Lord of the Rings - Christian Themes

[Bible Thumpin n Gun Totin]

The wife and I love to watch the Lord of the Rings Extended editions (and I also love to read the books over and over). We were talking last night about how great the Christian Themes are that Tolkien has in the series, and that Tolkien's LOTR and C.S Lewis' Narnia are probably tied for Best Christian fiction. I figured it'd be worth it to add examples of Christian themes here. Feel free to list your own Lord of the Rings themes!

Format:
-LOTR
*Bible Application

-Orcs (Evil) cannot stand daylight
*Sin cannot stand being brought to light

-Sam helping Frodo to reach Mt. Doom
*Example of Self sacrifice, Christian Love

-Gollum/Smeagol almost repenting on the stairs to Cirith Ungol
*No matter how evil one is, forgiveness is always there from Christ

-Shelob (the giant spider) being scared of bright starlight
*Evil thrives in darkness and is afraid of light

-Galadriel being allowed to pass into the West (Heaven) after resisting the Ring's power in Lothlorien
*Die to self, live for Christ, eternal bliss in Heaven and the New Earth

-Pippin, Merry, Frodo, and Sam being honored at Aragorn's coronation as most worthy, and more worthy than King Aragorn
*Four simple people with the willpower to do what is Right can make the strongest of Evil forces crumble

-Frodo's lasting pain from when the Witch-King stabbed him on Weathertop with a morgul blade
*Wounds heal from sin, but the scars remain until we received our new bodies

-Frodo, Bilbo and Sam's journey to the West (Valinor/Heaven) for healing
*The deep wounds we accrue in this life can only be made whole again by God in Glory.

Some favorite LOTR quotes:
Sam Gamgee: "It's like the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn't want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad has happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer. I know now folks in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding on to something. That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for."

Gandalf: "I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil."

Gandalf: "Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement."

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

 

[Martin Marprelate]

Great post! I love LOTR!
It's a long time since I read the book or saw the films, but I always think of Sauron's forces besieging Minas Tirith as being like Revelation 20:7-9.

Another book/film/musical which has Christian themes is Les Miserables. Jean Valjean is the man who has been shown grace (from the Bishop) and he can no longer lead the life he formerly lived. Despite being constantly oppressed by the Law, in the form of Javert, and sin in the form of the evil Threnadiers, and maybe also worldly aspirations in the form of the students, nevertheless he is preserved by God and received into heaven.

 

[canadyjd]

Great post! I love LOTR!
It's a long time since I read the book or saw the films, but I always think of Sauron's forces besieging Minas Tirith as being like Revelation 20:7-9…...

In that battle, remember the siege engines that were pushed to the wall and a huge door fell upon the top of the wall and the orcs came rushing in?

I had a Greek professor tell us (long before the movie) that those types of siege engines were called “gates” and were often used by the Romans.

So when Jesus said, “the gates of hell shall not prevail…” against the church, this professor was convinced Jesus was referring to these siege engines. Makes sense to me.

Peace to you

 

[Deacon]

"...I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history, true or feigned, with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse 'applicability' with 'allegory'; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author. ...

...it has been supposed by some that "The Scouring of the Shire" reflects the situation in England at the time when I was finishing my tale. It does not. It is an essential part of the plot, foreseen from the outset, though in the event modified by the character of Saruman as developed in the story without, need I say, any allegorical significance of contemporary political reference whatsoever. ..."
J.R.R. Tolkien, in the foreword to The Fellowship of the Ring, 1965 Collector's Edition. p. 5​

 

[DaveXR650]

Another book/film/musical which has Christian themes is Les Miserables. Jean Valjean is the man who has been shown grace (from the Bishop) and he can no longer lead the life he formerly lived. Despite being constantly oppressed by the Law, in the form of Javert, and sin in the form of the evil Threnadiers, and maybe also worldly aspirations in the form of the students, nevertheless he is preserved by God and received into heaven.

Yes. In the recent BBC version it's quite a scene when he's brought back to the Bishop after stealing and getting caught, and the Bishop, who has him dead to rights for repaying his hospitality like that instead says "You forgot the candlesticks".

 

[kyredneck]

"...I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history...."

Ah, I consider it to be a manifestation of this truth:

9 That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Ecc 1

From the standpoint of that truth alone, there's a parallel to be found in every story plot that's ever been told. Good versus evil, a very old, ancient, story plot.

 

[Cathode]

Lembas Bread
"Eat little at a time, and only at need. For these things are given to serve you when all else fails. The cakes will keep sweet for many many days, if they are unbroken and left in their leaf-wrappings, as we have brought them. One will keep a traveler on his feet for a day of long labour, even if he be one of the tall Men of Minas Tirith."
Elven Bread or WayBread for travelling.

One bight will sustain a man for a day.

Catholic understanding of the Eucharist, new daily bread at Mass each day, the proto Eucharist being Israel sustained by daily bread in the desert on their journey to the promised Land.

 

[Cathode]

Interesting as well that Lembas wafer was wrapped and carried in Mallorn leaves, Mallorn being the “ Golden tree “

It is the image of the gold Ciborium carrying the Eucharist. It could be made of silver or gold, but inner part of this sacred vessel is always gold.
The Mallorn leaf has silver under leaves and on the bark, but the leaves turn to gold autumn.

“Mellyrn were similar to beech trees in that their bark was smooth and silver-grey, but their leaves, which were green above and silver beneath, were much larger and longer than those of beech trees and turned a clear gold in autumn. The golden leaves did not fall like those of other deciduous trees; they remained on the tree throughout the winter. They fell only in the spring, when golden flowers bloomed on the branches and new leaves sprouted, turning the entire forest a bright gold. Mallorn trees were more alive and had a greater presence than other trees. Frodo Baggins explained that he could feel the "life of the tree" when he touched a mallorn in Lothlórien. “ wiki

 

[kyredneck]

the Christian Themes

Though definitely not a 'Christian' movie, I've thought 'The 'Matrix' has some Christian themes.

 

[Cathode]

The three Christ like figures in LOTR.

Frodo: Carrying the burden of the ring and eventually destroying it. Is like Jesus carrying the burden of our sins and sacrificing Himself to free us.

Gandalf: Sacrificing Himself in the caves. His death and resurrection and a transfiguration of sorts where he a appears to his friends as blinding white light, Gandalf the white then emerges.

Aragon: The returning King descending to the dead and releasing them from the curse. Obvious one. The way was shut and Jesus opened it.

Lord of the Rings is saturated with Catholic symbolism.

In the High Elvish tongue the Lembas Bread is called “Life bread “ or “ Bread of Life “, which is a direct allusion to the Eucharist, which we literally believe and call “ The Bread of Life “.

Tolkien apparently wrote this to his sons later in life.
“Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament ( ie The Eucharist )There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth…”

The Eucharist being at the absolute heart of sustaining Christian life, we see Tolkien put it in Lord of the Rings as the only sustainment for Sam and Frodo travelling through Mordor.

In the book it also mentions that this Lembas bread feeds the will more than it feeds the body. So many allusions to Tolkien’s Catholic Faith, and there’s many more. But if someone was going create a world for a story, Tolkien truly went the whole hog.

I saw a link between the beautiful ancient shattered ruins of Elvish high culture and beautiful ancient ruins of Catholic high culture. Tolkien as a medievalist would have been acutely aware of the terrible vandalism of the most beautiful Catholic Cathedrals, Monasteries and Abbeys after the Protestant rebellions.

I know Jesus doesn’t care about things however beautiful they are, as much He cares about souls. But I can’t help but feel that we have lost something of great beauty and culture, and the world is uglier for it.
Even in ruins these ancient Catholic monuments speak of a beauty and the possibility of the world to come. They still elevate the mind as the builders intended.
Today we are high tech barbarians and have extremely low culture, with perhaps small pockets persisting like Elvish strongholds.