Tolkien the Catholic

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St.Curious

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Hey all you Tolkien fans. Check out this article…

decentfilms.com/commentary/faithandfantasy.html

It likely does a better job than that book “Finding God in the Lord of the Rings” which uses allegory, something Tolkien was very against.

While most english teachers would try to “read between the lines”, Tolkien always said that his works were not to be read that way. He insisted on it.

His Catholic messages are very clear, very on the surface. In the above article the author explains the world of Middle-Earth to a degree that once you read the book (or the quotes he supplies) it all falls into place on the surface. It’s there in the very conotations and language. No allegory.
 
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St.Curious:
His Catholic messages are very clear, very on the surface.
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If they’re so clear and on the surface, then why did someone need to write an article about how to find them? 😃
 
Good point Timidity. That’s just what came to my mind.
 
They are clear once you understand how they are Catholic.

Tolkien himself said his Lord of the Rings story was a difinitive Catholic writing. Look at it in that context and it is all on the surface.
 
In the 70’s I saw the animated version of LOTR and then read the books. While I watched the film I understood immediately that here was a powerful spiritual story, not just a fantasy. I was a member of the Assemblies of God then and knew next to nothing about the Catholic Church except what I had gleaned from watching films like “The Song of Bernadette” and other such miracle movies as a girl. I picked up the Christianity in LOTR right away, but the Catholicism eluded me until I began to understand and accept Catholic teaching, especially about Mary. Indeed, just reading the book turned my world view inside out as it also broadened it immensely. I can truly say I was one person when I started the book and quite another when I finished it, and all due to the Catholic understanding of the human heart and soul I saw within it.
 
On the allegory thing: Tolkien did not care for direct this-guy-is-really-this allegory. He may have had Narnia in mind as he did not care for that work. So he would balk (as I do frankly) at Aslan=Jesus. He also did not want it to be taken as an allegory of WWII and the fight against totalitarians.

BUT it is important to remember that Tolkien directly stated that LotR was a “fundamentally religious and Catholic work.” While the characters bear some resemblance to Christian figures, the meat of it is in the story. Meaning it can be thoroughly Catholic in outlook without being allegorical.

Scott
 
Even the title “Finding God” in Lord of the Rings, seems a bit silly to me, since you’re not supposed to need to look that hard. Allegory? Yikes!

I really like Bradley Birzer’s “Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth”, which I just finshed reading. Birzer makes a concentrated effort to eplain Tolkien’s work in the Professor’s own terms.
 
I agree that there are quite obvious symbolisms when I read through it the first time. Like someone stated before it is not an allegory but an applicable story. You could see the Ring as Sin, Temptation, Nuclear Power, etc. but it is not limited to one single application. It is the reader that decides and it it can be applicable for future generations. He did admit that his Catholic belief did influence the work unconciously while writing it but then conciously in its revisions. I also love it for its story, a wonderfully descriptive story of a fanciful world.
 
aj830 said:
I agree that there are quite obvious symbolisms when I read through it the first time. Like someone stated before it is not an allegory but an applicable story. You could see the Ring as Sin, Temptation, Nuclear Power, etc. but it is not limited to one single application. It is the reader that decides and it it can be applicable for future generations. He did admit that his Catholic belief did influence the work unconciously while writing it but then conciously in its revisions. I also love it for its story, a wonderfully descriptive story of a fanciful world.
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Yes, exactly! That’s what makes it such a wonderful work! Its universal applicablitity prevents it from being dated and gives it wider appeal than a purely allegorical work, which is a product of a specific time and place. Tolkien’s writing was influenced by the 20th century, but it isn’t confined to it. He also drew from ancient mythology and history, which show us that sin and temptation, and the pursuit of power have always been a part of the human condition.

What Tolkien does is offer hope that we can combat evils when we see them, if we trust in our faith.

Beautiful, beautiful stuff.
 
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