"Christian" Myth at the Multiplex

The Wall Street Journal ^ | December 6, 2002 | John J. Miller

[BaghdadBarney]

HOUSES OF WORSHIP

Myth at the Multiplex Tolkien poured Christian values into a pagan world.

BY JOHN J. MILLER Friday, December 6, 2002 12:01 a.m.

The movie version of "The Two Towers" opens on Dec. 18, the second installment in what is already a blockbuster J.R.R. Tolkien film trilogy. The new movie begins (at least it did at a recent screening) by replaying part of a scene from last year's "The Fellowship of the Ring." As his companions flee, the good wizard Gandalf turns to face the demonic Balrog and yells: "You cannot pass! I am a servant of the Secret Fire!" The line about the Secret Fire is a curious one. Gandalf certainly speaks it in Tolkien's novel, but its real meaning is never made clear on the book's pages, and certainly not on screen. That would seem to make it a prime candidate for the cutting-room floor, since director Peter Jackson must delete all kinds of material to cram Tolkien's epic into a few hours of film.

Yet the line is there--as it should be. As Bradley J. Birzer explains in "J.R.R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth" (ISI Books), it is "the most important religious statement in the book." The Secret Fire, Tolkien once told a friend, is really the Holy Spirit.

[BaghdadBarney]

"This is fantasy, and comparing the "secret fire" to part of the holy trinity seems wrong to me..."

So I take it you're not a big fan of C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia", "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", et al?

[Valin]

No offense meant to anyone.

Takes more than that to offend me. :-)
I've read two different reasons why Tolkien wrote these books.
1 He wanted to wirte a myth for England, as he thought that since the norman invasion all their myths were foreign.
2 Having invented Elvish he wanted to write elvish poetry.

Whatever the reason I am glad he did.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

"I'm a servant of the Secret Fire, weilder of the Flame of Anor."

Two seperate statements. The second, as a weilder, is refering to his Ring I believe. But he is not a servant to the Ring, indeed, he is not a servant to any but Manwe and Eru.

Manwe, the Valar that is in control of Middle-Earth, was well known as the "Sky God" of the Pantheon that the Valar comprised. His symbol were the Great Eagles and his domain the sky and wind.

Eru (the Creator of all), on the other hand, would not have been recognized by many in Middle-Earth, but surely would have been known to the Maiar. Since Gandalf and the Balrog were both Maiar, they would have understood a reference to Eru. The spirit of Eru, called the Secret Fire in the Silmarillion I believe, is what gave life to all living things in Middle-Earth.

It's not hard, therefore, see how a comparison could be made between "The Secret Fire" of Middle-Earth and the Holy Spirit of our world.

[Dialup Llama]

Another aspect of these two films is how well they have fit in with the horrific, current events and how much comfort the first film provided.

How can you look at the massed army of orcs (from the east) trying to destroy the cities of the West and not determine just who the orcs really are these days. The orcs even have their own religion founded by the demon influenced, former holy man Saurumon who provides the ideology for their jihad... errr I mean war.

[HairOfTheDog]

Tolkien drives me crazy with his habit of giving everything four names! It makes some of this stuff hard to follow even if one is trying really hard... Illuvitar=Eru, correct? Both mean the One creator?

One of my favorite lines from Silmarillion is the description given to Gandalf of his ring of power and how it will help them in his mission:

"'Take now this Ring,' he said; 'for thy labours and thy cares will be heavy, but in all it will support thee and defend thee from weariness. For this is the Ring of Fire, and herewith, maybe, thou shalt rekindle hearts to the valour of old in a world that grows chill. "

To me, that highlights exactly what Gandalf's real power in Middle Earth was, not in sparkly magic and lightning bolts, but in his ability to inspire greatness in the hearts of others. Gandalf's role is subtle, a mentoring that leads the hero to his own decision. I think Tolkien left it unsaid that Gandalf carried this power because for the hero to have known that there was a greater power at work could lead the reader to think that Gandalf was driving people through trickery, no more noble than Saruman's voice.

And yet Gandalf says "There are other forces at work besides the will of evil, and that is an encouraging thought" Clearly Gandalf is once again saying mysterious things without explaining all of their meanings, unless we dig deeper.

[BenLurkin]

Wasn't this guy was the servant of a "secret fire"?:

[ecurbh]

Ring Ping!!

[drjimmy]

Peter Jackson, the director, appears to grasp all this. His films can't be called religious, but they contain important moments of religious feeling.
I wonder if the writer has seen some of Peter Jackson's other films:

Bad Taste (1987)
Four dim-witted men from the New Zealand National Air and Space Defense League arrive in a small New Zealand fishing town to investigate a report of landing UFO's and take on a batallion-sized army of aliens who have massacred the town's population as part of their plans to use humans as part of their main ingredient for their intergalactic fast-food chain.

Braindead (1992)
A young man's mother is bitten by a "rat monkey." She gets sick and dies, at which time she comes back to life, killing and eating dogs, nurses, friends, and neighbors.

Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Based on the true story of Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker, two close friends who share a love of fantasy and literature, who conspire to kill Pauline's mother when she tries to end the girls' intense and obsessive relationship.

The Frighteners (1996)
A psychic private detective who consorts with deceased souls becomes engaged in a mystery as members of the town community begin dying mysteriously. While investigating, he is aided by a friendly doctor who believes in his psychic abilities and is hindered by a crazed G-Man, a woman involved in an old serial killing, and what may be the spirit of Death itself.

Perhaps Peter Jackson recognizes the importance of the Holy Spirit in Tolkien's allegory. More likely he recognizes a kick-ass line delivery by Ian McKellen as Gandalf.

[BenLurkin]

Now "Ring" of fire I understand.
Just ask Mr. Cash:

Love is a burnin' thing, And it makes a fiery ring
Bound by wild desire -- I fell into a ring of fire.

I fell into a burnin' ring of fire

-- I went down, down, down And the flames went higher,
And it burns, burn, burns, The ring of fire, the ring of fire.

The taste of love is sweet When hearts like ours meet.
I fell for you like a child -- Oh, but the fire ran wild.

I fell into a burnin' ring of fire

-- I went down, down, down And the flames went higher,
And it burns, burn, burns, The ring of fire, the ring of fire.

I fell into a burnin' ring of fire

-- I went down, down, down, And the flames went higher,
And it burns, burn, burns, The ring of fir, the ring of fire.

The ring of fire (and Fade)

[xkaydet65]

I would place C.S Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet; The Hideous Strength; Perelandra at the top of the list for Genesis allegorical literature.

[ican'tbelieveit]

Fantastic reads.

[ican'tbelieveit]

Can you imagine trying to make a movie from those books?

[ksen]

It's kind of funny that this article got posted today. We just began talking about The Silmarillion today over here. I also wondered about the connection between the secret fire and the Holy Spirit here.

Here is where Tolkien mentions the secret fire the first time in The Silmarillion(Near the end of the fourth paragraph of the "Ainulindale":

Never since have the Ainur made any music like to this music, thought 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. Then the themes of Iluvatar shall be played aright, and take Being in the moment of their utterance, for all shall then understand fully his intent in their part, and each shall know the comprehension of each, and Iluvatar shall give to their thoughts the secret fire, being well pleased.

So it seems that the secret fire has something to do with knowledge, which is also one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit.

Wielder of the Flame of Anor is interesting as well. I am not so sure if it refers to the Ring of Fire or not. Anor was another name for Minas Anor (Tower of the Sun), which was changed to Minas Tirith after the Nazgul had taken over Minas Ithil and changed it to Minas Morgul.

[CyberCowboy777]

Tolkien loved mythology and believed that hints of truth were hidden in much of it. He used this line of thinking in some known discussions with C.S. Lewis.

I may be wrong here but I think he felt most mythology was a allegory at some level or another.

[CyberCowboy777]

"Tolkien once wrote to a Jesuit friend, is a "fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first but consciously in the revision.""

[Lil'freeper]

On the theme of Fire and the Sun: Originally the light of the world rested in two trees which Melkor (the evil spirit) killed. Before they died, one bore a great silver flower that became the moon, the other a "fire-golden fruit" named Anar that became the sun. Vessels were prepared that would sail through the sky and carry each on an appointed course. Two from the Maiar were chosen to guide the ships.

To bear Anar, "Arien the maiden was...chosen because she had not feared the heats of Laurelin [the name of one of the trees of light], and was unhurt by them, being from the beginning a spirit of fire. Too bright were the eyes of Arien for even the Eldar to look on, and leaving Valinor she forsook the form and rainment...and she was as a naked flame, terrible in the fullness of her splendour.... Then Anar arose in glory, and the first dawn of the Sun was like a great fire upon the towers of the Pelori: the clouds of Middle-earth were kindled, and there was heard the sound of many waterfalls." - The Silmarillion Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor

So the light of the world was struck down by evil, but was lifted up in glory, by a spirit of fire, to give light to the world once more. Such a wonderful theme to have as a backdrop for such wonderful stories. Tolkien wished to avoid allegory, seeking 'application' instead. He was immeasurably successful.

[SkyPilot]

My 6 year old watched FOTR, and said:

"Daddy, Sauron is supposed to be Satan, right? And the elves are jus like da angels--right Daddy?"

Anyone who can't see the Christian themes in Tolkien is either blind or kidding themselves.

What I find interesting are the PC critics of Tolkien. Western-like characters are the GOOD (the Shire is very English, elvish is close to Dutch, etc), while the language of Mordor is a amalagmation of Arabic and Russian:

Ash nazg durbaturluk
Ash nazg thrakatuluk agh burzum-
ishi krimputal

Tolkien also describes the characters of Far Harad in very Arabic terms.

[Lil'freeper]

There is a possibly synonymous fire reference scattered about- a Flame Imperishable that Melkor hungered after- that is associated with the act of creation and is also called the Secret Fire.

"Therefore I say: Ea! Let these things Be! And I will send forth into the Void the Flame Imperishable, and it shall be at the heart of the World, and the World shall Be; and those of you that will may go down into it.' And suddenly the Ainur saw afar off a light, as it were a cloud with a living heart of flame; and they knew this was no vision only, but that Iluvatar had made a new thing: Ea, the World that Is." -The Silmarillion, Ainulindale

"Therefore Iluvatar gave to their vision Being, and set it amid the Void, and the Secret Fire was sent to burn at the heart of the World; and it was called Ea." -The Silmarillion, Valaquenta

I'll try to find the references, but the greater part of Melkor's evil was driven by a desire to posess the fire and make creations of his own. Ultimately he could only twist and pervert what others made.

[CyberCowboy777]

....but the greater part of Melkor's evil was driven by a desire to posess the fire and make creations of his own. Ultimately he could only twist and pervert what others made.

Interesting parallel to the desire and actions of Satan.