Divine Mercy in the Lord of the Rings (article by Joseph Pearce)

Friends of Mercy Newsletter - Vol. 15, No. 7 | November/December 2003 | Joseph Perace

[My back yard]

Great thread but will check back into it later. I have a few things to say but no time for it.

[Pyro7480]

Very interesting article - thanks for posting it!

Thank you for your kind words. I didn't know that this article would generate this much discussion, but I'm very happy it has. Thank you Maximilian! ;-)

[ItsOurTimeNow]

The Secret Fire is the Holy Spirit, according to Tolkien.

Can you point me to where he said this?

Not doubting you, I'd just like confirmation...last I knew this wasn't proven, and the Secret Fire debate raged on.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Were Saruman and Radagast and Sauron also Maia? The story doesn't say so.

Yes, yes, and yes.

[Maximilian]

Though the statement was probably made in ignorance, her assessment is true of Tolkien's last years.

Agreed. But once again irrelevant to the Lord of the Rings.

traditionalist Catholics should emulate Tolkien's example in remaining a loyal and practicing Catholic

No one is saying that Tolkien was not "a loyal and practicing Catholic." The question is: "Can one read the Lord of the Rings as an allegory of Christian themes?" Many other loyal Catholics have written books that likewise were not allegories of Christian themes. This is not a criticism of Tolkien, it's a criticism of Joseph Pearce and others who misread the books and try to find something that's not there.

[MrConfettiMan]

Ring Ping.

[ahadams2]

perhaps I'm mistaken, but I did not read that as Gandalf being the servant of another ring (shades of Mordor) but rather that the ring symbolized who and what he served.

[jboot]

Were Saruman and Radagast and Sauron also Maia? The story doesn't say so.

Yes. According to the essay "Of the Istari," published posthumously in one of the volumes of "Unfinished Tales" (although I know longer recall precisely which one. Gandalf was Olorin (sp?) the Maia, and a favorite of Varda the Queen of the Valar. She arranged for him to be part of the expedition of the Istari (wizards) against his will. He was the only one who remained steadfast in his purpose and was rewarded with permission to return to Valinor. (In RotK we find the spirit of the dead Saruman striving vainly to return as well, but a "cold wind from the west" (obviously sent by the vengeful Valar, or even Eru) disperses him forever.)

However, your point that this is not in the triolgy is well taken.

[Maximilian]

According to the essay "Of the Istari," published posthumously in one of the volumes of "Unfinished Tales"... However, your point that this is not in the trilogy is well taken.

Thank you.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

but I did not read that as Gandalf being the servant of another ring (shades of Mordor) but rather that the ring symbolized who and what he served.

Narya, Vilya, and Nenya were made by the elves outside the influence of Sauron.

They allowed the Elven kingdoms to retain their power, until the One ring was destroyed.

[ahadams2]

I'm sorry I wasn't clear - it's not where the rings came from but rather that Gandalf served a Who (the Secret Fire), rather than a what (a ring).

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Ah! Ok...gotcha.

My opinion is that the rings, while physical objects, could also be considered a "who", given the immense power they contained, and the influence they had. The One Ring most of all.

Just my $.02

[Pyro7480]

Tolkien admitted that the Secret Fire is the Holy Spirit in a letter to Clyde Kilby, the English professor who I mentioned earlier on this thread. The source cited is the book edited by Humphrey Carpenter, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, printed by Houghton Mifflin.

[RosieCotton]

I'm going to take a middle-of-the-road stance here for a sec...though I'm not as good at expressing myself as many here seem to be.

First off, I don't believe there are truly direct parallels between Catholicism and LOTR. It isn't an allegory like, say, some of CS Lewis' books. It isn't overtly Catholic or Christian, nor did Tolkien mean it to be.

It is, however, an intrinsically moral work. There are clear lines between good and evil, and many moral themes, rooted in Tolkien's Catholicism - the forgiveness, mercy and redemption mentioned in this article being just a few.

[Corin Stormhands]

It is, however, an intrinsically moral work. There are clear lines between good and evil, and many moral themes, rooted in Tolkien's Catholicism - the forgiveness, mercy and redemption mentioned in this article being just a few.

Well said Rosie.

[RosieCotton]

Meant to also say that I don't think Joseph Pearce is trying to MAKE direct parallels...merely pointing out the common threads between LOTR and Catholicism.

[RosieCotton]

Thanks, Corin.

[Pyro7480]

I have a quote from Tolkien where he says that he did not intend LOTR as a "Christian" work, but because he is a Christian, that is reflected in his work.

That quote, which is, "I am a Christian and of course what I write will be from that essential viewpoint," is from a letter Tolkien wrote to the American evangelical Clive Kilby, who I mentioned early in the thread. Actually, I have a quote from a letter Tolkien wrote to a Jesuit friend. He said that The Lord of the Rings "is a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision."

Also, in an interview in 1997, close friend of Tolkien, George Sayer, stated that LOTR "would have been very different, and the writing of it very difficult, if Tolkien hadn't been a Christian. He [Tolkien] thought it a profoundly Christian book," and according to Tolkien's son Michael, Roman Catholicism "pervaded all [Tolkien's] thinking, beliefs, and everything else." Birzer's book also mentions that Tolkien was deeply disappointed by the fact that only a few Catholic publications reviewed LOTR when it first came out.

[Maximilian]

First off, I don't believe there are truly direct parallels between Catholicism and LOTR. It isn't an allegory like, say, some of CS Lewis' books. It isn't overtly Catholic or Christian, nor did Tolkien mean it to be.

Agreed.

It is, however, an intrinsically moral work. There are clear lines between good and evil, and many moral themes, rooted in Tolkien's Catholicism - the forgiveness, mercy and redemption mentioned in this article being just a few.

I see it as an intrinsically gnostic work. The duality and the struggle between good and evil is more symptomatic of gnostic thinking than Christian thinking. Primary in this scheme is the idea that evil somewhere out there not in our own hearts. There are a couple of ambiguous characters, but for the most part the "good" characters do not show any signs of original sin. This is most clear with the elves, of course, but also prevalent with the other characters.

Anecdotal evidence supporting my theory is that my Catholic friend who is a big Tolkien fan has also become now a big Matrix fan, and The Matrix is an avowedly gnostic work. To me this indicates the danger of reading your own preferences into a literary work and failing to recognize the dangerous ambiguities that would be apparent when one takes a more objective stance.

[Pyro7480]

No one is saying that Tolkien was not "a loyal and practicing Catholic.

I was actually directing those comments towards everyone on the Religion Forum who are traditionalists of various stripes.