The White Council

Re: Christianity in Middle-Earth?

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: : : : "'The Lord of the Rings' is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work..."

: : - J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter to Father Robert Murray, 1953

: : : : Do you agree or disagree with this assertion, and why?

: Wow, don't even soften up the essay question :)

: Aside from the obvious reason to agree, (because he said so), the Elves' invocation of Elbereth bears a strong resemblence to the Hail Mary. Also, the sacrifice of the Ringbearer recalls the crucifixion. Boromir is redeemed through his sacrifice for the hobbits and his confession to Aragorn. There are other Christian themes running through the books, but I've been up for 24 hours and I'm not feeling very eloquent at the moment :(

In fact, several books have been written about this, or at least have chapters handling this toipc. There is Perarce's Tolkien - Man and Myth, but Shippey also deals with the problem.

Tolkien must have been fully aware of heathen practices and principles, such as human sacrifices, doubt, darkness, uncertainty etc, which people were only able to face with further violence. Of course this is not the whole picture, and I don't mean to suggest that pre-Christian Eurpeans were pure savages, but there is no denying that this was one part of their culture. Tolkien was also aware that the spread of Christianity put an end to this and replaced violent religious practices by ceremonious ones. It is said that one of the reasons St Patrick gained so much respect and admiration in the Ireland of his day was because he was able to face the darkness of night without fear. One of the great assets which Christianity brough Europe was a clear set of rules and a clear explanation of the universe, along with a clear denial of certain age old fears and superstitions. This is the spirit you will also find in Middle-earth, although there is no mention of a Christian God as it's cause. The Vala, however, behave more like Christain angels than heathen gods, and do not demand futile sacrifices or threaten with great evils if these are not delivered.

Tolkien was a great expert on the poem Beowulf. One of the notable aspects of Beoqulf is that it was written by a Christian poet, but about a heathen hero. Rather than criticise the heathen hero for this, the poet gives him Christian style virtues. The message is that even heathens who have never heard of Christ can posess Christian virtues and can be saved. This is also true of the heroes of Middle-earth.

-Shadowfax