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Old 10-29-2002, 10:20 PM   #33
Melichus
Haunting Spirit
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Maryland
Posts: 54
Melichus has just left Hobbiton.
Tolkien

Quote:
I know there is great controversy as to whether there was intentional religious meaning in Tolkien's works, but thought that as I have such a great intrest in Tolkien's works that it may be appropriate.

The work doesn't have to be definitive and I aim to give all views on the matter, including that Tolkien himself said that it was not meant to be a religious work, but to give morals etc.

First, I'll say that topics like this never fail to interest me... many thanks for bringing this up.

Almost everyone gets something different out of Lord of the Rings, whether Tolkien meant these things or not. And, like they say, what really matters is what we get out of the work, regardless of what the author's original intent/ideology was.
Since Tolkien was a Christian, there is some argument for the opinion that his works purposefully reflected certain Christian ideals, even if he said that he was not inspired by his religious beliefs. In my opinion, whatever his driving ideas were behind the production of LOTR are of secondary inportance, though they are nonetheless an interesting topic for debate. This is because the ideals brought forth in LOTR are not necessarily Christian. Indeed, they are not constrained to any set religion--they are ideas that transcend the concept of religious worship and God and extend to all creeds, all of humanity. These ideals-- courage to rise up and defend one's world and way of life, devotion and loyalty to friends, hope for an end to suffering, to name a few--are ideals that all can understand and aspire to, regardless of religion. I am agnostic, yet the "Christian" ideas presented in LOTR have given my mind a different perspective and my life an added meaning. This, to me, is the real power of LOTR--the ability to reach out to all people, Christian or not, which is what I think Tolkien really wanted. So, to sum this up, I'll agree with Tolkien himself and tack a bit on, too: although his Christian ideals may have (and they almost certainly did) influenced his work on LOTR, the themes that he presented in the trilogy reached beyond "the bounds" of Christianity and religion and, whether he meant it or not, became ideas that any and all could find meaning with.
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"The other [theme] had now achieved a unity of its own; but it was loud, and vain, and endlessly repeated; and it had little harmony...and it essayed to drown the other music by the violence of its voice, but it seemed that its most triumphant notes were taken by the other and woven into its own solemn pattern..."
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