The Lord of the Rings is full of Christian symbolism, ranging from the Threefold Office of priest, prophet, and king represented by Frodo, Gandalf, and Aragorn (respectively) as covered in Part I to the slew of “good guys” representing various Christian aspects and relationships as covered in Part II of this series. This Part III covers the darker aspects of Middle Earth and their connections to Christian concepts of evil.
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Christianity in The Lord of the Rings (Part II): The Good in Middle Earth
The Lord of the Rings has many characters with aspects reflecting a Christian worldview. In this Part II of Christianity in The Lord of the Rings, we’ll be exploring various allies of the Threefold Office (Gandalf, Aragorn, and Frodo) covered in Part I. Some bear similarities to prominent Christian figures, while most demonstrate the qualitiesContinue reading “Christianity in The Lord of the Rings (Part II): The Good in Middle Earth”
Christianity in The Lord of the Rings (Part I): The Threefold Office
J.R.R. Tolkien’s legacy-defining book The Lord of the Rings is not an explicitly Christian work. In fact, Tolkien disliked on-the-nose allegory, when a story contains a one-to-one function to some exterior idea and permits a message to lead the story. Nonetheless, in a 1953 letter responding to a Father Robert Murray, Tolkien admitted the followingContinue reading “Christianity in The Lord of the Rings (Part I): The Threefold Office”