"A fundamentally religious and Catholic work" - Who is the saviour in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

Contents:

1.  Introduction  

2.  Potential Saviours  

2.1  Frodo  

2.2  Gandalf  

3.  Comparison of the characters  

4.  Conclusion is there one single saviour character  

5.  Sources literature  

1.  Introduction  

  Tolkien himself wrote in one of his letters: The Lord of the Rings is of course  a

  fundamentally religious and Catholic work unconsciously so at first but consciously in  the

  revision That is why I have not put in or have cut out practically all references to anything  

  like religion to cults or practices in the imaginary world For the religious element  is

  absorbed into the story and the symbolism  1

  Tolkien was a Catholic to whom religion was a very important part of his life Considering  

  this background it seems logical to assume he made religion an important part of his stories  

  too But Tolkien states that he deliberately left out religion of the imaginary world and  only

  included it on a meta-level This means that we will not find direct references to religion  or

  Christianity in The Lord of the Rings but still Christian ethics and values maybe as well  as

  myths and stories can be found on many levels and as parallels to different story lines  The

  base of all Christian religion and belief is the person Jesus Christ who saved all men  from

  death by taking their sins and burdens and eliminating them in his death and resurrection  If

  Tolkien can call The Lord of the Rings a fundamentally religious and Catholic work  one

  could argue that this base of Christian religion has to be found somewhere in his story In  this

  paper I would like to discuss if there is anything like a single saviour character in The  Lord

1  J R R Tolkien Letter  142

  3  

of the Rings, how and by which features one might identify him or her, and which function he or she was given.

2. Potential Saviours

In the bible, Jesus is characterised in many different ways and has many important features: He is called, and calls himself, the ‘Son of God’. This means that he has a special and very intimate relationship to God. He is also called ‘David’s Son’ and ‘Messiah’. The Messiah is a chosen king the Jewish people has long been waiting for. He is supposed to come as a messenger directly from God, and he will start God’s kingdom on earth. But this king has to be a descendant of the old king David in order to fulfil the old prophecies:

Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His

kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. 2

In Jesus’ life, the most important events are his Christening, his travels through Galilee where he told people about the coming kingdom of God and gave signs of it, e.g. by healing people, and then of course his death as a representative for all men’s sins and his resurrection. When comparing Jesus to some characters in The Lord of the Rings, many of these features can be found, and it is not only one character that seems worth investigating. Of course, Frodo is an obvious choice, because he is – if you can speak of this at all – the main character in the book. Then there is Gandalf, and also Aragorn, the lawful King of men.

As the scale of this paper is limited, I will concentrate on Frodo and Gandalf, because these characters show the most interesting parallels to the biblical saviour and, being a Hobbit and a Wizard, are quite different.

2.1 Frodo

Frodo sacrifices himself to the task of saving the world from the dark powers, and so he is the Ring-bearer, he alone can defeat Sauron by destroying the ring of power. When regarding it like this, it seems obvious that Frodo plays the role of the saviour. And indeed, when comparing him to the Christian saviour Jesus Christ, one can find some striking parallels:

2 New King James Bible, Isaiah 9,7a

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The one Ring is a symbol for the evil. It has immense powers, and it has to be destroyed in order to save the whole world and all beings from eternal enslavement to the evil powers. Frodo carries this ring, and despite its size, it is a heavy burden to carry. Also, the ring becomes even heavier the longer Frodo is carrying it.

According to orthodox believes, Jesus took the sins of all men away and carried them himself. Also, before he died as a representative for all men and for their sins, he had to carry his cross (John 19, 17), a symbol for his burden.

The task Frodo fulfils in The Lord of the Rings is similar to the one Jesus fulfils: They both save the world and all beings by destroying the power of evil over people forever. Jesus gives his life for this task, and in some ways Tolkien makes clear that Frodo also sacrifices his life, at least his old normal life. Frodo is hurt on Weathertop, and the wound he receives is described by Gandalf as one that he will never really recover from:

[Frodo] was smiling, and there seemed to be little wrong with him. But to the wizard’s eye there was a faint change, just as a hint as it were of transparency, about him, and especially about the left hand that lay outside upon the coverlet.

‘Still that must be expected,’ said Gandalf to himself. ‘He is not half through yet, and to what he will come in the end not even Elrond can foretell. Not to evil, I think. He may become like a glass filled with a clear light for eyes to see that can.’ 3 After returning to the Shire and living there for some time, Frodo realises that this life is not his anymore, and he joins the elves on their trip across the ocean. In biblical mythology, crossing the water is a symbol for death, especially as in the saying ‘crossing Jordan’: “I am today eighty years old. Can I discern between the good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I hear any longer the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be a further burden to my lord the king?

Your servant will go a little way across the Jordan with the king. And why should the king repay me with such a reward?

Please let your servant turn back again, that I may die in my own city, near the grave of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what seems good to you." 4

During Elrond’s council, Elrond says: ‘I think that this task is appointed for you, Frodo; and that if you do not find a way, no one will.’ 5 Carrying the ring and destroying it is Frodo’s destiny, it is the task of his life. This also makes him similar to the biblical Messiah, whose destiny and one important task in life it is to take man’s sins and eliminate them forever. Both these characters have this one task to fulfil in their lives, and with it they decide the fate of all beings in the world.

3 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Harper Collins Publishers, London 2001. p.217 (book 2, chapter 1) 4 New King James Bible, 2 Samuel 19, 35-37 5 The Lord of the Rings, p.264 (book 2, chapter 2)

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