JRRT, Part Two

As mentioned last time, there are many places in LOTR where one can easily find parallels to the Christian narrative which is the Story in which we live. Here are a few:

The nature of Evil:

The beginning of the Silmarillion, the “Ainulindale,” is the creation myth of Middle-Earth, beginning “There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Iluvatar...” And the creation begins in Music.

... the music and the echo of the music went out into the Void, and it was not void. Never since have the Ainur made any music like to this music, though it has been said that a greater still shall be made before Iluvatar by the choirs of the Ainur and the Children of Iluvatar after the end of days.

Melkor, who had “the greatest gifts of power and knowledge” among the Ainur, seeks to defile the Song, filling it with discord. But Iluvatar, the One, responds with a new theme:

... it seemed at first soft and sweet, a mere rippling of gentle sounds... but it could not be quenched, and it took to itself power and profundity. And it seemed at last that there were two musics progressing at one time ... and they were utterly at variance. The one was deep and wide and beautiful, but slow and blended with an immeasurable sorrow, from which its beauty chiefly came.... The other ... was loud, and vain, and endlessly repeated ... and it essayed to drown the other music by the violence of its voice, but it seemed that its most triumphant notes were taken by the other and woven into its own solemn pattern. (The Silmarillion, p. 5)

Through the ensuing ages of the world, servants of Melkor continue his work of defilement. It seems inherent to Evil that it hates everything that is alive. It hates the green Earth and all the free creatures that walk in the light. It cannot create; it can only pervert. The Orcs and other servants of the Dark Lord delight in wanton destruction. Saruman, especially, can be seen as a representative of the scientific materialism that is destroying the natural environment.

Then there is Gollum. All of us, I think, have some of Gollum within us. Even he is given an opportunity for redemption. I will speak later of Frodo as a Christ-figure; it is perhaps in his pity on this miserable creature whom he has every reason to hate that Frodo is most like our Lord.

Through most of the tale, Evil seems to be stronger than that which is Good. And that brings us to:

The operations of Divine Providence: “What some would call chance”

“Behind this there was something also at work, beyond any design of the Ring-maker. I can put it no plainer than by saying that Bilbo was meant to find the ring,and not by its maker. In which case you also were meant to have it. And that may be an encouraging thought.” (Gandalf, speaking to Frodo: FOTR I.2, “The Shadow of the Past”)

The prayer of Grace at meals:

Faramir and his company face west in silence before their meals.

‘So we always do,’ he said, as they sat down: ‘We look toward Numenor that was, and beyond to Elvenhome that is, and to that which is beyond Elvenhome and will ever be. Have you no such custom at meat?’ ‘No,’ said Frodo, feeling strangely rustic and untutored. (TTT II.5, “The Window on the West”)

The Sacrament of Holy Communion:

There are many analogies between this and Lembas. I have written on this elsewhere.

Devotion toward Our Lady:

In this matter, Galadriel, the “Lady of the Golden Wood” is a figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as is Elbereth.

After leaving Bag End, the three Hobbits are almost discovered by a Black Rider. He slinks away as Elves approach. They sing of Elbereth “in the fair Elven-tongue, of which Frodo knows only a little, and the others know nothing. Yet the sound blending with the melody seemed to shape itself in their thought into words which they only partly understood ... The song ended. ‘These are High-Elves! They spoke the name of Elbereth!’ said Frodo in amazement.” (FOTR I.3, “Three is Company”)

This is the experience that many Catholics and other persons of faith have upon hearing liturgical chant in Latin, the ancient tongue of the Western Church: “the sound blending with the melody seemed to shape itself in their thought into words.” The song which the Elves sang, “A! Elbereth Gilthoniel!” is a close analogue to the chant Ave Maris Stella. JRRT doubtless heard this sung at the close of Compline on many occasions. Even as the name of Elbereth identified the singers as High-Elves, so does the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, uttered in song and prayer, identify a Catholic (or Orthodox) Christian.

When Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas encounter the Riders of Rohan, Eomer speaks ill of the Lady, in a way that JRRT and other Catholics often encountered from Protestants who misunderstand Marian devotion. Gimli answers “‘... let Gimli the Dwarf Gloin’s son warn you against foolish words. You speak evil of that which is fair beyond the reach of your thought, and only little wit can excuse you.’” (TTT I.2, “The Riders of Rohan”)

Later, they appear before Theoden, King of Rohan. Wormtongue speaks of the “Sorceress of the Golden Wood” and her “webs of deceit.” This was enough to push the already-simmering Gandalf into action. But first, he sings:

“In Dwimordene, in Lorien
Seldom have walked the feet of Men,
Few mortal eyes have seen the light
That lives there ever, long and bright.
Galadriel! Galadriel!” (TTT I.6, “The King of the Golden Hall”)

Visions of the Heavenly Places:

One of the treasures of JRRT’s writings is his uncanny skill in place-description, often in only a few words. There are many examples in LOTR of places that, for me, have become visions of the “fair and blessed country” which we seek. Some emphasize one aspect, some another, for we can do no more than this: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard...” (I Corinthians 2:9)

The two most prominent examples are Rivendell and Lorien. The first emphasizes the blessedness of coming Home to “a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep or storytelling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all” (FOTR II.1, “Many Meetings). The second emphasizes the natural order, freed at last from bondage to sin and death. “It seemed to them that they did little but eat and drink and rest, and walk among the trees, and it was enough” (FOTR II.7, “The Mirror of Galadriel”).

There are others, from the house of Tom Bombadil to the forest dwellings of Treebeard and Quickbeam, and the city of Minas Tirith, especially as Boromir speaks of it as he dies and Pippin later sees it for the first time, “the Guarded City, with its seven walls of stone so strong and old that it seemed to have been not builded but carven by giants out of the stones of the earth” (ROTK I.1, “Minas Tirith”).

I have spoken somewhat of this elsewhere.

Christ-figures: Frodo, Gandalf, Strider

All three represent various aspects of our Lord Jesus Christ. Frodo is the “suffering Servant” in many respects, especially in the last parts of ROTK as he and Sam make their way across the Plains of Gorgoroth and up the mountain.

Gandalf, in his fall into the depths of Moria struggling with the Balrog, ultimately overcoming it, and (as it were) returning from death as Gandalf the White, is Christ in his defeat of the Enemy, descent into Hell, and Resurrection.

Strider is the true King, hidden from view, returning to his rightful patrimony in a manner akin to the Second Coming of Christ for which we long (e.g., Revelation 19:11-21). “When the King returns” had become a figure of speech in Gondor; few actually expected it. And some would prefer that it never happen.

So it is with our Lord for whom we wait. Mention of his return in majesty to "judge both the quick and the dead" is most often met with derision.

The Life Everlasting:

“In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! we are not bound for ever to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory.” (ROTK Appendix A.v, “a part of the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen”)

And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed on into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all into silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise. (ROTK II.9, “The Grey Havens”)