Note the sense of destiny: "their paths are laid that way"; the need for faithful adherence to a purpose: "We hear about those as just went on"; the impossibility of judging the value of one's story from inside it; and the sense of being within a larger story that has no ending.
Anyone who has read The Lord of the Rings and felt its fascination has certainly asked, "What type of story is this?" Of the books I have looked at, among the many that have been written on Tolkien's work, the two I have found most helpful in understanding what type of story this is are Peter Kreeft's The Philosophy of Tolkien and Ralph Woods The Gospel According to Tolkien. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the impact these two have had upon my own thinking.
Numerous polls were taken among a wide sampling of people at the close of the last century as to what was the most significant book of the century. In poll after poll Tolkien's work rose to the top. Many literary critics fumed and raged, blaming popular ignorance. No wonder, inasmuch as most of the artists whom they acclaim prefer ugliness to beauty and lawlessness to morality, scorn and dismiss goodness and see truth only in ideology or in power. But the deep longing of the human heart still cries out for the good, the true, and the beautiful. These qualities, embodied as they are in two heroic quests, form the substructure of The Lord of the Rings.
Tolkien said that his work was Christian, yet there are no references to God, to worship, or to religious ritual of any kind. In a letter to Father Robert Murray he wrote: "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" (The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Humphrey Carpenter, ed, #142). How is this so? In the manner in which his imaginative vision captures something of the truly good, true, and beautiful.
In another letter he remarked: "The mere stories were the thing. They arose in my mind as 'given' things, and as they came, separately, so too the links grew. . . yet always I had the sense of recording what was already there, somewhere, not inventing" (L. 131). Where is this "somewhere"? It is deeply embedded in the human mind, answering as it does to something in the realm of spirit, as millions of avid readers attest. A sense of the perfect, of the ideal, is in the mind: ideal kings, ideal men, ideal women, etc. Tolkien succeeds in showing us something of the nature of these ideals--of clarifying for us something that resides already in our minds--and arousing our desires toward the triumph of the good and the ultimate annihilation of evil. Flannery O'Connor defined the Christian novel as "one in which the truth as Christians know it has been used as a light to see the world by" (Mystery and Manners, 173). Hers is a good description of Tolkien's work.
Another reason why his work is Christian is that he achieves the condition and aura of myth. He remarks in a letter to a prospective publisher: "I believe that legends and myths are largely made of 'truth,'' and indeed present aspects of it that can only be received in this mode; and long ago certain truths and modes of this kind were discovered and must always reappear" (L 131). In "On Fairy Stores" he wrote: "Something really 'higher' is occasionally glimpsed in mythology: Divinity, the right to power (as distinct from its possession), the due worship. in fact, 'religion.'"
Early critics complained that The Lord of the Rings was a simple story of the conflict between good and evil. The "good guys" and the "bad guys" were too simply identified, and there was much gratuitous violence. The way the film portrays the wars furthers this view. But Tolkien's conflict is indeed raised to a higher level: he is addressing the ultimate conflict between God and Satan. He wrote: "In The Lord of the Rings the conflict is not basically about 'freedom,' though that is naturally involved. It is about God, and His sole right to divine honour. . . . Sauron desired to be a God-King, and was held to be this by his servants; if he had been victorious he would have demanded divine honour from all rational creatures and absolute temporal power over the whole world" (L. 183). God is ostensibly absent in the story (as he is in the real world), but he is present in his people who work for the triumph of good, inspiring and executing righteous acts, and opposing and defeating evil.
What is Tolkien saying about the exact form that this conflict must necessarily take? How is evil really to be defeated? What does the Bible say? Does Tolkien's presentation answer to it?
Interestingly, there is a large quantity of war imagery in Scripture. Israel fought many bloody wars at the command of God. Metaphorically, the Christian is told to assume the whole armor of God in opposing the evil one. In Rev. 19 we read: "I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war . . ." The armies of heaven follow him, as the kings of the earth gather with their armies to make war; they are all slain, and "all the birds were gorged with their flesh."
But what about such passages as that of Christ commanding: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I way to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also," etc. (Matt. 5:38). Christians are instructed not to return evil for evil, but to avoid conflict, to be peacemakers, to serve others. How one is to reconcile these two seemingly conflicting positions is a challenge. As you read, note how Tolkien rises to the occasion.
He gives us two heroes, Aragorn and Frodo. They embody two views of the nature of true heroism. At the ending of the first volume of the story, or Book Two, they are separated, and they go their separate ways throughout Books Three, Four, Five, and well into Book Six, until each has executed his concept of the nature of heroism.
Aragorn represents the warrior-hero type, and as such bears comparison with the ancient archetype embodied in such mythical figures as Achilles and Aeneas. As you read, look for ways in which he is distinguished from his secular counterparts. He is a fascinating figure in the story. We are told early on that he is a king incognito. He attaches himself to Frodo at the outset of the journey as Frodo's guide and helper, fulfilling a servant role for as long as they are together. He is, in a sense, remarkably like Christ in his presence with believers. After they are separated, Aragorn engages in fierce battles, while Frodo proceeds on his quest separately with Sam, and later with Gollum as well.
Is Frodo a hero of a higher type? In many ways he is the opposite of the secular archetype of hero: he is humble, self-effacing, reluctant. One is reminded of Paul's remarking in the first epistle to the Corinthians that God chooses what is foolish in the world to shame the wise and what is weak to shame the strong. Frodo's journey is one of faith, his goal the final overcoming of evil, his means renunciation. Evil is to be overcome by the utter destruction of the Ring, the symbol of the exercise of power in dominating the earth and other people. Only God has a right to such power. This higher purpose will never be accomplished by opposing evil with its own means, the exercise of power; i.e. war.
As you read, note carefully how Tolkien develops and relates these two concepts of heroism. Also, consider how the following statement of Tolkien's is worked out: "I do not think that even Power or Domination is the real centre of my story. It provides the theme of a War, about something dark and threatening enough to seem at that time of supreme importance, but that is mainly a setting for characters to show themselves. The real theme for me is about something much more permanent and difficult: Death and immortality: the mystery of the love of the world in the hearts of a race doomed to leave and seemingly lose it; the anguish in the hearts of a race doomed not to leave it, until its whole evil-aroused story is complete. But if you have now read Vol. III and the story of Aragorn, you will have perceived that . . . ." (L. 186). As you read, see if you perceive it.
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