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Christianity In Middle-earth
Christianity is a central theme in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional works about Middle-earth, but always a hidden one. This allows the book to be read at different levels, and its meaning to be applied by the reader, rather than forcing a single meaning on the reader. J. R. R. Tolkien was a devout Roman Catholic from boyhood, and he described ''The Lord of the Rings'' in particular as “unconsciously” a "fundamentally religious and Catholic work". While he insisted it was not an allegory, it contains numerous themes from Christian theology. These include the battle of good versus evil, the triumph of humility over pride, and the activity of grace. A central theme is death and immortality, with light as a symbol of divine creation, but Tolkien's attitudes to mercy and pity, resurrection, the Eucharist, salvation, repentance, self-sacrifice, free will, justice, fellowship, authority and healing can also be detected. Divine providence appears indirectly as the will of the Valar, go ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Themes Of The Lord Of The Rings
Scholars and critics have identified many themes of ''The Lord of the Rings'', a major fantasy novel by J. R. R. Tolkien, including a reversed quest, the struggle of good and evil, death and immortality, fate and free will, Addiction to power in The Lord of the Rings, the danger of power, and various aspects of Christianity such as the presence of three Christ figures, for Threefold office, prophet, priest, and king, as well as elements like hope and redemptive suffering. There is also a strong thread throughout the work Tolkien's languages, of language, its sound, and its relationship to peoples and places, along with moralisation from descriptions of landscape. Out of these, Tolkien stated that the central theme is death and immortality. In addition, some commentators have criticised Tolkien for supposed failings in ''The Lord of the Rings'', such as not including significant women, not being relevant to city-dwellers, not overtly showing any religion, and Tolkien and race, fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
