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Since I didn't want to hijack the CS Lewis thread with my love of Tolkien
So that brings me to this, which is a good jumping off platform for fans of Tolkien interested in his intended or unintended Christian allegories: The Theology of Tolkien's work, starting with...
A brief summary of The Creation according to Tolkien's The Simarillion
There is one god, and his name is Eru (known also as Iluvatar). Iluvatar creates the Ainur, who are the offspring of his very thoughts. They are like a high order of angels. He teaches them a musical theme to participate and play in, but one of the Ainur, known as Melkor who is given the greatest knowledge of all the Ainur, strays from the theme to create his own music. His music causes discord in the theme and is not as beautiful as Iluvatar's, and some of the other Ainur join Melkor's theme.
Now, at this point, Melkor and his followers, while a little rebellious, are not completely out of Illuvatar's graces. Illuvatar shows all of the Ainur a vision of a place called Arda: Earth. They are shown it and all of the people who will live there, and he offers the Ainur the chance to inhabit it and govern it. Melkor, of course, wants all of Arda for himself, so when Iluvatar sends the Ainur to Arda, Melkor tries to disrupt their efforts of bringing Arda to order according to Iluvatar's plans. Iluvatar sets in Arda the “secret fire,” which is life-giving and sustaining to the world, which Melkor desires for himself but can not have, and pursues it in vain.
Of the Ainur sent to Arda, they were two main classes: Valar and Maiar. The Valar were the Greater of the Ainur, and were given lordship over important realms of Arda's development. For instance, the Vala Ulmo is Lord of the seas and oceans all over Arda. The Maiar are lesser beings that serve and aid the Valar. One Maiar who served Ulmo was Osse, and he was given particular authority over the waters surrounding Middle-Earth.
The only one of the Valar to turn against Iluvatar is, of course, Melkor, and he convinces some of the Maiar to follow him, particularly Sauron and the Balrogs. These, of course, play a major role in The Lord of the Rings.
Here, as you can surmise, Eru/Illuvatar is like God. The Ainur are like angels. The theme is like God's plan for the universe. Melkor is Lucifer and the Ainur who join his them are like the fallen angels who joined Lucifer against God. This is a little less precise than the Creation story of Christians, but still has important implications. We see that Melkor, wanting everything for himself is like Lucifer wanting to be like God. Melkor isn't happy with sharing governing abilities with the Ainur, he wants all or nothing. So, since he can not have it all, he works to destroy what is being made, just as Satan constantly strives for the ruin of souls. Unlike Christian belief, the world of Arda is maintained by divine beings. The secret fire is, naturally, the Holy Spirit. Recall Gandalf's (who is a Maiar sent to aid Elves and Men against Melkor's destructive influence” battle with the Bolrog in The Fellowship of the Ring: “I am the servant of the Secret Flame...the dark fire will not avail you!.”
Now, let the fun begin!
hm, wouldnt Gandalf be more of the jesus figure in LOTR? or maybe Aragorn. wow, there really could be a whole book on the theology of those stories. im sure there is somewhere. i also think stories like these are our mythology, and they even do as old mythologies have done, incorporated other older mythologies into them.
A brief summary of The Creation according to Tolkien's The Simarillion
There is one god, and his name is Eru (known also as Iluvatar). Iluvatar creates the Ainur, who are the offspring of his very thoughts. They are like a high order of angels. He teaches them a musical theme to participate and play in, but one of the Ainur, known as Melkor who is given the greatest knowledge of all the Ainur, strays from the theme to create his own music. His music causes discord in the theme and is not as beautiful as Iluvatar's, and some of the other Ainur join Melkor's theme.
Now, at this point, Melkor and his followers, while a little rebellious, are not completely out of Illuvatar's graces. Illuvatar shows all of the Ainur a vision of a place called Arda: Earth. They are shown it and all of the people who will live there, and he offers the Ainur the chance to inhabit it and govern it. Melkor, of course, wants all of Arda for himself, so when Iluvatar sends the Ainur to Arda, Melkor tries to disrupt their efforts of bringing Arda to order according to Iluvatar's plans. Iluvatar sets in Arda the “secret fire,” which is life-giving and sustaining to the world, which Melkor desires for himself but can not have, and pursues it in vain.
Of the Ainur sent to Arda, they were two main classes: Valar and Maiar. The Valar were the Greater of the Ainur, and were given lordship over important realms of Arda's development. For instance, the Vala Ulmo is Lord of the seas and oceans all over Arda. The Maiar are lesser beings that serve and aid the Valar. One Maiar who served Ulmo was Osse, and he was given particular authority over the waters surrounding Middle-Earth.
The only one of the Valar to turn against Iluvatar is, of course, Melkor, and he convinces some of the Maiar to follow him, particularly Sauron and the Balrogs. These, of course, play a major role in The Lord of the Rings.
Here, as you can surmise, Eru/Illuvatar is like God. The Ainur are like angels. The theme is like God's plan for the universe. Melkor is Lucifer and the Ainur who join his them are like the fallen angels who joined Lucifer against God. This is a little less precise than the Creation story of Christians, but still has important implications. We see that Melkor, wanting everything for himself is like Lucifer wanting to be like God. Melkor isn't happy with sharing governing abilities with the Ainur, he wants all or nothing. So, since he can not have it all, he works to destroy what is being made, just as Satan constantly strives for the ruin of souls. Unlike Christian belief, the world of Arda is maintained by divine beings. The secret fire is, naturally, the Holy Spirit. Recall Gandalf's (who is a Maiar sent to aid Elves and Men against Melkor's destructive influence” battle with the Bolrog in The Fellowship of the Ring: “I am the servant of the Secret Flame...the dark fire will not avail you!.”
Now, let the fun begin!