Religious Symbolism in LotR

[Alatar]

I was reading through some old reviews of LotR when I came across this. Its interesting, even if I'm not sure I agree. What do the rest of you think?

Much has been made of World War Two symbolism in Tolkien's trilogy. I seem to perceive yet another level of metaphor, emerging even more clearly in the movie version. Whether Jackson intends it or not — and whether Tolkien wanted to admit it or not — the novelist's conservative Catholicism shines through: Frodo in Mordor is like Jesus being scourged on the way to the cross. The ring is a constant temptation — as Jesus was tempted by Satan and then tempted, in the garden, to put "this cup" from his lips. Gollum is Judas, who sees to it that the sacrifice is made. To be born again you must first die; to get the ultimate prize you must give up the tawdry gold of this world. Store not your treasures in this world, Jesus said, store them up in heaven. So Frodo must again and again reject the lure of the ring which at last is returned to Hell, to the lake of fire, to its originator. After making the sacrifice Frodo is marked with stigmata — his finger is torn away — and he gives himself up to death. He seems to have died — but then is taken up into heaven, in Tolkien's gospel by eagles, winged salvation from the sky. Like Jesus after the Resurrection, Frodo can only return briefly to the world of ordinary men — to the Shire — before going, as Jesus did, into the kingdom of God, which for Frodo is the Grey Havens. Jesus ascends bodily, Frodo sails bodily — into the afterlife...

[Voronwë the Faithful]

There have been a lot of attempts to pigeonhole LOTR as Christian (and particularly Catholic) work. It is true to some extent, but it only tells part of the story. Tolkien did say, in Letter 142:

The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put in, or have cut out, practically all references to anything like 'religion', to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism.

But I think that, like beauty, Catholic symbolism in LOTR is in the eyes of the beholder. Those who are looking for it are going to see it a lot more than those who are not. And neither are more correct that the other.

[Dave_LF]

Don't forget Gandalf, who follows the pattern of the Greek dying/rising god-man literally (descends into the underworld where he fights evil spirits, dies, and is then lifted up into the heavens alive).

Tolkien denies he was writing allegory and I have no reason to doubt him, but the influence of his faith is pretty clear in the symbols and patterns he chooses. Another angle is that mythic archetypes influenced both Christianity and Tolkien.

[Primula Baggins]

Are there hints of any religious practices elsewhere in Tolkien's writing about Middle-earth? I haven't read widely enough to know. I do agree with his decision to leave it out of LotR itself. It would ring false somehow.

Alatar, the symbolism you point out is clear, but I want to mention that it is not strictly Catholic, at least in the details you discuss; they're more generally mainstream Christian and could be Protestant or Catholic. Or so they seem to my Lutheran eyes.

[axordil]

Anyone with a strong worldview is going to have it show in their writing; that doesn't mean it's allegorical, it's that their sensibilities are shaped in a certain way. This applies even if the worldview has ceased to take the form of active religious practice: look at Graham Greene, another notable English Catholic writer.

[Primula Baggins]

I agree, Ax, but some things are too complex to be a mere result of the shape of the writer's sensibilities.

I don't think it should be called allegory, either. It's more a matter of a writer writing about what seems most important to him. In my opinion, the echoes of Christ in Frodo aren't there to make readers think about Christ, or to say anything about Christ; they're there to convey the weight of what Frodo did, in a way that spoke strongly to Tolkien and his contemporaries. They're there to tell us about Frodo.

[Elentári]

Prim wrote:

Are there hints of any religious practices elsewhere in Tolkien's writing about Middle-earth?

John Howe wrote a very interesting article on this subject in the latest edition of his journal:
http://www.john-howe.com/news/more.php?id=255_0_1_0_C

FROM BABEL TO BARAD-DÛR
Or a Tale of Two Towers: Art and Archetypes in Middle-Earth

Tolkien's Middle-Earth is conspicuous in that it contains no places of worship.


Few fantasy authors resist the urge to have temples and gods (usually malevolent ones with slimy and unappetizing minions, against which the hero uses guile, good sense or solid biceps in contests of thinly-disguised allegory). Tolkien limits himself to places of portent or places of wonder - places where the gods or great personages of the past have touched the earth, but have never consecrated.

[axordil]

the echoes of Christ in Frodo aren't there to make readers think about Christ, or to say anything about Christ; they're there to convey the weight of what Frodo did, in a way that spoke strongly to Tolkien and his contemporaries. They're there to tell us about Frodo.

Yes, but in a Catholic framework of grace enduring, or perhaps even earned, through suffering. If JRRT had been raised Calvinist, or Jewish, or Buddhist -- and still managed to write LOTR -- the notion of what the Ringbearer should do, how he should act, et al, would be quite different.

Of course there's more to it than that. But there are only certain shapes this story, written by this man, in this time, could possibly take; or rather, there are certain shapes it could NOT take.

Elentári--
So far as I know, the only place of worship in all of the JRRT canon was Sauron's Temple to Melkor in Númenor--which sort of fits in with that author's observation in that paragraph.

[Alatar]

What about Meneltarma?

[axordil]

What about her?

Seriously, though, I think the Meneltarma was more the abode of the two chief Valar than a place of worship. Mortals didn't go there, and what Manwë and Varda did there wasn't so much worship as...gather intelligence?

[solicitr]

Ax, the (summit of) the Meneltarma was the highest point in Númenor, and annually the King and the people would make a procession there to give thanks to Eru. However, there was never any building or altar there, and no priesthood.

I think you're thinking of Taniquetil.

[Pearly Di]

Ax, the (summit of) the Meneltarma was the highest point in Númenor, and annually the King and the people would make a procession there to give thanks to Eru. However, there was never any building or altar there, and no priesthood.

The monotheism on Númenor -- before Sauron invaded it and seduced the Numenoreans -- seems even more austere than that of ancient Judaism.

I'm an evangelical Christian and nobody needs to persuade me of Tolkien's Christian worldview or the 'grace and sanctity' that (as one appreciative reader told him) pervades the pages of LotR.

However: that religious sensibility in Tolkien's mythos is subtle. That's the beauty of Tolkien as a writer of great imaginative fiction.

Quoted in Al's first post:

Whether Jackson intends it or not — and whether Tolkien wanted to admit it or not — the novelist's conservative Catholicism shines through: Frodo in Mordor is like Jesus being scourged on the way to the cross. The ring is a constant temptation — as Jesus was tempted by Satan and then tempted, in the garden, to put "this cup" from his lips. Gollum is Judas, who sees to it that the sacrifice is made. To be born again you must first die; to get the ultimate prize you must give up the tawdry gold of this world. Store not your treasures in this world, Jesus said, store them up in heaven. So Frodo must again and again reject the lure of the ring which at last is returned to Hell, to the lake of fire, to its originator. After making the sacrifice Frodo is marked with stigmata — his finger is torn away — and he gives himself up to death. He seems to have died — but then is taken up into heaven, in Tolkien's gospel by eagles, winged salvation from the sky. Like Jesus after the Resurrection, Frodo can only return briefly to the world of ordinary men — to the Shire — before going, as Jesus did, into the kingdom of God, which for Frodo is the Grey Havens. Jesus ascends bodily, Frodo sails bodily — into the afterlife...

I'm a little uncomfortable, actually, with the rather heavy-handed parallels being drawn here. Tolkien to me is a far more subtle writer than this, and the better for it.

I mean, take his portrayal of Galadriel. He said himself that his own Catholic devotion to Mary was somewhat instrumental in his depiction of Galadriel as a feminine divine figure of great power and sanctity. But I don't think Galadriel is, like, this literal incarnation of the Virgin Mary in Middle-earth. That would be, erm, tacky and clunky. Galadriel is her own character. And a very awesome one she is too (I particularly like her more rebellious aspects in The Silmarillion).

That LotR is a redemptive story is not in doubt for me. But personally I see Frodo more of a fellow pilgrim on the journey, a character I love and admire, rather than a Christ-figure.

I do find the central motif of the story -- a humble hobbit being prepared to sacrifice himself for the greater good, even unto death, and that is the force that helps bring Sauron down, the power of love and mercy, rather than a whole army of powerful Noldor -- very 'Christian' though.

[axordil]

soli (and Alatar)--

Yes, I had them confused. And that's as close to a place of worship as we get, I agree, though not one with any structure attached, physically or liturgically.

Pearly--

I would say that Frodo is a Christ-figure, but ideally, so are all on such a "pilgrimage."

[Dave_LF]

Weren't there supposed to be rumors about Alatar and/or Pallando founding cults of sorcery among the Easterlings?

[solicitr]

There is one other temple in Tolkien, and again it's Melkorian: in the Tale of Adanel, an annex to the Athrabeth, we learn that the first Men were seduced into worshiping the Dark by a Person who commanded them to build a temple, where they brought him victims (at first the dissenters, of course). This Person is described as very beautiful, and in the beginning a giver of gifts- sounds very much like Sauron (and T did conclude that the Fall of Man was accomplished by Sauron on Morgoth's behalf, since Morgoth was tied up at the time).

[axordil]

JRRT seems at best ambivalent about the mix of edifice and religion, doesn't he? Kind of like Blake in that regard.

[Pearly Di]

Pearly--

I would say that Frodo is a Christ-figure, but ideally, so are all on such a "pilgrimage."

I see what you mean. I forget which saint it was who said that all Christians were (or should be, rather, because it's not like every Christian lives up to this) 'little Christs'.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

There is one other temple in Tolkien, and again it's Melkorian: in the Tale of Adanel, an annex to the Athrabeth, we learn that the first Men were seduced into worshiping the Dark by a Person who commanded them to build a temple, where they brought him victims (at first the dissenters, of course). This Person is described as very beautiful, and in the beginning a giver of gifts- sounds very much like Sauron (and T did conclude that the Fall of Man was accomplished by Sauron on Morgoth's behalf, since Morgoth was tied up at the time).

Ah, soli, but the Tale of Adenal is unquestionably a Númenórean one, whatever your beliefs about Tolkien eventually replacing the Númenórean vector with the Rivendell vector. This Tale should not be properly thought of as part of the Athrabeth. Tolkien makes it clear (in Note 9, which discusses this Tale), "that Andreth was actually unwilling to say more" then is told in the Athrabeth proper. He says that "[l]onger recensions of the Athrabeth, evidently edited under Númenórean influence, make her give, under pressure, a more precise answer (about the nature of the Disaster that resulted in Man becoming Mortal). He points out that this Tale is explicitly a Tale of the House of Hador, and that the Numenorians "were largely, and their non-Elvish traditions mainly, derived from the People of Marach, of whom the House of Hador were the chieftains."

The idea of this tale being part of a version of the Athrabeth "edited under Numenorian influence" sets up an intriguing possibility. The Numenorian's obsession with Death is of course well documented. I find the thought that this Tale of Death being imposed on Man by Eru as a punishment for worshipping Melkor being a creation of the Numenorians in their obsession with Death to be quite compelling. I can easily picture the Numenoreans in exile in Middle-earth who "made tombs more splendid than houses of the living, and counted old names in the rolls of their descent dearer than the names of their sons" creating this legend as a way of explaining that they never should have been "cursed" with Death in the first place.

But just as soon as Tolkien raises this intriguing possibility, he largely shoots it down, and then replaces it with any even more intriguing possibility.

The legend bears certain resemblances to the Númenórean traditions concerning the part played by Sauron in the downfall of Númenor. But this does not prove that it is enritely a fiction of post-downfall days. It is no doubt mainly derived from actual lore of the People of Marach, quite independent of the Athrabeth [Added note: Nothing is hereby asserted concerning its 'truth', historical or otherwise.] The operations of Sauron naturally and inevitably resembled or repeated those of his master. That a people in possession of such a legend or tradition should have later been deluded by Sauron is sad but, in view of human history generally, not incredible.

So it is clear that this Tale should be thought of as part of independent tradition from the Athrabeth, and not really considered to be Andreth's actual words, nor should it be considered a "true" story. What I find most intriguing (okay, second most intriguing) about this passage is the suggestion that it makes that the particular flaw that Sauron was able to tap into to cause the downfall of the Numenorians existed already in the specific ancestors of the Numenorians, the House of Hador, the chief members of whom (Húrin Thalion and Túrin Turumbar) were particularly cursed by Melkor. It makes the story of the Numenorians all the more complex and compelling.

Sorry for the diversion.

[solicitr]

The operations of Sauron naturally and inevitably resembled or repeated those of his master.

That's interesting, possibly a slip- asserting that the Master was Morgoth himself. Apparently T himself realised this in time. If one accepts the late-Men hypothesis (awakening with the Laurelin-flower Sun), then Morgoth was already permanently in the form of "a dark Lord, tall and terrible:" hardly 'beautiful'. And under the later early-Sun early-Men version, then Melkor at the time was a prisoner in Mandos.

Certainly the Tale of Adanel has echoes, almost certainly deliberate, of Sauron's operations in Númenor. But it's interesting to note that this was a feature of the final elaboration of the Fall. In the draft ("A") of the Athrabeth, Saelon (Andreth) gives an abbreviated version of this legend, without Númenórean parallels, directly. Then in the slip "C" T queries having Andreth say anything- but immediately, and oddly, writes "Originally instead of refusal to talk of it Andreth was made (under pressure) to say something of this sort: It is said that Melkor looked fair in ancient days......"


NB- There's no question at all that at the time T wrote the Athrabeth the 'Númenórean vector' was in play. The 'Rivendell vector' was still in the future.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I still plan to respond to your Númenórean/Rivendell vectors comments in the open forum, at some point.