodies.
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This theology [understanding of revelation] is extremely important; it is very holistic and is the
Truth. It is the way God has always worked. God's Grace always works through and beyond
the natural, never against it.
Grace elevates not divides the natural.
God uses natural things to show his presence e.g. in the Old Testament:
Water being parted by Moses at Red Sea
Manna in the desert for Jewish people
the Standard in the desert with snake on it for Moses.
the Star at this birth.
the Gentle Breeze in the Bush.
the Cloud.
the Fire by the tree
In the New Testament:
the person of Jesus in true Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity come on earth.
The Church has been born from this, a physical [from created matter] and mystical [spiritual]
institution and sign of Christ in the world. And from the Church comes the Seven Sacraments,
which are the great channels of God's Grace through his Church to his people. They are,
Eucharist - the Sacrifice of Calvary & Jesus present under the appearance of Bread
and Wine.
Baptism - the removal of original sin and the influx of God's Grace through the sign of
Water.
Marriage - Christ present in the union & sign of a Married Couple which signs and
points to the Trinity.
Holy Orders - special sign of Christ's presence in a consecrated Person or Priest.
Confirmation - anointing with Holy Oil to signify a persons adult decision to follow
Jesus.
Confession or Reconciliation - Christ present in the confession of sins to a Priest and
the sign of absolution of sins.
Anointing of the Sick - Christ present when a Priest anoints a sick person with Holy
Oil.
In all of these Sacraments, Christ is present in many ways and often simultaneously. Through
the Priest, the person receiving, and through the sign of what is taking place in the invisible
world. This is not superstitious, like using a magic potion, but is a visible sign of Christ's
presence and action of Grace.
The key difference between the Seven Sacraments and other sacramentals (holy objects,
creation etc...) is that sacramentals signify that grace that is available by them but do not
actually effect it. Whereas Sacraments actually effect and confer the Grace available through
them when celebrated correctly; according to the way that the Church has deemed them to
be.
The Sacraments signify what they effect, and effect what the signify;
That is, they sign and point to Jesus and effect what they sign; the out pouring of the Grace of
Christ.
Christ came to fulfil the Old Covenant, not do away with it.
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using blessed oil for anointing,
holy water for blessing,
washing of hands with water to signify God's cleansing,
lighting a blessed candle to signify Gods presence
This has been born out of many Old Testament traditions and the Law of Moses.
Christ came to fulfil the Old Covenant, not do away with it.
In the general use of the word sacramentum [visible form of invisible grace], creation itself is
sacramental because it points to God. God has left His signs all over it. We are also
sacramental because we reflect and point to the Eternal Creator. We are living temples of the
Holy Spirit. Just look at Mother Teresa.
There are other forms of this in the Church. They are also called sacramentals:
holy water,
scapulars,
a blessed crucifix or cross
relics from Saints
blessed objects...
They can all be used by the Lord to signify his grace, but they don't effect grace in the
same way the Seven Sacraments. [read more here].
Obviously, one must have a sincere and contrite heart for the action of God's Grace to be as
affective as it can be. This cause and effect of the Sacrament must always be accompanied
by the interior disposition of the heart. It's not just a ritualistic formula but must be lived in a
real and true way.
The Lord continues to see his creation is good, [i.e. not entirely corrupted] and uses it to bless
his people. There is a harmony in God's understanding and the way in which he visits his
people. The Lord builds on our Nature and pours out his Grace,
i.e. Grace elevates Nature....
He meets us in our humanity and reality, but raises our nature to a Divine Level in the Grace
of Christ. He regenerates us through His Death and Resurrection.
This doesn't discount that he can use other means [special revelation] to show his presence
too [and there have been many instances of this throughout the two thousand years of
Christianity].
But for everyday life in the Church his presence is denoted by everyday created matter which
signifies his Supernatural Grace being conferred behind the Sign [Sacrament] upon His
children.
The Lord of the Rings is in fact very Sacramental....!!
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The book itself, holds a presence which points and reflects something deeper and True. As
Tolkien maintains himself, the very nature of myth does this, it draws one into a deeper
understanding of life and existence: but it does so in pointing to the Christian understanding of
experience of life: it points to Him who has loved us beyond our comprehension.
We've already spoken about the sacramental effect of the music of the Elves... lets look at
them a bit more...
In the race of Elves we find this sacramental theme part of their makeup because they
represent in some ways an unfallen race. They are immediately in touch with the invisible
world by nature of who they are. There is no disunion between the Seen and Unseen, Natural
and Supernatural worlds for the Elves. They do not fear the Ring-Wraiths. Their
understanding and respect of nature is beautiful, where they can use some created thing to
signify a beyond-the-natural effect. The lembas and Rings of Power are examples of this.
They live in, about and beyond the natural elements [Rivendell and Lothlrien] and bring the
unseen world to the edge of reality. Lothlrien is almost a taste of paradise outside of time, or
the Garden of Eden where healing and rest is received.
Their heightened artistic ability also gives their creative instinct a supernatural feel. The
Silmarils are very indicative of this. They are called the Hallowed Jewels. And the mention of,
Elf minstrels being able to make appear that of which they sing...before the eyes of
those who listen is also artistically heightened; and once again ties in with the sacramental
sense of the sub-creating ability of the Elves. They enter into the greater Music of the Ainur as
willed by Eru and it effects the same reality. [LotR Appendix A p.1033]
In one his letters Tolkien wrote about the use of magic in his stories. He outlined how the
Elves use of magic is artistic and creative and often brings about a physical or real effect in
the world for usefulness and goodness.
Its object is Art not Power, sub-creation not domination... [Letters p.200 & p.146]
But the enemy's use of magic is for deceits and lies, domination and destruction.
Tolkien himself points out that magic in his stories,
is an inherent power not obtainable by man as such... [Letters p.199]
He deliberately did not describe in any depth how the supernatural things [or magic] were
achieved in Middle-earth precisely to remain in accordance with his Christian beliefs.
The Three Rings of Power are those of Air [sapphire], Water [diamond-like] and Fire [ruby or
red stone], all created things, which seems to be an amalgamation of pagan and biblical
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references. If one reads Revelation, there is talk of precious stones and tablets that God uses
to symbolize his Grace.
The Elven Rings of Power are used for producing good [they were never touched by Sauron]
and are symbolic of the name they hold and the stone they carry.
The Ring of Fire [red] is held by Gandalf, to be used to kindle and enflame all hearts in the
fight against Sauron.
The Ring of Adamant [mithril - diamond - water] is bourn by Galadriel and is used in
resistance to the passing of time and the movement of evil. Adamant is an old Greek word for
diamond, something that is extremely hard and often referred to as ice because it remains
cold due to its ability to diffuse light so well.
The Ring of Air [sapphire] is held by Elrond. The modern word sapphire is derived from the
ancient Latin term Sapphirus and the Greek Sappheiros [blue]. In ancient paganism, Sapphire
represents truth, sincerity and consistency and believed that the power of wisdom is
contained within this precious gemstone. Elrond carries this Ring is said to be wisest of old
Lore-Makers and profound in giving true counsel.
The box of dust gifted to Sam by Galadriel is a classic example of grace working through a
gift.
Sam says, But I'm sure the Lady would not like me to keep it all for my own garden,
now so many folk have suffered. [LotR p.1000]
Frodo replies, Use all the wits and knowledge you have of your own, Sam, and then
use the gift to help your work and better it. [LotR p.1000]
Sam demonstrates the correct and true use of a divine gift. He unselfishly thinks of others in
the use of it and reflects the responsible use of ones gifts or talents in conjunction with grace.
The Lady Galadriel confirms this and expounds the rewards for his unselfishness,
I hear that you have used my gift well. The Shire will be forever blessed and beloved.
[LotR p.1005]
Also interesting is the plant Athelas, otherwise named Kingsfoil. In an article written by
George Sayer, a personal friend of Tolkien, he describes a walk he took with Tolkien in the
woods near his home. Tolkien often pointed out plants and philologically described where
their names had evolved from and what their meanings were. [Celebration p.5-6]
One in particular was called Herba Benedicta - 'the blessed plant', which Tolkien said was
incorrectly translated into English as St Benedicts herb. Tolkien goes on to explain that in
years gone by Christian belief was that the plant had a special grace of protection from the
devil. He also points out that in ancient times, when picking celandine different variations of
Our Fathers and Hail Mary's were prayed and this was an example of Christian prayer
replacing the recitation of pagan runes. [Celebration p.5]
King Aragorn uses the Athelas in Minas Tirith when healing Faramir; he breaths of the leaves
then crushes them and places them in the water. The Christ-like symbolism is clear and has
similarities with the miracle performed by Jesus when he spits into some mud, makes a paste,
then smears it over the eyes of the blind man. Jesus himself uses created elements to
perform a miracle which continues the sacramental theme and also proves it further.
In all of these things Tolkien, once again has taken pagan imagery [myths] and used
them in giving a Christian message. This has been done before in the history of the
Church where certain pagan feasts were supplanted by Christian ones as Christianity
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became the religion of the region. Thus the Church continued the local traditions, but
replaced them with Truth & Light.
Another parallel are the cataclysmic events using created elements to deter evil and work
good:
the raising of the Bruinen river [close to Rivendell] by Elrond to wash away the Black
Riders. [this is yet another parallel of Biblical happenings, i.e. Moses parting the Red
Sea].
the earthquake that arises when Frodo destroys the One Ring is like the earthquake
at Golgotha when Jesus is crucified.
the Flooding of Isengard by water [created element] and hence it's cleansing, is very
biblical and memorial of the Great Flood.
the destruction and flooding of Beleriand in the first age after the long war against
Morgoth. [see the Silmarillion]. Once again like the Great Flood.
the huge tidal wave that engulfs the Island of Nmenor in the second age when it
they rebel against the Valar. Like the Tower of Babel and the Great Flood.

This harmony and metaphysical theme is one that is counter-acted by the theme of messing
with nature or playing God, as is depicted with Saruman and obviously Sauron.
Saruman devises and sub-creates a new race of Orcs. He shows in his speech to Gandalf
that he had become proud and arrogant. His study and knowledge of Ring-making lead him to
lust for power and dominate others. Disorder has entered his soul in a quest to become God-
like he creates his race of Orcs and destroys many thousands of trees near by in Fangorn
forest in the production of Industry.
Tolkien's theme is especially interesting as it is nature itself that rises up to destroy him.
Treebeard and the Ents are a very unexpected turn of events for Saruman. When one plays
with nature, the results can be very unpredictable as well as morally wrong.
...those who believe in a personal God and Creator do not think the universe itself
worshipful, though devoted study of it may be one of the ways of honouring Him...
[Letters p.400]

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WOMEN OF MIDDLE-EARTH:
The Lord of the Rings contains very few women characters.
The characterization and development of these women figures is fairly limited. But if one
considers the context and desired result of the story, this apparent lack can be better
understood; although it should be said that many consider the number of women and their
presentation to be exceptionally written.
It could be argued from an analytical and psychological point of view that 4 things influenced
Tolkien's writing of women characters.
1. The death of his mother when Tolkien was 12.
2. His marriage to Edith.
3. Mythic female personages from other stories.
4. His love and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
1. One could certainly argue that the loss of his mother and the resulting lack of a
motherly figure, led Tolkien to construct the image of an idealized and perfect woman
in his understanding and desire; especially if his lasting impression of her was one of
a martyr who died passing on the Faith to her children.
This is pure speculation of course, but is something that can occur when one loses a
parent or role model early in life. Obviously the reality of married life would have
tempered this attitude [as is also shown in his letters] but it could still have remained
embedded in his psyche.
Certainly the principle women in Middle-earth are of an ethereal beauty and nobility
and are willing to give either their realm, existence and life for what is at stake in
Middle-earth. Though this isn't always evident in the writing itself, they are passionate
and wilful which is shown by their actions. Based on the descriptions of Tolkien's
mother, these do seems in line with her character.
2. As mentioned earlier [The Man], Tolkien's writing of the love story of Beren and
Lthien and that of Aragorn and Arwen, seems to have been influenced by his
courtship with Edith Brat who became his wife. The trial suffered by both Beren and
Aragorn seems to be a romanticized and idealized reflection of Tolkien's own trial of
love for Edith when he was at university.
3. The Lord of the Rings and related back-history [Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales] was
intended to be a 'mythic saga', and creation of a world of legend and epic struggle.
The women personages in the story fall into this context and represent women of
royalty and power; women of stature and images of angelic purity, including owyn,
the Rohan woman who falls for Aragorn.
4. Tolkien, having been brought up close to an Oratory of Priests never lacked for
instruction and teaching in Catholic life and Christian doctrine. He held a love of Mary,
the Virgin Mother of God and had a strong devotion to her. As already mentioned
[see Allegory] he credited anything beautiful in his writing to her and wilfully
acknowledged her reflection in the character of Galadriel.
But what is interesting to note is the reflection of Mary in many of the prominent female
characters of the Lord of the Rings. And who are these characters?
Galadriel
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Arwen
Elbereth
Lthien
owyn - [all Elven save one].
Once again it is worth stressing that this not an attempt to make an direct analogy of Mary in
each of these characters but to point out some of parallels and reflections involved; including
some aspects of Marian tradition and Mary-like undercurrents that permeate them.
It is also important to note that Catholics do not worship Mary, but they venerate her
and honour her, just they would honour their parents. They can praise her in the
sense that she is praiseworthy for having responded to Gods call, in much the same
way that we can praise a child for some good work.
Mary cannot heal anybody herself or anything of the sort, only God can do that. She
can pray for these things. She can bless us with a Motherly Blessing that is a
particular grace God has given her, much like a mother or father blessing their
children before bedtime.
Tolkien once wrote of Galadriel;
I think it is true that I owe much of this character to Christian and Catholic teaching
and imagination about Mary... [Letters p.407]
But what is Catholic imagination about Mary? To fully appreciate similarities in Tolkien's
female characters and the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is worth considering what Catholicism
thinks of her.
The early Church understood Marys place to be special and more than just a human
vessel in which God came to his people [see here for the Church Fathers]. The
Church believes that Mary was consecrated and set aside by the Lord for this special
task. She was preserved from sin and kept immaculate by a special grace so that the
Lord, the Holy of Holies could become flesh in and from her. This special grace is the
salvation offered to her by her Son Jesus, but in advance. Remember God is out of
space and time.
Mary did nothing to merit this predilection but it was graced to her like every other
grace any one of us receives. She was born in the natural way but at her conception
the Lord placed 'enmity between her and the devil' [Gen 3:15]. This is called the
Immaculate Conception and has resulted in the most Sublime or Exalted creature
God has created, Mary. This is different from the Incarnation, which is Begotten God
taking flesh and becoming Man, the God-Man, i.e. Jesus.
At the Annunciation when the angel came to Mary announcing that she would
become pregnant from the Holy Spirit with the Son of God, she said yes to God and
co-operated with the grace offered to her that would fulfil that plan of salvation. Mary
still had her free-will even though she was without sin, this is why it is scandalous and
astonishing that God's plan of Salvation would hinge upon the free will of one his
creatures. [read more here].
She is the mother of Jesus, and mother of his physical body [he took flesh from her];
and in a spiritual way, she is the Mother of the Body of Christ, the Church; hence she
is the spiritual mother of all of us.
Just as Jesus is the Second Adam, righting his wrong, Mary is the Second Eve,
saying yes to God and righting Eves no. Mary's role didn't just end after she gave
birth to Jesus but continued through to His crucifixion and still continues today. This is
because she has played and is still playing an important role in the Restoration &
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Salvation of Mankind. She is the Mother of Church and is referred to as the Mediatrix
of All Graces. This is because the Source of All Grace, Jesus, has come through her.
It is interesting to note that 'Eve' means Mother of All ; and Mary is the Mother of All
in the New Covenant sealed in Christ's blood. Because she is the Second Eve, she
received a grace that meant her existence started in the same condition as the First
Eve; i.e. she was without original sin and had unbroken union with God. [read more
on Mary here].
In the book of Genesis, God promises a Redeemer right after the Fall of Man, when
he says to the serpent, 'I will put enmity between you and the woman, between
her offspring and your offspring.' [Gen 3:15]. This is seen as a direct precursor to
the Jesus and Mary relationship, where both will be kept sinless and fulfil God's plan
for the salvation and restoration of the world.
Because she is the Second Eve, Mary is often referred to and written as the woman
in the scriptures e.g.
Woman is her name because she is taken out of man. [Gen 2:23].
I will put enmity between you and the woman. [Gen 3:15].
Woman clothed with the Sun. [Rev 12:1].
'Woman this is your son, son this is your mother.' [John 19:26-27].
'Woman my time has not yet come.' [John 2:4].
She has a particular place in the Throne room of God and can intercede [pray] for all
of us before the Lord.
So where is all this in the Lord of the Rings. It's not all there but there are hints and similar
reflections in the woman characters.

Galadriel:

Galadriel is the most obvious woman who is linked to Marian themes.
Galadriel is a queenly figure of the Elves [though not exactly a queen], with great wisdom and
foresight. The descriptions of Galadriel given in the Lord of the Rings are:
Very tall they were, and the Lady no less tall than the Lord; and they were grave and
beautiful. They were clad wholly in white; and the hair of the Lady was of deep gold,
and the hair of the Lord Celeborn was of silver long and bright; but no sign of age was
upon them, unless it were in the depths of their eyes; for these were keen as lances in
the starlight, and yet profound, the wells of deep memory. [LotR p.345]
...and behind him stood Galadriel, tall and white; a circlet of golden flowers was in her
hair, and in her hand she held a harp, and she sang... [LotR p.363]
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Beautiful she is, sir! Lovely! Sometimes like a great tree in flower, sometimes like a
white daffadowndilly, small and slender like. Hard as diamonds, soft as moonlight.
Warm as sunlight, cold as frost in the stars. [LotR p.664]
But Galadriel sat upon a white palfrey and was robed all in glimmering white, like
clouds about the moon; for she herself seemed to shine with a soft light. On her finger
was Nenya, the ring wrought of mithril that bore a single white stone flickering like a
frosty star. [LotR p.1005]
Frodo took the phial, and for a moment it shone between them, he saw her standing
like a queen, great and beautiful [LotR p.367]
She is immortal and her name in Quenyan [Elvish] means, Lady of Light. [arda]
Her beauty is of great renown and her wisdom places her among the Wise of Middle-earth.
She has long been a prominent foe of Sauron and like Gandalf understands the times in
which she lives.
She tests the hearts of the Fellowship when they enter Lrien, searching to understand their
motives and desires and lead them into deeper truth.
It is interesting to note that Lothlrien is described to be without stain in the Lord of the
Rings [something that is dealt with in First and Last Things] and Tolkien himself mentions that
Galadriel was unstained, she had committed no evil deeds. [Letters p.341 & p.431]
This is also mentioned by Aragorn when speaking to Boromir;
Speak no evil of the Lady Galadriel! You know not what you say. There is in her and in
this land, no evil. [LotR p.349]
This is in-line with the Immaculate Conception of Mary [Immaculate means unstained]. In fact
the whole vision of Lothlrien and Galadriel is almost like a beatific vision of the Immaculate
World to come.
Through her gentleness and kindness, Galadriel brings about a change of heart in Gimli the
Dwarf towards the Elves as he falls in love with her. Gimli's first encounter with Galadriel is
powerful for him,
And the dwarf, hearing the names given in his own ancient tongue, looked up and met
her eyes; and it seemed to him that he looked into the heart of an enemy and saw there
love and understanding. Wonder came into his face, and then he smiled in answer.
[LotR p.347]
He is overcome by her beauty and gentleness; and regarding the strand of hair that he
requests, he says he will;
...treasure it, Lady, in memory of your words to me at our first meeting. [LotR p.367]
Gimli is stricken by her beauty and love at their first meeting.
Henceforth, I will call nothing fair unless it be her gift to me. [LotR p.369]
He is referring to the three strands of her hair she bequeathed to him. Her beauty,
understanding and gentleness helps in his conversion and reconciliation with the Elves as a
whole. This aspect of Galadriel is very Marian. Many of the great Saints of the Church have
written of such encounters with the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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Again through her gentleness and love Frodo opens up to her and offers the One Ring to her
keeping. With this offer she undergoes a temptation of sorts but rises to the challenge and
remains merely Galadriel,
I pass the test. I will diminish and go into the West. [LotR p.357]
Her humility here is evident, and along with her wisdom, is the chief reason she overcomes
the temptation. She mentions the bitterness herself and the Elves will encounter if Frodo
succeeds in the quest because the Three Elven Rings will pass away. She is willing to
sacrifice their abode and works, for the deliverance of Middle-earth.
She is misunderstood by the outside world and is referred to as the, Sorceress of the
Golden Wood by Boromir and Eomer; and also the, Mistress of Magic by Faramir; which
is similar to the perception in today's world towards Mary, especially by certain Christian
groups that erroneously think that Catholics worship Mary and they consider praying to her as
sorcery or occultism. [LotR p.422 & p.652]
She is sometimes referred to as the Lady of the Golden Wood or as the Lady of the
Galadhrim, and has many titles which is similar to many of the names accorded to Mary
[e.g. Our Lady of Gap, Our Lady of Lourdes etc...] and at one particular point where the Three
Hunters [Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas] are pursuing the Orcs across the plains of Rohan.
Tolkien writes;
...often in their hearts, they thanked the Lady of Lrien for the gift of Lembas. [LotR
p.417]
This has a two-fold symbolism here. One that is very Eucharistic in reference to the Lembas
and one that is also very similar to a prayer in the Catholic Church which thanks Mary for the
gift of her Son in the Eucharist, which is Jesus in the form of the Bread and Wine. And as
already mentioned, the Lembas has very distinctive Eucharistic overtones [see The Lembas].
Mary is often referred to as the Mother or Woman of the Eucharist.
Aragorn actually mentions to Eomer;
We have passed through Lothlrien and the gifts and favour of the Lady go with us.
[LotR p.422]
Galadriel also gives to Frodo the Phial of Galadriel [or Star-Glass] which contains Light
from the Star of Erendil, the most beloved Evening/Morning Star of the elves.
Erendil was Half-Elven [i.e. mixed parents - Elven and Man] from the First Age of Middle-
earth and he was the one who, acting on behalf of both races, Elves and Men, [the Elves
carry elements of an unfallen race and Men are easier to corrupt] was allowed to sail into the
West to beg the forgiveness and help of the Angelic Powers in the destructive war against the
first Dark Lord, Morgoth.
So in a way Erendil is a very salvific figure, much like Jesus who in Divine and Human form
stands in Heaven beseeching the Father to forgive in his name.
Erendil took with him one of the Silmarils, the Holy Jewels of the Elves that were made in
the Undying Lands [Blessed Realm] at the beginning of Middle-earth. These Jewels held the
Light of the Two Trees in the Blessed Realm before they were defiled and killed by Morgoth.
Morgoth stole the Jewels and fled to Middle-earth. The Elves then forsook the Blessed
Realm, passed into exile and pursued Morgoth to reclaim the Silmarils; and what ensued was
a long and bitter war of the Elves against Morgoth.
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Erendil, bearing the Silmaril on his brow, was then set to sail in the vault of heaven by the
Valar [Angelic Powers] as a sign of hope to all those who still laboured in the fight against evil
in Middle-earth. It is the Light of this Silmaril that is captured in the Phial that Galadriel gives
to Frodo. It is the light of the Phial that has a specific power in defeating Shelob the Spider,
and allowing Frodo and Sam to pass the Watchers in Cirith Ungol.
Galadriel passes on to Frodo, Light from the Star of Erendil; and this Silmaril possesses
Light from the Two Trees that gave Light to the Blessed Realm - i.e. Galadriel gives to Frodo
a special Light or Grace from the Blessed Realm to help him defeat evil.
This role of Galadriel being an instrument of providing hope, favour and victory in the struggle
against evil is also similar to that of Mary in the Pilgrimage of Faith of the Church and it's
faithful here on earth. She is often referred to as the Guiding Star and the imagery of the
Church being a boat on a voyage in dangerous seas, with Mary helping in bringing the boat
home to safe shores is very traditional, spiritual and theological.
To further illustrate this point is a prayer-like request Sam makes to Galadriel in Mordor;
If only the Lady could see or hear us, I'd say to her: 'Your Ladyship, all we want is
light and water: just clean water and plain daylight, better than jewels, begging your
pardon.' [LotR p.897]
Later this request is fulfilled and Sam exclaims,
If ever I see the Lady again I will tell her! Light and now water! [LotR p.899]
Another interesting parallel is that of the Elven Cloaks that Galadriel also gifts to the entire
Fellowship. In 495 A.D. England, Mary appeared in an apparition to Saint Simon Stock on Mt
Carmel and gave to him a 'scapular' made by her and her angels. The scapular is basically a
cloth that is worn [around the neck] as a sign of consecration to Our Lord or Our Lady. There
are many different types of scapulars in existence throughout the Church, but this one is the
most well known and particular as it was woven and given by Mary herself. She said to St
Simon Stock,
Take, beloved son, this scapular of thy order as a badge of my confraternity and for
thee and all Carmelites a special sign of grace; whoever dies in this garment, will not
suffer everlasting fire. It is the sign of salvation, a safeguard in dangers, a pledge of
peace and of the covenant ". [read more here].
Mary instructed St Simon that whoever wore the scapular and lived a holy life would be
protected from the devil. [This has happened before in the history of Christianity; the Chrism
oil for anointing the Kings in France was reported to have come from directly the Blessed
Virgin Mary and carry a special anointing].
Tolkien most certainly would have known of this Apparition to St Simon Stock.
Of the Elven Cloaks, the Elves of Lrien exclaim;
You are indeed high in the favour of the Lady. For she herself and her maidens wove
this stuff. [LotR p.361]
And of the cloaks Sam later says, ...it was made by the Lady. [LotR p.897]
The Elves who give them exclaim, ...you will find them a great aide in keeping out of the
sight of unfriendly eyes. [LotR p.361]
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These quotes provide a very similar link to Mary making the Scapular and it providing a
special grace. The Elven Cloaks gave a special power of protection to the Fellowship on more
than one occasion in the Lord of the Rings;
when the Fellowship are on the Great River and the Orcs fired arrows at them;
It was dark, but not too dark for the night eyes of Orcs, and in the star glimmer
they must have offered their cunning foes some mark, unless it was the grey
cloaks of Lrien and the grey timber of the elf-wrought boats that defeated the
archers of Mordor. [LotR p.377]
when the hobbits Merry and Pippin are escaping the Uruk-Hai who captured them;
...but its rider did not see them, lying covered in their Elven-cloaks, too
crushed for the moment, and too afraid to move. [LotR p.447]
when the Three Hunters are pursuing the captured Merry and Pippin;
Over the wide solitude they passed and their Elven-cloaks faded against the
background of the grey-green fields; even in the cool sunlight of midday few
but elvish eyes would have marked them, until they were close at hand. [LotR
p.417]
when Eomer speaks to Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas;
And strange too is your raiment. Have you sprung from the grass?
How did you escape our sight? Are you Elvish folk? [LotR p.422].
when Frodo and Sam are hiding from Gollum;
It's hard for even friendly eyes to see these Elven-cloaks. [LotR p.599]
when Frodo, Sam and Gollum are in the dead Marshes;
Not even an eagle poised against the sun would have marked the hobbits
sitting there, under the weight of doom, silent, not moving, shrouded in their
grey cloaks. [LotR p.630]
Galadriel carries one of the Three Elven Rings; Nenya - the Ring of Adamant ", [or Ring of
Water].
Adamant is an old Greek word for diamond, one of the hardest and resistant and purest
substances known to man; and also ties in with the fact that the Ring Nenya is wrought of
Mithril, the hardest and most precious substance existing in Middle-earth. Her ring is
described as;
...bearing a single stone flickering like a frosty star. [LotR p.1005]
Diamonds are often referred to as cold or frosty because they diffuse light so well and remain
cool.
The ring Nenya mirrors Galadriel's role as she epitomizes the resistance of the Elves against
evil. She is extremely pure and is a reflection of good. Mary is sometimes referred to as the
Jewel of the Father and is the most pure example of an open heart to God who reflects and
transmits His light. She is also the complete reflection of the victory of God over the devil
where she crushes the head of the Serpent [see Elbereth below].
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Elbereth:

Elbereth is Queen of the Blessed Realm and is one of the immortal angelic beings
existing before the making of Middle-earth. She dwelt in the Blessed Realm. She is one of the
Valar; and the Elves having great reverence for her, sung many hymns and songs in her
honour. [Letters p.206, footnote]
In the Lord of the Rings there are three or four specific references to Elbereth. The name
itself in Elvish means Star Lady, Lady of the Stars or Queen of the Stars. This is due to the
fact that in the creation of Middle-earth she helped in the casting of the Stars in the night sky.
[arda]
What is interesting is that she doesn't create the Stars but uses the due from one of the Two
Trees that gave Light to the Blessed Realm.
Her other names are: Gilthoniel which means The Kindler, and Varda which means Sublime
or the Exalted. [LotR Index p.1117]
The first major mention of Elbereth in the Lord of the Rings is when Frodo, Pippin and Sam
encounter the High Elves leaving Middle-earth on the outskirts of the Shire. They hear the
Elves singing a song to Elbereth, which runs as follows:
Snow-white! Snow-white! O Lady clear!
O Queen beyond the Western Seas!
O Light to us that wander here
Amid the world of woven trees
Gilthoniel! O Elbereth!
Clear are thy eyes and bright thy breath
Snow-white! Snow-white! We sing to thee
In a far land beyond the sea
O stars that in the Sunless Year
With shining hand by her were sown,
In windy fields now bright and clear
We see your silver blossom blown!
O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!
We still remember, we who dwell
In this far land beneath the trees
Thy Starlight on the Western Seas
[LotR p.78]
Frodo mentions, These are High Elves! They spoke the name of Elbereth. For those
familiar with Catholic hymns, this song to Elbereth is extremely evocative of and similar to
many songs in honour of Mary. One in particular;
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Hail Queen of Heaven, the ocean star,
Guide of the wanderer here below:
Thrown on life's surge, we claim thy care -
save us from peril and from woe.
Mother of Christ, star of the sea,
Pray for the wanderer, pray for me.
Sojourners in this vale of tears,
To thee, Blest advocate, we cry;
Pity our sorrows, calm our fears,
And soothe with hope our misery.
Refuge in grief, star of the sea,
Pray for the mourner, pray for me.
Once again, the theme of a guiding star is evident and the similarity of devotion and
reverence is clear. Another hymn to Mary is quoted below.
Gentle woman, quiet light,
Morning star, so strong and bright;
Gentle Mother, peaceful dove,
Teach us wisdom, teach us love.
At another juncture, this time in Rivendell in the Hall of Fire, Sam over hears a song sung in
Elvish to Elbereth which translates roughly as:
O Elbereth Star-kindler!
Glittering white shines down, sparkling like jewels,
from the glorious firmament of the star-host!
To remote lands, gazing afar,
from the tree-woven lands of Middle-earth,
Everwhite, to thee I will chant
on this side of ocean, here on this side of the Great Ocean!
['Aerlinn in Edhil o Imladris' - Holy Song [hymn] of the Elves of Rivendell ]
[LotR p.231]
Once again the similarities are striking and another Catholic hymn is certainly interesting to
look at:
Hail holy Queen, Mother of Mercy
Our life, our sweetness and our hope!
To thee do we cry poor banished children of Eve
To thee do we send up sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears
Turn, then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy towards us;
and after this our exile,
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb Jesus;
O clement, o loving, O sweet Virgin Mary
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God
that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ
And from the Hail Mary prayer;
Holy Mary, Mother of God
Pray for us sinners now
and at the hour of our death
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In the Biblical parabolic story of creation, God promises Man a Saviour the moment
he falls. Satan is defeated by Jesus. But also Mary has defeated Satan, by co-
operating with God's grace. For this reason Satan hates Mary. She is human, and is
a woman, but defeats Satan in her own life because she has been accorded a special
grace; that of the enmity between her and the Devil; and therefore plays a co-
participating role if the Order of Salvation.
In Catholic imagery, statues of Mary are often shown with the snake [Satan] crushed
under her foot at the base of the statue. There are many instances in the history of
the Church, where during prayers of deliverance, the Rosary [a contemplative prayer
to Jesus through Mary] has been prayed to help in the casting out of spirits; and the
demons have reacted violently screaming 'No not that!'.
At the beginning of the Silmarillion, Tolkien outlines how Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, feared
Elbereth above all the other Valar;
Too great is her beauty to be declared in the words of Men or Elves; for the light of
Ilvatar lives still in her face. In light is her power and her joy... for Melkor [Morgoth]
she knew from before the making of the Music and rejected him, and he hated her, and
feared her more than all others whom Eru made... [Sil p.16]
In the Lord of the Rings when Frodo is attacked by the RingWraith[s] on Weathertop, he tries
to stab him and hears himself crying out the name;
O Elbereth! Gilthoniel! [LotR p.191]
Aragorn later comments that Frodo's sword wouldn't have done him much harm but;
...more deadly to him was the name of Elbereth. [LotR p.193]
This Good vs Evil order in the Lord of the Rings where the Wraiths feared the name of
Elbereth ties in with the theme of Grace in Marian spirituality and the hatred of the devil
towards Mary.
As the Fellowship paddles the Great River; Legolas sighs, Elbereth Gilthoniel! just before
he looses his bow and fells the Winged steed of the RingWraith. [LotR p.378]
In similar reference is the password Sam uses when Frodo is captured in the Tower of Cirith
Ungol:
"...and don't let it down till you hear me call the password. Elbereth I'll call. What the
Elves say. No orc would say that. [LotR p.891]
One beautiful passage demonstrating the power in the names of Elbereth and Galadriel is
when Sam is about to be attacked by Shelob.
Even as Sam himself crouched looking at her, seeing his death in her eyes, a thought
came to him, as if some remote voice had spoken, and he fumbled in his breast with
his left hand, and found what he sought: cold and hard and solid it seemed to his
touch in a phantom world of horror, the Phial of Galadriel.
Galadriel! he said faintly, and then he heard voices far off but clear: the crying of the
Elves as they walked under the stars in the beloved shadows of the Shire, and the
music of the Elves as it came through his sleep in the Hall of Fire in the house of
Elrond.
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Gilthoniel A Elbereth!
And then his tongue was loosed and his voice cried in a language which he did not
know...
A Elbereth Gilthoniel O Elbereth Starkindler!
o menel palan-diriel, from heaven gazing-afar,
le nallon si di'nguruthos! to thee I cry now in the shadow of death!
A tiro nin, Fanuilos! " O look towards me, Everwhite! "
And with that he staggered to his feet and was Samwise the hobbit, Hamfast's son,
again.
As if his indomitable spirit had set its potency in motion, the glass blazed forth
suddenly like a white torch in his hand. It flamed like a star that leaping from the
firmament sears the dark air with intolerable light. No such terror out of heaven had
ever burned into Shelob's face before.... [LotR p.712]
Sam's invocation [a description Tolkien himself used in referring to it] is very reminiscent of
Marian prayers - 'I cry to thee now in the shadow of death! O look towards me'. Certainly the
way in which he finds himself speaking the words is similar to speaking in tongues, and also
that of receiving a Grace from above. The light that blazes forth from the Phial after the
invocation is in line with the Order of Grace, as if Elbereth herself helps Sam in displaying the
Light from the Blessed Realm [as captured in the Phial].
An important note on Elbereth is her blessing of the Silmarils in Valinor [the Blessed Realm]
so that any unclean flesh that touched them would burn [arda]. The Phial displayed the Light
from the Silmaril and it burns into Shelob's eyes.
Another example of this is when Frodo and Sam are escaping the Tower of Cirith Ungol. At
the Gates of the Tower are two Watchers that hold the power of entry or exit; Sam uses the
Phial of Galadriel and the Name of Elbereth to break the power and pass the hidden barrier.
He cries out, O Elbereth Gilthoniel.
For why he did not know, his thought sprang suddenly back to the Elves in the Shire,
and the song that drove away the Black Riders in the trees. [LotR p.894]

owyn:

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The character of owyn also reflects part of the already stated Catholic Marian tradition and
belief of the victory of Mary, by the Grace of God, over the devil.
owyn kills the Witch-King - with the help of Merry.
But owyn fulfils a prophecy in Middle-earth that the Witch-King [chief of the evil Ring-
Wraiths] would not die by the hand of man. And it is interesting to note that in the text of the
Lord of the Rings, Tolkien draws attention to this fact. [LotR Appendix 3]. Tolkien writes;
Hinder me? Thou foul. No living man may hinder me "
But no living man am I. You look upon a woman....
The winger creature screamed at her, but the Ringwraith
made no answer, and was silent, as if in sudden doubt.
[LotR p.823]
Once again, Tolkien seems to use similar imagery from Catholic tradition.

Lthien:


On J.R.R. and Edith Tolkien's tombstone, an inscription reads;
Edith Mary Tolkien, Lthien, 1889-1971.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Beren, 1892-1973.
Tolkien considered his love and relationship with Edith akin to the love story of Beren and
Lthien. Though not specifically in the Lord of the Rings, Lthien is mentioned a couple of
times and foreshadows Arwen and her fate.
The love story of Beren and Lthien is one of 'light and darkness and human love'
[Celebration p.23] and is one of the most prominent stories in the Silmarillion.
Beren was a mortal man and Lthien was the daughter of Melian and Thingol, an Elven King
from the First Age. Upon escaping the enemies and wilds of the north, Beren stumbles into
the Hidden Kingdom of Doriath where he espies the 'most beautiful child of Ilvatar' [the
Silmarillion], Lthien, dancing among the trees of the forest. Enchanted, he falls in love with
her and eventually, she with him.
Thingol, her father, unimpressed by the mortal suitor for his immortal Elven daughter, sets an
impossible task before Beren so as to be rid of him. He requests that Beren bring him one of
the Silmarils [hallowed Jewels of the Elves] from the crown by Morgoth [the first Dark Lord].
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Beren agrees and sets out on this suicide mission but is followed by Lthien. Soon he is
ensnared by werewolves and is held captive by Sauron [a servant of Morgoth at the time] but
she rescues him with the help of Huan, the hound [wolf] of the Valar.
Through Lthien's powers, they passed the gates of Angband, and the great wolf
Carcharoth that guarded them. Coming before the Dark Throne itself, she wove a spell
that put Morgoth and his court into a deep sleep, and Beren cut a Silmaril from the Iron
Crown. Returning to the gates, they found that Carcharoth barred their escape. Beren
held up the hallowed Jewel to protect them, but the monstrous wolf bit off his hand,
and with it consumed the Silmaril. But the Silmarils were blessed by Varda herself, so
that any unclean flesh that touched them would be withered and burnt. The wolf's
innards were consumed with that burning, and it ran howling into the south.
Lthien healed Beren and they came at last back to her father's halls at Menegroth.
There they heard tidings that the maddened wolf had entered Thingol's realm, and
Beren set out with the King to the Hunting of the Wolf. After nightfall they returned; the
wolf was slain and the Silmaril recovered, but Beren was wounded mortally. So he
passed away, and soon after Lthien too wasted of grief.
Their spirits were gathered in the Halls of Mandos in the Uttermost West of the World,
and there Lthien sang a song of such extraordinary power and beauty that it moved
even the implacable heart of Mandos himself. So she was granted a unique fate, to
become mortal and return to Middle-earth with Beren, where they dwelt for a time in
happiness on the green island of Tol Galen in the River Adurant. [arda]
Lthien obtains a brief respite says Tolkien [Letters p.193]. She petitions with love and
receives a special grace.
Lthien is very symbolic of the role of Mary [and also that of Divine Grace] in this story. She
follows Beren into darkness to help him on his quest and retrieve him. Her singing protects
Beren from Morgoth and lulls him into a slumber. She goes before the Archangels of Middle-
earth to petition them for a special grace in favour of Beren as he is returned from death by
her prayer to them. She is the 'most beautiful child of Ilvatar' much like that of Mary being the
most sublime creation of the Father.
She is a precursor to Arwen, with her free-choice in choosing mortality to be with Beren, her
love. She sacrifices all for him and trusts in the Creator in the unknown step of doing this.
After Aragorn becomes King, the Reverence of God is returned in the Nmenorean Kingdom
[Gondor]. Tolkien mentions this in one of his letters: The lineal priest Kings of whom
Lthien was the Blessed foremother are restored and the worship of God would be
renewed in Gondor. [Letters p.206-207]
This is because, from her comes the Nmenorean people, from whom will emerge the True
King of Men and Renewer [Envinyatar]. Lthien makes a great sacrifice so she is linked to the
priestly and kingly roles in Nmenor. Tolkien describes how the Kingship and Priestly role are
one and same in Nmenorean understanding.
She is the 'Blessed foremother' of the line of Nmenorean Priests/Kings that offer worship to
Eru, the One God. The Marian reflection here is striking.



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Arwen:

Arwen's part in the Lord of the Rings is limited to just a few pages, but if one reads Appendix
A and the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen, one catches a glimpse of the sacrifice that Arwen
makes in loving and committing herself to Aragorn, 'the greatest traveller the world had
known.' [arda]
There are Three Unions of Elves and Men.
Tuor and Idril [who produced Erendil].
Beren and Lthien.
Aragorn and Arwen.
Each of these unions is critical to the fulfilment and fate of the Race of Men.
Tolkien, on more than one occasion, draws attention to the parallel between Arwen and
Lthien. They play similar parts in fulfilling the Plan of the Creator in the overall mythology for
Middle-earth and Arwen is a type of renewal of the character of Lthien.
Further on, it will be discussed how the character of Arwen carries Marian parallels, but
discussion is needed on these aspects of Mary to develop them later in Arwen.
Mary has always been attributed many titles and names that are indicative and
reflective of her role and place. Mary is the 'Jewel of the Father; she is the 'Perfect
Woman', the 'Morning Star'. Another name accorded to her is that of 'Arc of the
Covenant'. [Go here to read many other names].
The name 'Ark of the Covenant' is from the fact that Mary bore God in her womb
much like the Ark carrying the Presence of God in the Old Testament. And in fact, in
the writing of the gospel story of the Annunciation [the Angel coming to Mary], the
same language in the original Greek is used for Mary as the Ark of the Covenant,
the presence of the most high overshadowed her, much like the language used
in the Old Testament when referring to the Ark.
It also brings up the mystery of Mary and the Church being inextricably linked in
imagery and life. Mary is the Mother of the Church and its model. She is the first
disciple. But the Church also carries the imagery of a Mother to all the faithful who
follow Christ.
Just as Mary carried Jesus in her womb, so also the Church carries the Presence of
Jesus in the Tabernacle, found in every Catholic Church. In many ways the Church
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represents the virginal womb of Mary and vice versa, where believers can go to find
love and be united with Jesus. There is a beautiful parallel in making the sign of the
Cross with Holy Water [an especially blessed saline solution] when one enters a
Catholic Church that is symbolic of the saline solution found in a mothers womb.
When entering a Church one is entering a Mother who cares for her children and one
mystically enters the womb of Mary to be united with Jesus.
In fact the Second [New] Eve theme is especially strong between the both of them.
Mary's role as the Second Eve has already been explained [First and Last Things],
but the Church is also the Second Eve. When Adam said to God that he was alone,
God put him into a deep sleep, opened his side, took a rib and created Eve. Jesus is
the New Adam, and similarly, he falls asleep on the Cross and his side is opened by
the soldiers lance, from where flowed Blood and Water; i.e. Eucharist and Baptism.
These two Sacraments are the Birth of the Church, the New Eve. The Church is the
Mother of All, just like Mary.
Arwen is described as the perfect woman;
...and there sat a lady fair to look upon, and so like was she in form of womanhood to
Elrond that Frodo guessed that she was one of his close kindred. Young she was and
yet not so. The braids of her dark hair were touched by no frost; her white arms and
clear face were flawless and smooth, and the light of the stars was in her bright eyes,
grey as a cloudless night, yet queenly she looked, and thought and knowledge was in
her glance, as of one who has known many things that the years bring. Above her brow
her head was covered with a cap of silver lace netted with small gems, glittering white;
but her soft grey raiment had no ornament save a girdle of leaves wrought in silver...
[LotR p.221]
So it was that Frodo saw her whom few mortals had yet seen; Arwen, daughter of
Elrond, in whom it was said that the likeness of Lthien had come on earth again; and
she was called Undmiel, for she was the Evenstar of her people... [LotR p.221]
Such loveliness in living thing Frodo had never seen before nor imagined in his
mind... [LotR p.221]
The name Arwen means 'Noble Maiden' in Elvish. In comparing Arwen with Lthien [above],
Tolkien shows her beauty, but also her role to come.
The Encyclopedia of Arda says: The title of Arwen, Queen to Aragorn II Elessar, refers
not only to her radiant beauty, but also to her descent: the evening star was the light of
the last Silmaril, bound to the brow of her grandfather Erendil. [arda]
The Evening and Morning Stars:
In the Book of Revelation, in John's vision there is a description:
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under
her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars. [Rev 12:1].
In Catholic understanding this is another reference to Mary [and also that of the Church] and
her role in the end times. Notice the symbolism with the Sun, Moon and Stars.
In many of the apparitions of Mary in the 20th century [and also those of earlier times], Mary
has appeared in this manner as described in Revelation. [Go here to read about Marian
apparitions of the 20th century].
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The description of Galadriel and Arwen at the end of the Lord of the Rings are certainly
evocative of this description of Mary in Revelation;
Galadriel, ...was robed all in glimmering white, like clouds about the moon; for she
herself seemed to shine with a soft light. [LotR p.1005]
And in another text regarding Arwen, Tolkien describes a similar scene;
And Frodo saw her come glimmering in the evening, with stars on her brow and a
sweet fragrance about her, was moved with great wonder... [LotR p.951]
Upon seeing her, Frodo then says to Gandalf;
At last I understand why we have waited! This is the ending. Now not only day shall
be beloved but night too shall be beautiful and blessed and all fear pass away. [LotR
p.951]
[The star theme of night and day is also mentioned with Eomer's comment about the two
women: that of Arwen being of the Evening and Galadriel being for the Morning.]
After the destruction of the Ring and the Restoration of the Kingdom of Men, now both Day
and Night is beautiful. Evil has passed away. In the overall mythology, night and dark were to
be feared by the free races. Similarly, the Orcs wouldn't travel under the sun; Gollum hated
the sunlight and moonlight. As already mentioned, this is because these sources of light for
Middle-earth were all created from some element coming from the Two Trees in the Blessed
Realm. The sunlight, moonlight and starlight are all images and symbols of the source of
good in Middle-earth.
Tolkien writes of Arwen;
...it was said that the likeness of Lthien had come on earth again. [LotR p.221]
Arwen is like a second Lthien, and takes Galadriel's place in Middle-earth, just as Mary is
the second Eve, and renews her role as the Mother of All. With the passing of evil, the night
now holds no fear, and Arwen's place comes to the fore.
Arwen makes a free choice, renounces her right to immortality and sacrifices a life with her
people. She cleaves to Aragorn, the King come again, the True King, and in doing so helps
restore the Kingdom of Men. She becomes the Queen of the Re-United Kingdom in the White
City of Minas Tirith.
The Second Eve theme is current here as she plays a vital role in the plan of restoration for
the Noble Kingdom of Nmenor [Gondor and Arnor] the one Kingdom of Men who gave
reverence to Eru [Ilvatar], the One God.
The part of Lthien and then that of Arwen, are all part of the;
Divine Plan for the ennoblement of the race of Men: just as Mary is critical in the Plan of
Salvation. [Letters p.194]
He also mentions that it was Arwen who suggested that Frodo go over the Sea to the
Undying Lands; ...what is meant is that it was Arwen who first thought of sending
Frodo into the West, and put in a plea for him to Gandalf [direct or through Galadriel, or
both], and she used her own renunciation of the right to go West as an argument. Her
renunciation and suffering were related to and enmeshed with Frodo's [suffering]: both
were parts of a plan for the regeneration of the state of Men.
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Her prayer might therefore be especially effective, and her plan have a certain equity
of exchange... [Letters p.327 - footnote]
She sacrifices and offers. Her sacrifice bears beautiful fruit for Frodo who is allowed to pass
over the Sea to the Undying Lands. Her suffering and love purchases a special grace for
Frodo, just like Mary who suffered for Humanity [like her Son Jesus], and it bears special fruit
for her children. Frodo is an 'everyman' hero that in some way represents all of us.
This sacrifice and relationship of Arwen to Frodo is foreshadowed; ...Frodo halted for a
moment, looking back. Elrond was in his chair and the fire was on his face like
summer-light upon the trees. Near him sat the Lady Arwen. To his surprise Frodo saw
that Aragorn stood beside her; his dark cloak was thrown back, and he seemed to be
clad in Elven-mail, and a star shone on his breast. They spoke together, and then
suddenly it seemed to Frodo that Arwen turned towards him, and the light of her eyes
fell on him from afar and pierced his heart. [LotR p.232]
She makes a great sacrifice and in the end Arwens soul is pierced by a sword of sorrow and
bitterness as Aragorn departs Middle-earth. It was bitter for her to receive the fate she had
chosen but she remained faithful to her decision.
Mary is also an example of faithfulness, purity, love and true beauty. In giving her son
Jesus over to the Fathers will for the redemption of the world, a sword pierced her
soul [Luke 2:35] and she suffered immensely seeing him die.
As God has gifted his Son to us, so also has Mary, and in doing so, she also
participates in the gift to us of the Eucharist, the True Presence of Jesus in the Bread
and Wine. When Jesus died upon the cross [with Mary watching at its foot] his side
was pierced by the soldiers lance, and water and blood flowed out.
This is a symbol of the great Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist which flow
from Christ's heart. Mary was there still offering her yes to the Father. There is a
particular spiritual mystery in Marys presence at the altar of the Mass, where she
stands at the foot of the Cross [the sacrifice of the Cross is made present on the alter]
and continues to offer her Son to the Father and perpetuates her Yes. She is an
example of obedience and love and self-sacrifice. She resides with the faithful
worshiping God and loving Jesus.
The suffering and bitterness Mary suffered has lead the Church to contemplate and
meditate them. Seven have been set down as the most prominent sorrows that Mary
suffered.
the Prophecy of Simeon.
the Flight into Egypt.
the Loss of the Child Jesus in the temple.
the meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross.
the Crucifixion.
the taking down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross.
the Burial of Jesus.
The name of Mary has uncertain origins in terms of the Mother of Jesus. In Hebrew it
means Bitter and in Latin in means Star of the sea. In Greek it means Sympathy.
All of these meanings aptly apply to Our Lady and have been contemplated by the
Church.
Mary can obtain special graces for us from the Father to transform the
bitterness of suffering into the gentleness of love.
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She is also a guiding light on the pilgrimage of salvation home to her
Son, Jesus.
Her compassion for her children in the world is shown through her
appearances throughout the world. [Mary can only appear through the
Will of God. It is part of His Plan].
Due to Marys Immaculate Conception [she was without sin] this meant she did not
die in the same way as normal people, death being a consequence of original sin.
She was assumed into heaven and suffered no pain and no corruption in this
passing. This is called the Assumption. [read more on the Assumption].
Involved in the Second Eve theme for Arwen is the part she plays from afar.
Mary didn't accompany Jesus during his public life but remained in the background praying
for him and continually offering her yes in the gift of her Son to the Father and for Humanity.
Arwen remains out of the picture until the end of the story, then her role becomes apparent:
not only for Aragorn who will become King, but also for Frodo, the 'everyman'.
In Appendix A it is pointed out by Tolkien that she 'watched over Aragorn from afar.' She then
joins him at the critical climax. But it is Aragorn who departs first voluntarily, like Jesus, and
Arwen, like Mary, is left distraught.
The grief for Arwen is tangible in Tolkien's writing when after Aragorns death she returns to
the once beautiful Lothlrien and passes away. She suffers for her choice. [Tale of Aragorn
and Arwen Appendix A p.1030]. But Tolkien leaves the possibility of further re-union and
joy open with the parting words of Aragorn before his own death;
But let us not be overthrown at the final test, who of old renounced the Shadow and
the Ring. In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! we are not bound for ever
to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory. Farewell ! [LotR
p.1038].
Beyond them is more than memory! Indeed!
Tolkien believed in Heaven, he believed in a God of Mercy and in Eternal Life offered to those
who trust in Jesus. Aragorn offers hope and faith at the very last beyond death, which is one
of the strongest themes of the Lord of the Rings. [Although it is often mistaken for a
pathological death theme.]
This does not mean there is no sorrow or suffering in the story, but that there is no despair.
A huge difference.
Arwen, through her love for Aragorn, trusts in the Creator for the life to come from the
renouncement she has made. Her free choice through love [for Aragorn] trusts in providence
to provide in the unknown. She suffers at the end, and even is tempted to despair, but she
accepts the fate and lays down her life in Lrien.
There is a symbolism in returning to Lothlrien, not Rivendell the home of her father Elrond,
to find peace and final rest. Lothlrien was a quasi-Garden of Eden on earth, 'the heart of
elvendom on earth', a place of healing and preservation, and Arwen symbolically returns
there to pass away and gives up her life. [see also First and Last Things].
She is assumed into eternity.

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FINAL COMMENTS:
If you've made it this far, then I'm impressed!
This website has taken a few months to put together and has largely been inspired by the
recent Lord of the Rings movies, which in general have made a splendid attempt at honouring
Tolkien's works, especially the extended versions of the films.
Tolkien's patron saint is St John the Evangelist [credited with writing the Gospel of John and
other apostolic letters];
...as to my name. It is John: a name much used and loved by Christians, and since I
was born on the Octave of St John the Evangelist, I take him as my patron... [Letters
p.397]
John's Gospel is filled with hidden meaning and symbolism flowing from his Judaism and
understanding of the messianic fulfilment in Christ. Light and Dark is especially evocative in
his writing as are the numbers and language he uses when explaining things.
It would seem St Johns prayers for Tolkien had their effect.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, has accomplished a work that is filled with Light; and like St
John, evangelizes, but in a subtle way.
I hope you have enjoyed the read here at mythictruth.com and have had your experience of
the Lord of the Rings deepened.
If you would like to contact me, use this address: contact@mythictruth.com
Take care and God Bless.
Jeremy