The White Council

Re: Religions in Middle-earth...

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: : I've puzzled over this aspect for a long time. JRRT was a : : devout Catholic, and that presents a problem for some one : : writing a story taking place in pre-Christian times. The best : : theory on "religion" in LOTR was from Richard Purtill in 'Lord : : of the Elves and Eldils'. In the chapter entitled (oddly : : enough) Religion In Tolkien, he says,

: : "...If he shows his people at worship, for instance, who is he : : to show them worshipping? A man of Tolkien's activity of mind : : could invent fifty pantheons, with appropriate myths and : : rituals. But this would be to show his heroes worshiping false : : gods. Is he to make them monotheists then? But how is he to : : make their monotheism plausible? None of his races have a : : philosophical bent, like the Greeks. Is he to give them a : : special revelation, like the Hebrews? But if so, how is this to : : connect with Judeo-Christian revelation? Wisey enough, Tolkien : : does not show his characters at worship." (Purtill, 1974, : : Zondervan Books, pp 115-133)

: : Purtill points out various parallels between Elbereth and Mary : : and other "hints" of religion in LOTR that would be meaningful : : to a Catholic, though I'm afraid most Protestants (myself : : included) would miss many of these points. And while Purtill : : makes a fairly good case, it is sometimes easy to make : : connections that may or may not be valid. On the one hand, : : substituting Mary for Elbereth, while it is not exactly : : "allegory", it indicates a conscious act on Tolkien's : : part. I don't know if he ever suggested any connection between : : Mary and Elbereth in his other writings, but I doubt it. Not : : only that, but the goddess Ishtar could fill in nicely as the : : model for Elbereth, which is even more unlikely in my opinion, : : than Tolkien knowingly placing Mary in the story. I do suspect : : that Tolkien's religion DID affect what he wrote in some ways. : : And Tolkien addresses the problem of life experiences affecting : : what was written in the Foreward to LOTR.

: As a classicist, medievalist, and linguist I believe Tolkien was intensely fascinated with the various ancient religions and mythologies of ancient Europe. As a devout Catholic he seemed to be troubled by the ideas he was wrangling with, especially later in life -- but also the "mythology" began to disturb Tolkien the rationalist. Here was a man who was witness to two world wars in which tens of millions of innocent people (and soldiers) were killed, to the launching of mankind's space program, to the discoveries of modern medical science, and he was writing about Elves who believed the sun and moon were derived from two trees that angelic beings had grown in a continent now removed from the known world. His fiction that the stories he was telling were "true" in some ancient form just didn't ring true.

: Not having read Purtill, however, I really cannot say whether I agree with his points but I can see how Elbereth fills a Marianist role in Tolkien's cosmology. She is an intermediary between Elves, Men, Hobbits and God. There are hymnals and prayers made to her. Her name is revered but not placed before the name of Iluvatar. Any deeper Catholic symbols escape me but I believe that Tolkien intentionally modified the Valarin order to resemble angels and saints precisely because of his personal views. To give credence to the fiction of truth he had to contrive something which felt reasonable to his own worldview.

: : Not only does JRRT not show any one at worship, but there are : : no temples, churches or other "sacred" places in LOTR. I can : : understand this when looking at the Elves. They possibly viewed : : the entire creation as a sacred temple. Men on the other hand : : weren't as close to the "creator" as were the Elves. But they : : (at least some of them) buried their dead in tombs along with : : artifacts, which would indicate they expected the deceased to : : have need of weapons, jewels and clothing in another life. But : : why? The fate of "man" was a big question mark, known only to : : Illuvatar, so what prompted men to bury their dead in such a : : manner? Life after death was expected or at least hoped for. : : But what kind of life was not known (as I recall). The eventual : : fate of men was separate from that of the other races of : : Middle-Earth (which may or may not have been a plot device to : : explain why we don't see Elves, Ents and Hobbits today). I know : : there are plenty of holes in my reasoning, especially : : considering that I don't have enough of Tolkien's writings : : (other than LOTR & The Hobbit) to make a truely educated : : theory.

: Well, a discussion of the history and purpose of ancient temples might be in order, perhaps. They served multiple social functions and were often great money-making machines. "Worship" often consisted of "sacrifice", not just praying and singing hymns. Of course there were rituals to be observed as well, and none of the ancient religions sprang up fully formed.

: The purpose of the sacrifices was to propitiate the gods (to gain their favor, or their forgiveness for sins). The temples naturally accrued a great deal of power in various civilizations and some theocracies developed (such as ancient Egypt, where the Pharoahs were regarded as living gods).

: Tolkien does mention such practices in Middle-earth -- he simply doesn't dwell on them because they are not part of the culture of the Eldar and Dunedain. These are "heathen" practices, Satanic in nature, deceptively constructed to delude men into worshipping false gods (or just Sauron and/or Morgoth).

: Until Moses was given instructions for building a temple and making sacrifices which (according to the Christian perspective) foreshadowed the one sacrifice required for all mankind, temples were not places of worship for the one true god (so far as we know, although the archives of Ebla reveal some interesting aspects of ancient Semitic religion). Hence, temples and churches simply have no place in Tolkien's stories.

Is it not strange that the religious practices - such as they were - of his elves and Edain were much more like those of the Quakers or Puritans than the R. Catholic Church he himself adhered to. Perhaps at some level, maybe unconscious, he found the hierarchy, dogma, and physical imagery of the Church distasteful, or at least "Fallen."