Pushkin: I always found it ironic that many pagan nationalists who trash Christianity try to claim Tolkein and his novels for their cause. Little do they realize that Tolkein was a devout Catholic and continually insisted that although many elements in his novels were pagan in origin, the underlying themes were Christian in nature(Catholic to be more specific). I'm sure this is a disappointment to those who insist that Christianity is not compatible with European preservation.
http://www.stuffucanuse.com/Lotr/Chr...y_and_lotr.htm
Christianity in the Lord of the Rings
Tolkien considered his mythology to be a profoundly religious work and perceived The Lord of the Rings as a Christian, even a Catholic story. And yet on first reading, this is a conclusion very difficult to understand, for Middle-earth appears to be a wholly pagan world.
The only form of prayer is when a 'weak' or 'powerless' individual in desperate need (such as Sam Gamgee in Mordor) calls upon stronger, demi-gods and demi-goddess such as Galadriel or Luthien Tinuviel. When warriors fall and are buried there are no prayers said over their graves. There are no churches or chapels anywhere in Middle-earth. The only 'holy books' are records of elder days. And yet, there are hints of religiosity, even Christian orthodoxy.
If Tolkien was trying to convey a subtle religious backdrop to his mythology, it appears to have been a confused one, for we get mixed and sometimes contradictory messages. This is most clear when we try to categorize many of the lead characters and even objects at the centre of the story.
Frodo shows Christ-like qualities -he is the bearer of the Ring, burdened with the cross -he is tempted at the Crack of Doom, just as Christ was tempted.
Sauron and Melkor (or Morgoth) are clearly figures from Hell, Morgoth, the fallen Valar or black angel, Sauron the fallen Maiar, a devil by any other name.
Gandalf is clearly a prophet-figure.
Galadriel appears only fleetingly, but exerts a powerful presence throughout the second half of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien said he had placed much of the way he perceived Mary into his drawing of Galadriel.
Yet, the most curious religious aspect of The Lord of the Rings is not so much the elements that go to create the central characters but a subtle undercurrent implicit in the telling of the tale, and Tolkien's timing.
In Appendix B of The Lord of the Rings we are told that the fellowship leaves Rivendell to begin its mission on 25 December. The day Frodo and Sam succeed in destroying the ring, the day it is cast into the Crack of Doom and the new era truly begins is, in the Gondorian reckoning, 25 March. Now although this date has little significance for most people; in the old English tradition (a subject about which Tolkien was quite familiar), 25 March was the date of the first Good Friday, the date of Christ's crucifixion. This then means that the main events in the story of how the Ring is destroyed and Sauron is defeated are played out during the mythic period between Christ's birth on 25 December and his death on 25 March.
There is no reason for this to be planted in the story except as a form of subtle, 'hidden message'. Tolkien is imposing his faith upon a pagan world, his characters act out their roles in a non-Christian void, but their 'sub-creator' can move them through a time frame that is Christian -after all, he has the final say.
Beyond this, what Tolkien meant when he claimed his work was Christian and even Catholic in nature was the sense of grace that informs the work. His characters live in a world in which magic is real, in which belief alone can make things happen. This is not simply a question of will power or determination, but thought-made-physical. In Middle-earth, true belief can overcome the stream of reality; it can distort the flow of cause and effect. And, although there is no specific Christianity in any of Tolkien's fiction, no Bibles, no crucifixes, no altars, the 'Christian spirit' is everywhere.
The essential core of the story is good versus evil and the triumph of good, but it is also about sacrifice, temptation, self-determination and free will. Tolkien's friend and supporter WH Auden knew this and remarked that: 'The unstated presuppositions of The Lord of the Rings are Christian: The writer, Edmund Fuller believed that, 'Grace is at work abundantly in the story' and that, 'a thread of prophesy is being fulfilled:
Tolkien’s devotion to Catholicism was probably the most important thing in his life; he was almost a fanatical Christian, a fact that became clear to anyone soon after meeting him. He habitually referred to Christ as 'Our Lord' and possessed an unshakeable conviction in the power of prayer, believing that he had been' given' stories after praying and that prayers had cured members of his family when they were ill.
One friend, George Sayers said, 'Tolkien was a very strict Roman Catholic. He was very orthodox and old fashioned: While his son, John who became a Catholic priest, has declared that Catholicism, 'pervaded all [his father's] thinking, beliefs and everything else. It is not then surprising that Tolkien was compelled to plant subtle references to Christianity and the biblical tradition into an otherwise pagan tale.
From: Tolkien, A Biography. By Michael White.
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company. 2001.
ISBN 0 316 86044 I
CHAPTER 12 The World of Middle-earth
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