Lotr fans...ready on...help? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

littlemanpoet · 02-06-2002, 06:39 PM

Archetype and allegory are different things. You're probably aware of Tolkien's distinction between allegory and application, which works out that there is no allegory in LOTR, but there are many applications, such as both world wars, the nuclear arms race, racism, the creation and maintenance of free societies, and so on.

Archetype, on the other hand, is a psychological concept worked out most vigorously, I believe, by Carl Jung. The most important archetypes are: the hero, the shadow, the anima, the animus, and the old man. There are others. In LOTR the hero is seen in Aragorn and Frodo, the shadow (the same-gender alter-ego to the hero) is seen in Gollum, the anima (the feminine counterpart to the hero) is seen in Galadriel, especially at her Mirror (she is the light anima whereas Shelob is the dark anima), and the old man is obviously Gandalf. That's only a start. There are many other archtypes, and the characters in LOTR are not limited to how they portray these archetypes. Myth and fantasy do more with archetypes than modern novel-type fiction.

[ February 06, 2002: Message edited by: littlemanpoet ]

02-06-2002, 06:39 PM	#3
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	Archetype and allegory are different things. You're probably aware of Tolkien's distinction between allegory and application, which works out that there is no allegory in LOTR, but there are many applications, such as both world wars, the nuclear arms race, racism, the creation and maintenance of free societies, and so on. Archetype, on the other hand, is a psychological concept worked out most vigorously, I believe, by Carl Jung. The most important archetypes are: the hero, the shadow, the anima, the animus, and the old man. There are others. In LOTR the hero is seen in Aragorn and Frodo, the shadow (the same-gender alter-ego to the hero) is seen in Gollum, the anima (the feminine counterpart to the hero) is seen in Galadriel, especially at her Mirror (she is the light anima whereas Shelob is the dark anima), and the old man is obviously Gandalf. That's only a start. There are many other archtypes, and the characters in LOTR are not limited to how they portray these archetypes. Myth and fantasy do more with archetypes than modern novel-type fiction. [ February 06, 2002: Message edited by: littlemanpoet ]