Christianity and Lord of the Rings

You've got to hand it to him: not only can Frodo the Hobbit carry the One Ring across middle earth and, deep in Mount Doom, destroy the source of all evil; he can also unite usually warring factions of the church in his praise. Tolkien's book contains "transcendent truths of Christianity", according to a group of American conservative evangelicals and is "rooted in the Roman Catholic faith" according to the Indiana Roman Catholic News.

So why is The Lord of the Rings acclaimed whilst other magic stories, such as Harry Potter, are condemned?

One clue lies in Tolkien himself. He was a devout Catholic from his youth, it is said he only stopped going to dawn mass every day after his wife put her foot down. He is also credited with converting C.S. Lewis to Christianity. Both Tolkien and Lewis wanted to spread the Gospel in new and innovative ways which Lewis famously did with the Narnia stories.

Perhaps because of this some have seen The Lord of the Rings as an allegory along the lines of Lewis' The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. In this hypothesis Christ is represented, depending on your point of view, by Frodo, as it is he who bears the cross/ring and saves mankind from evil; Gandalf, as he rises from the dead and is then not recognised by his friends; or Aragorn as the unlikely King and leader of men despite his lowly appearances (and in the film he even looks like some pictures of Jesus with his stubble and long hair). The wizards can be seen as the angels and Saruman an angel who has fallen from grace.

However, the fact that there are three candidates for Christ illustrates the fundamental problem with this: there isn't the evidence in the text to support it. I feel that if Tolkien had been trying to do an allegory he would have done it far better, after all this is the man who invented fifteen languages in his spare time.

At the other end of the spectrum there are those who see The Lord of the Rings as satanic. The book is set in a pagan world and Tolkien draws on a variety of pagan myths. There are decidedly unchristian aspects such as reincarnation (of the elves) and the ancestor worship many of the characters indulge in. And of course the ever present evil of Sauron.

Between these two extremes lies the view that The Lord in the Rings carries Christian overtones and themes. There is a sense of destiny and providence in the plot where characters have free will but are often called to do tasks they did not wish for. Ordinary people are called on to accomplish extraordinary things. The most heroic are not the powerful wizards, or the beautiful and immortal elves, or the strong fighting men but the hobbits: small and seemingly insignificant.

The portrayal of evil in the book is complex, almost everyone is tempted at some point, even the beautiful elf queen Galadriel. No one is entirely bad; even Gollum, who is at once pitiful and despicable, will serve a very important purpose in the plot.

Love and self-sacrifice are also demonstrated in the text. Gandalf and Boromir give up their lives for others. The bonds between characters are many and strong. The friendship between Legolas and Gimli unites elves and dwarves, traditionally enemies. Above all there is the love between Frodo and Sam. Sam is prepared to follow serve, fight and even carry his master. At one point Sam, seeing Frodo sleeping, seemingly shining with light, murmers:

However, the Christian side to The Lord in the Rings is not the whole picture. There are many other influences in the book. Tolkien was a professor of Middle English and a language boffin. This love of language is the cornerstone of the book as he invented elvish and then wrote a number of books to explain his creation.

Some people feel the book also reflects the politics of the time. Published in 1954 the descriptions of Mordor would have resonated with the recent images of Nazi Germany. In this reading, The Shire is England called to fight, aided, at the last minute, by the Riders of Rohan or Americans. Alternatively, Tolkien's own life could lie behind the story. His Welsh childhood provided the inspiration for some of the names. The dead marshes, with their unburied soldiers could be seen as the First World War trenches where Tolkien fought.

Ultimately The Lord of the Rings is none and all of these things. It is a rich tapestry of images, stories, people and languages. Tolkien did not write a book that was consciously Christian. He did not try and manipulate the plot to get certain points across. Instead he wrote something that is timeless and contains values which transcend the fantasy world he created.

Sources

Christianity and The Lord of the Rings

Of angels and elven folk


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