Since the publication of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, a wealth of secondary literature has been published discussing the literary themes and archetypes present in the story. Tolkien also wrote about the themes of his book in letters to friends, family and fans, and also in the book itself. In his Foreword to the Second Edition, Tolkien said that he "disliked allegory in all its forms" (using the word applicability instead), and told those claiming the story was a metaphor for World War II to remember that he had lost "all but one" of his close friends in World War I.
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"No careful reader of Tolkien's fiction can fail to be aware of the polarities that give it form and fiction,"[1] writes Verlyn Flieger. Tolkien's extensive use of duality and parallelism, contrast and opposition is found throughout the novel, in hope and despair, knowledge and enlightenment, death and immortality, fate and free will. One famous example is the often criticized polarity between Evil and Good in Tolkien. Orcs, the most maligned of races, are a corruption of the mystically exalted race of the Elves. Minas Morgul, the Tower of Sorcery, home of the Lord of the Nazgûl, the most corrupted Kings of Men, directly opposes Minas Tirith, the Tower of Guard and the capital of Gondor, the last visible remnant of the ancient kingdom of Men in the Third Age.
The antitheses, though pronounced and prolific, are sometimes seen to be too polarizing, but they have also been argued to be at the heart of the structure of the entire story. Tolkien's technique has been seen to "confer literality on what would in the primary world be called metaphor and then to illustrate [in his secondary world] the process by which the literal becomes metaphoric."[1] A famous description of this device is Verlyn Flieger's Splintered Light where the mythology of the Elves described in The Silmarillion is seen not only to be the story of the fall of the Elves from grace (a Fall akin to that of Satan or Adam and Eve) due to the hubris of Fëanor in his deadly oath regarding the Silmarils and all that follows as a result of it, but also a story built on a simultaneous splintering of light from the light of creation and the splintering of Elvish language from the word of creation, Ëa. Although, these arguments are more readily seen in The Silmarillion, which contains the Creation Myth of the Elves, similar observations can and have also been made regarding The Lord of the Rings.
The theme of power in The Lord of the Rings centres around the corrupting influence of the One Ring. This theme is discussed at length by Tom Shippey in chapter III of J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. In this chapter, titled, "The Lord of the Rings (2): Concepts of Evil" (pp 112–160), Shippey notes that what lies at the heart of the story is the assertions made by Gandalf about the power and influence of the One Ring, and the corrupting influence it has on its bearers. Gandalf rejects the Ring after Frodo offers it to him, and this view of the nature of the Ring is reinforced as Elrond, Galadriel, Aragorn and Faramir in their turn, also reject the Ring. This is, according to Shippey, a very modern, 20th-century theme, since in earlier, medieval times, power was considered to "reveal character", not alter it. Shippey mentions Lord Acton's famous statement in 1887, that "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men..." He then goes on to point out authors that were dealing in the same themes of power and corruption at around the same time as Tolkien wrote his work. These authors include George Orwell with Animal Farm (1945), William Golding with Lord of the Flies (1954) and The Inheritors (1955), and T. H. White with The Once and Future King (1958).
Shippey's critics have argued that the theme of power's ability to alter one's character is not limited to the 20th century, pointing to the use of the "ring" as a symbol of power in much older works such as those of Plato in the 4th century BCE. In The Republic, Glaucon argues that doing justice to others is never to one's benefit; he cites the mythical Ring of Gyges, a ring which could make any man who wore it invisible and thus able to get away with any theft or other crime. Glaucon claims that such power would corrupt any man, and that therefore no man truly believes that acting justly toward others is good for him.[2]
Critics of Tolkien's use of this theme include Colin Manlove, who addresses the theme in his book Modern Fantasy (1975). Manlove points out that Tolkien is not consistent in his attitude towards power, for there are exceptions to the supposedly overwhelming influence of the Ring. The Ring can be handed over relatively easily (Sam and Bilbo), and removing the Ring by force (Gollum to Frodo) does not, despite Gandalf's assertion at the beginning of the story, break Frodo's mind. The Ring also appears to have little effect on characters such as Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. Shippey counters this by characterising the use of the Ring as addictive, with successive uses increasing the hold the Ring had over its bearers. Those who are not susceptible to the addiction would not be affected.
The influence of the One Ring has also been compared to drug addiction. Especially Gollum, who shows many traits of an addict like withdrawing himself and becoming suspicious and angry at anyone. But also Bilbo and Frodo have been found to exhibit signs of an essential addiction to the One Ring.[3]
Courage in the face of certain defeat is a recurring theme in Tolkien's literature. As he wrote in The Monsters and the Critics, Tolkien was inspired by the apocalyptical Norse legend of Ragnarök where the gods are doomed in their final battle for the world but they and their allies do not mind their death. This "northern courage" as he called it is seen in the fate of Frodo and Samwise who have little prospect of returning home from their mission to Mount Doom and in Aragorn's decision to march to the Black Gate to divert Sauron's forces from the two Hobbits.[4]
Another kind of courage was defined by Tolkien in the difference between humility and the arrogant desire for glory. While Sam follows Frodo out of loyalty and would die for him, a trait that Tolkien has praised in an essay on The Battle of Maldon, characters like Boromir are driven by pride and would risk the lives of others for their personal glory. Likewise the rejecting of the ring by Sam, Faramir, and Galadriel can be seen as a courageous rejection of power and glory and of the personal renown that defeating Sauron would have brought about.[5]
Tolkien wrote about The Lord of the Rings and death in his Letters:
Throughout the story, death is referred to as the "gift (and doom) of Man," given by Ilúvatar (God), while immortality is the gift given to the Elves. The Elves never die of old age and are resistant to disease and such, though they can be slain in battle or die by similar means; however, even when they die they only go to the Halls of Mandos in Aman, and eventually can be "reincarnated" into life. As such they are bound to the world, and as a result they wane in prominence, and can grow weary of the world and wish to escape it. In contrast, Tolkien leaves the fate of Men uncertain. This leads to some form of fear for Men, who do not understand what truly happens at death and thus fear it as a result.
Throughout The Lord of the Rings (and related Middle-earth works), humanity dealing with death is prominent. The desire to escape death is shown to lead to evil—the Rings of Power promising immortality to Men, yet in the process turned them into Ringwraiths, undying but not truly living either. The people of Númenor, though blessed with life longer than that of most humans, envy the immortals and try to conquer Aman from the Valar, leading to the destruction of the land. The Elves, too, struggle with their lot, and their immortality shows them watching the decline of their lands and world.
Gandalf in one scene discusses the possibility that Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and that Gollum has an important part to play, the clearest testament to the role of fate in The Lord of the Rings. Beyond Gandalf's words, the story is structured in such a way that past decisions have a critical influence on current events. For instance, because Bilbo and Frodo spared Gollum, Gollum was able to destroy the Ring by falling into the Crack of Doom while Frodo failed to destroy it. Thus Frodo who is overpowered by the evil Ring is saved by coincidence.[6]
The role of fate in The Lord of the Rings is contrasted sharply with the prominent role also given to choice and free will. Frodo's voluntary choice to bear the Ring to Mordor is seen to be an act central to the plot of the whole story. Also important is Frodo's willing offer of the Ring to Gandalf, Aragorn, and Galadriel, and their willing refusal of it, not to mention Frodo's final inability to summon the will to destroy it. Thus, free will as well as fate is seen to be a constant theme throughout the story: from old Gaffer Gamgee's wheelbarrow to Arwen Evenstar's choice of mortality.[7]
From the beginning of Tolkien's mythos, there has been a consistent theme of great beauty and joy failing and disappearing before the passage of time and the onslaught of the powers of evil. In The Silmarillion, Melkor uses his powers first to destroy the works of his fellow Valar and as this ultimately fails he uses his ally Ungoliant to destroy the Two Trees that gave the blessed land of Aman its light.
Fëanor, prince of the Noldor, first loses his father and then his greatest creations, the Silmarils, through the machinations of the evil Morgoth. By his fault Elven blood is for the first time spilled on the ground of Eldamar and the Noldor give away both their home and their innocence. Mandos, the Doomsayer himself, proclaims judgement over the Noldor and reveals to them that none of them shall find peace or rest until their oath has been fulfilled or their souls come to the House of Spirits.
Finally, in one of the appendices to The Return of the King, after more than two hundred years of life Aragorn dies in his deathbed, leaving behind a lonely and now-mortal Arwen, who travels to what is left of Lothlórien to herself die on a flat stone next to the river Nimrodel, having returned to one of the few places of true happiness she knew in her life.
This theme is seen in the weight of the past borne in the language of the whole novel[8] and in specific portions, such as Gilraen's linnod[9] and the Lament of the Rohirrim.[10]
The priestly role belongs to Frodo, and he is the sacrificial lamb of Middle-earth who bears a burden of terrible evil on behalf of the whole world, like Christ carrying his cross. Frodo’s via dolorosa or way of sorrows is at the very heart of Tolkien’s story, just as the crucifixion narratives are at the heart of the gospels accounts. As Christ descended into the grave, Frodo journeys into Mordor, the Land of Death, and there suffers a deathlike state in the lair of the giant spider Shelob before awakening to complete his task. And, as Christ ascended into heaven, Frodo’s life in Middle-earth comes to an end when he departs over the sea into the mythical West with the Elves, which is as much to say, into paradise. Frodo walks his via dolorosa or "way of sorrows" to Mount Doom like Jesus making his way to Calvary. As Jesus bore the sins of mankind, Frodo bears a great burden of evil on behalf of the world, and as he approaches the Cracks of Doom the Ring becomes as much a crushing weight as the wood of the cross. Frodo, the Ring Bearer, is Christ the Sin Bearer.[11]
He carries the burden of the Ring as Christ carried the burden of sin. He too is a living sacrifice. Frodo's wound on Weathertop is a figurative of Christ's spear wound on the Cross. Note that the wound on Weathertop is inflicted by the Witch-king, another Satan figure. Frodo's voyage to the west, like Gandalf's, is also symbolic of the Ascension. It doesn't take a biblical scholar to feel some similarity between Frodo's struggle to carry the Ring up Mount Doom and Christ's struggle to carry his cross to Calvary. By the time Frodo reaches Mount Doom, he is so weighed down by the power of the Ring and despair over its destruction that Sam carries him and the Ring up the path to the Crack of Doom — shades of Simon the Cyrenian bearing Jesus' cross to Golgotha. Any parallel, intentional or not, between Frodo and Christ ends when Gollum attacks Frodo on the path in their second-to-last encounter. When Jesus died, an earthquake occurred and it destroyed things. When Frodo destroyed the Ring, Mordor broke down and collapsed.
The One Ring is a symbol of sin. It is the Forbidden Fruit that everyone wants; the "Precious" thing that no one who has it wants to give up, yet it enslaves and destroys anyone who has it. It is no coincidence that the Ring was made by Sauron, the main Satan figure. The Bible tells us that sin began in Satan. Though Sauron made the Ring, he himself lost control of it, and in the end it indirectly destroys him, just as sin will indirectly destroy Satan. This is indicative of the concept that engaging in bad things causes one to indirectly harm him, her or itself.
Gandalf is the prophet, revealing hidden knowledge, working wonders, teaching others the way. Evoking the saving death and resurrection of Christ, Gandalf does battle with the powers of hell to save his friends, sacrificing himself and descending into the nether regions before being triumphantly reborn in greater power and glory as Gandalf the White. As with Frodo, Gandalf’s sojourn in Middle-earth ends with his final voyage over the sea into the West.[12]
Finally, there is Aragorn, the crownless destined to be king. Besides being a messianic king of prophecy, Aragorn also dimly reflects the saving work of Christ by walking the Paths of the Dead and offering peace to the spirits there imprisoned, mimicking in a way the Harrowing of Hell. The oath-breaking spirits Aragorn encounters on the Paths of the Dead, who cannot rest in peace until they expiate their treason, suggests a kind of purgatorial state, which, given that Tolkien was a Catholic, makes sense. At the Houses of Healing in The Return of the King, Aragorn also heals those who fell in battle on the Pelennor fields, according to a prophecy which states that the coming King of Gondor will be a healer as well as a warrior, similar to the prophecies Jesus fulfilled, and the healing works he committed.[13]
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