The Biblical Symbolism of JRR Tolkien

"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king."

JRR Tolkien- The Fellowship of the Ring

Tolkien was a catholic. He often "had words" with his best friend and author of Chronicals of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, and Mere Christianity, CS Lewis.

If Tolkien were alive today, I am sure he and I would have words, too. But the magnitude and depth of his writings of the story of The Lord of the Rings has often impressed me.

I liked the books and movies (way too much) before being born again - since then I do not find much pleasure in reading or watching anything non biblical. I haven't read much of anything since 2011 but the Bible but I do find I can still enjoy these movies (though I know they aren't 100% true to Tolkien's tales)

Are you familiar with him and these works? What are your thoughts on Him telling Lewis his writings were too "obvious"? Clearly with the lion being figure of Jesus, I like that too but am not as familiar with those books though I read one too I believe.

There was something about how Tolkien wrote. And now I see many ways he could've weaved the scriptures into his work. I could be wrong and hopeful but just sharing.

Thoughts if any?

I like Tolkien, but Lewis better. Probably because I knew Lewis first. The Screwtape Letters have particular significance to me. A professor of mine told me to read them, at the time, I did not know the professor was a Christian or Lewis, either. As much classic children's fiction I read as a child, I missed Narnia somehow and read the series as an adult.

I read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series years ago after the films came out. I WAS able to see Christian themes in the story, but it may only be because I had been saved since 12 years old.

I think there is nothing wrong with Lewis being obvious. In today's world, there are so many people who are unchurched, that the death and resurrection of Aslan is not really that obvious. It is Christian allegory, and I think it is well done. All the books in the series are quite good- exploring all sorts of disparate themes in Christianity.

I have a nonfiction book called The Inklings about Tolkien and Lewis' group at (Oxford, or was it Cambridge). I'm excited about reading it, I bet it would have been a treat to be a fly on the wall and listen to them speak. In his day, Lewis was considered the foremost Christian apologist. His writing is brilliant, and I want to read more. Especially, Mere Christianity.

I like tolkien better lol. I could never get into Narnia. I think its cool that the two authors were freinds, and faught in WWI. I read that Lewis even tried to get Tolkien to be more religious

Tolkien was a Christian before Lewis, and he constantly tried to persuade Lewis to come over to "mother church", so in a way, Tolkien tried to get Lewis to become more religious.

I like that they continued to be friends, although one was a Catholic and one was a Protestant. I have to admit, I haven't read Tolkien as much as I've read Lewis.

Actually Tokiens RC faith influenced Lewis who was an atheist to christian faith. Their "words" came about because Lewis chose the Anglican church.

I used the lotr trilogy as part of my homeschooling curriculum. Christian symbolism is all through the books. Love them, the movies too.

I have been a big fan of Tolkien even before I became a Christian. I do prefer his fantasy work over CS Lewis's fantasy works . One of the cool things I found out about Tolkien was that he worked on the translation team for the Jerusalem Bible for the RCC . He worked on one book ( Jonah ) and was believed to have smaller contributions on other OT books . He still remains one of my favorite authors.
Blessings
Bill

Lol when my youngest and I were reading the Two Towers he looked me and said " they've been walking for 6 pages.

I first read LOTR and the Hobbit as a teenager (a long time ago) before I was saved. I have since re-read both books many times for enjoyment. I have also read many of C. S. Lewis's works.

A few things that came to mind as I read:

Tom Bombadil & Goldberry are Adam and Eve.
The elves are angels.
Aragorn is a type of Christ at the second coming.
The ring represents the temptations and power of the old sin nature.
The hobbits are like you and me, just ordinary people who are capable of doing extraordinary things.

Tolkien as a Catholic believed that theology should be left to the priests. I totally disagree with him . The great commission was given to everyone, and we are all responsible for "preaching" the gospel to an unsaved world. That is how I write my stories; I've given up writing fantasy because I cannot in good conscience either "make up" a god to go into my world nor transplant God the LORD into a fictions world, but in my opinion C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien are unsurpassed masters at it, being able to portray their monotheistic worldview in a fantasy world without confusion of blasphemy.

That Tolkien had religious overtones in his books is absolutely undeniable. If you have trouble finding them in The Lord of the Rings, try The Silmarillion; it is literally jam-packed full during the first chapter. Since he was a Roman Catholic, I do not agree with him on some points such as he obviously believed it was ok to pray to saints and that enters into his works. If you still can't see the Christian world view, read his poem Mythopea (and do it with a good commentary or lecture, preferably!) That was poem Tolkien wrote to try to convinced C. S. Lewis that Christianity was more than a myth. Tolkien himself said that such things as eucatastrophe (everything going wrong and suddenly righting itself), were powerful because of Christianity and the Resurrection of Christ.

All that being said, C. S. Lewis is indeed more obvious, somewhat because he saw his audience as children, (even though they are far underrated when they are viewed as "children's lit").

So yes, there's the low-down from a Tolkien fanatic and a Lewis lover. I've been studying both of them separately and comparatively for almost a decade for what it's worth