[rhema]

Will you catch the midnight opening-night performance, Dan?

[Miss Marple]

I have always liked John Rhys-Davies. I am pleased to see that he understands the war on terror and the importance of western civilization.

[what's up]

Good for Gimli!

Bad for Gandalf the gay.

[Eala]

On the other hand, John Rhys-Davies, who plays Gimli the dwarf, seemed to reveal a deeper understanding of at least some of Tolkien's themes. He related the Middle Earth myth to the rise of Islam in the modern world: "I think that Tolkien says that some generations will be challenged and if they do not rise to meet that challenge they will lose their civilization. That does have a real resonance with me.... What is unconscionable is that too many of your fellow journalists do not understand how precarious Western civilization is.... The abolition of slavery comes from Western democracy. True Democracy comes from our Greco-Judeo-Christian-Western experience. If we lose these things, then this is a catastrophe for the world.

"And if it just means replacement of one genetic stock with another genetic stock, I don't think that matters too much. But if it involves the replacement of Western civilization with different cultural values then it's something we really ought to discuss because ... I am for dead white male culture! If Tolkien's got a message, it's that sometimes you've got to stand up and fight for what you believe in."

Seemed to reveal? This (ahem, Celtic *\;-) actor, John Rhys-Davies, has put it right on target.

[4mycountry]

The ROTK movie comes out on my birthday. My family and I are gonna go see it. Yes!!

I'm ready for a Legolas close-up! ^o^

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[ecurbh]

Ring Ping!!

There and Back Again: The Journeys of Flat Frodo

Anyone wishing to be added to or removed from the Ring-Ping list, please don't hesitate to let me know.

[raybbr]

Whatever the personal convictions of the film's collaborators, not only will audiences find here virtues like valor, fealty, honor, and self-sacrifice, but also Tolkien's more explicitly Christian concepts of absolute truth, good and evil, and the sure hand of Providence.

Huh? I don't recall reading about elves, hobbits and wizards in the bible. This is a way-over-the-top analysis that is its own audience.

[Hoosier-Daddy]

Amazing that Ian does not see the wizard class AS a priest class. In the Hobbit, Gandalf gets Bilbo to do the right thing; in the LOTR he once again draws upon the inner strength of the hobbits to do what's right in the world. He missed what I think is a fairly obvious point to Tolkien's story. Did he read the books?

[Billthedrill]

Rhys-Davies seems to be the only one quoted who has an eye to the real implications of this epochal book. This is a subject that should properly consume a book of its own.

The thing abounds with Christian themes, as well it might as that was Tolkein's bulwark against the most evil times to come upon his own Shire for a thousand years, courtesy of Adolf Hitler. Loyalty - Sam, of course, and little less so all of the others. Temptation - Boromir fails that test, Galadriel passes. The place of the small in the vast sweep of events. The importance of mercy, of courage, of self-sacrifice, and of virtue without thought of reward.

And for me the deepest - redemption, and the struggle within between good and evil - Smeagol, Tolkein's most interesting character by far; in many ways the Trilogy is more his story than that of Frodo or Gandalf or Aragorn. Smeagol is the grand metaphor for the real human condition, beside whom the others are cardboard cutouts. Beyond a grotesque level of corruption there remains the spark of humanity which contends with betrayal, remorse, and in the end offers the character one last chance in conflict between the seduction of power and the triumph of humanity, and he is brought full circle and with only his own strength to shield him, fails. And yet even in doing so he is accomplishing what is plainly the will of God; Tolkein is really quite specific about that. This is a profoundly Christian message, and to miss it is simply to read just another fairy story. I'm afraid that's all it was to a couple of the actors quoted.

[Alouette]

explicitly Christian concepts of absolute truth, good and evil, and the sure hand of Providence.

Does this mean that absolute truth, good and evil and the sure hand of Providence are nowhere to be found in the Old Testament?

I don't see anything explicitly Christian in LOTR. Even the return of Elassar(Aragorn) to the throne of Gondor conforms more to the Judaic view of a human Messiah reclaiming the throne of David. The story itself contains many elements of Germanic, Norse and Celtic mythology but nothing explicitly Christian that I can identify. The romance (immortal woman chooses mortal lover and gives up immortality) is straight out of Die Walküre but not the Bible.

If Christians see a Christian message in LOTR, fine with me, but I wouldn't say that such a message is explicit.

[OXENinFLA]

LOTR:John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) Interview (MUST READ)Islam Vs. The West

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1042278/posts

[nutmeg]

LOTR ping!