I just thought it would spark interesting conversations.
A few facts about the author first:
- Tolkien was a very devout Catholic. He embraced Catholicism especially much, because his beloved and deceased mother was a Catholic too, and she taught him many things and encouraged him in his path of studying literature and languages.
- Tolkien managed to convert his Atheist friend CS Lewis as a Christian. Though Lewis did not choose to become a Catholic, but an Anglican.
Now about similarities or connections between Eä, his fantasy universe, and the Bible:
- Religions. Eä is monotheistic, though some worship the Valar as gods. In fact the Valar are more like archangels (Tolkien said this himself) - each come from a fragment of thought of Eru, the one god, and are guardians and caretakers of their own elements and moods.
- The elves. Tolkien took influence from the Poetic Edda, Aos Sí and some other national epics, but he actually described the elves as unfallen humans. They are his idea of what mankind would have been like if it wouldn't have fallen to sin. They are highly loyal to their spouses, and not even death can part them. Even if they do get killed, they can be resurrected - unless a punishment from sin prevents that.
- Mankind. The idea of sin being associated with death (like in the Bible) repeats in the story of the awakening of men. They used to live longer before they started following the first dark lord Morgoth. Even more than that, an ancient legend of men in Middle-Earth suggests that Men would originally have been like elves in the ways of being immortal. Remember how long Adam and Eve lived?
- Fallen angels. You remember Lucifer becoming Satan. In a similar way the Vala Melkor becomes Morgoth and "the fallen angel", the first dark lord. Mairon follows him and falls as well, and becomes known as Sauron. Both are jealous and power hungry, seeking to destroy or pervert anything that Eru, or the Valar loyal to him, have created. That's also the story behind orcs, I guess it can be compared to the nephilim?
- Someone like Jesus in a prophecy. This is what really stood out for me. In one of the writings of History of Middle-Earth an elven king and an elderly human wisewoman are debating on things. In here, the woman tells something about "the Old Hope", that Eru would send someone to save all his children, and that this hope would come from the mankind. In a similar way, the elf describes that Eru would somehow enter his creation himself. Sum these two together, and you know what you'll get.
Actually, Tolkien said himself that he did want to stop in this point, because it was becoming too much like a parody of Christianity in his eyes, and he hated allegory. He also wanted to stop when some versions of the newer Middle-Earth stories were becoming too dark for himself.
Some conspiracy theorists have linked Tolkien to Illuminati because of the Eye of Sauron in Lord of the Rings... but I think that's ridiculous, when I know much about the man himself. He followed Christian values and taught Christian values in his stories. He was actually determined to do just that without making it too obvious.
Besides, the Eye was defeated by knowing the blind spots of evil, and resisting the thoughts of evil. Even Gandalf, though called a wizard, wasn't an occultist, but actually one of the unfallen angels in a disguise of an old man.
Anyway, tell us what you think.
A few facts about the author first:
- Tolkien was a very devout Catholic. He embraced Catholicism especially much, because his beloved and deceased mother was a Catholic too, and she taught him many things and encouraged him in his path of studying literature and languages.
- Tolkien managed to convert his Atheist friend CS Lewis as a Christian. Though Lewis did not choose to become a Catholic, but an Anglican.
Now about similarities or connections between Eä, his fantasy universe, and the Bible:
- Religions. Eä is monotheistic, though some worship the Valar as gods. In fact the Valar are more like archangels (Tolkien said this himself) - each come from a fragment of thought of Eru, the one god, and are guardians and caretakers of their own elements and moods.
- The elves. Tolkien took influence from the Poetic Edda, Aos Sí and some other national epics, but he actually described the elves as unfallen humans. They are his idea of what mankind would have been like if it wouldn't have fallen to sin. They are highly loyal to their spouses, and not even death can part them. Even if they do get killed, they can be resurrected - unless a punishment from sin prevents that.
- Mankind. The idea of sin being associated with death (like in the Bible) repeats in the story of the awakening of men. They used to live longer before they started following the first dark lord Morgoth. Even more than that, an ancient legend of men in Middle-Earth suggests that Men would originally have been like elves in the ways of being immortal. Remember how long Adam and Eve lived?
- Fallen angels. You remember Lucifer becoming Satan. In a similar way the Vala Melkor becomes Morgoth and "the fallen angel", the first dark lord. Mairon follows him and falls as well, and becomes known as Sauron. Both are jealous and power hungry, seeking to destroy or pervert anything that Eru, or the Valar loyal to him, have created. That's also the story behind orcs, I guess it can be compared to the nephilim?
- Someone like Jesus in a prophecy. This is what really stood out for me. In one of the writings of History of Middle-Earth an elven king and an elderly human wisewoman are debating on things. In here, the woman tells something about "the Old Hope", that Eru would send someone to save all his children, and that this hope would come from the mankind. In a similar way, the elf describes that Eru would somehow enter his creation himself. Sum these two together, and you know what you'll get.
Actually, Tolkien said himself that he did want to stop in this point, because it was becoming too much like a parody of Christianity in his eyes, and he hated allegory. He also wanted to stop when some versions of the newer Middle-Earth stories were becoming too dark for himself.
Some conspiracy theorists have linked Tolkien to Illuminati because of the Eye of Sauron in Lord of the Rings... but I think that's ridiculous, when I know much about the man himself. He followed Christian values and taught Christian values in his stories. He was actually determined to do just that without making it too obvious.
Besides, the Eye was defeated by knowing the blind spots of evil, and resisting the thoughts of evil. Even Gandalf, though called a wizard, wasn't an occultist, but actually one of the unfallen angels in a disguise of an old man.
Anyway, tell us what you think.
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