The Lord of the Rings is, no doubt, one of the greatest classics of literature. Tolkien has “[expended] great pains on the historical and linguistic background of Middle-Earth” (Grant, 1981, p. 104), inventing whole new races, languages (the elven tongue, the orcish tongue, the black speech of Mordor, even the elvish runes), and even creating an extremely comprehensive and elaborate map of a fictional world with its own unique and original terrain. The “grand canvas upon which Tolkien’s entire legendarium has been painted on” (Petty, 2003, p. 97), was painstakingly created with an unchallenged attention to detail. White (2002) asserts that Tolkien was unique in the twenty-first century for his ability to tell a captivating tale with a complex and complicated backstory (p. 207), enchanting generations of readers with the vast world that is Middle-earth.
One of the main draws of The Lord of the Rings is how Tolkien so accurately creates a “representation of genuine human experience” (Petty, 1979, 78), such that, despite taking place in a completely fictional world and time period, still appears very real for the reader. Petty (1979) attributes the love of The Lord of the Rings to the rampant conflict and clash in the novel (p. 78). The theme of conflict is infused into his work from his personal experiences of war (Petty, 2003, p. 132). As such, the novel is authentic, genuine and relevant to our present day society.
2.1.2.1 The Conflict
Before we dive into conflict in The Lord of the Rings, we first conduct a general survey on experts’ attitudes and opinions on war and conflict. We see that the world’s largest international body, the United Nations (UN), is driven by “activities … for the maintenance of peace”, according to clau...
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...pes, this paper can greater analyse common symbols and elements present in The Lord of the Rings, such as the presence of water, or light, to understand how opposing elements are portrayed and juxtaposed.
2.1.3 The Unity of All
Although the analysis of opposing elements in The Lord of the Rings is not a new concept – they are analysed in “One Ring to Bind Them All: Tolkien’s Mythology” (Petty, 1979) and “Merlin, Prospero, Saruman and Gandalf: Corrosive Uses of Power in Shakespeare and Tolkien” (Riga, 2007), the latter of which particularly analyses the binary opposition between Gandalf and Saruman – the research that has been done does not analyse binary opposition and the resultant conflict between the two. Also, reference and analysis of the language and archetypes in the text in relation to binary opposition is lacking, and more needs to be done in this area.
The golden ring is the main subject of the supernatural happenings amidst Strange Objects. This object is often compared to the ring within J.R.R Tolkien’s books, The Lord of the Rings, and Gary Crew detested that within an interview, where he also openly stated that “The ring means zip.” Some claim, however, that the ring symbolizes “dreams coming true and an escape from reality”. Another object of interest is the vacancy sign, which undeniably symbolizes that something unpleasant is going to occur soon. As it flashes, a sense of unease can be felt by the reader if they have discovered this connection.
It will be the contention of this paper that much of Tolkien's unique vision was directly shaped by recurring images in the Catholic culture which shaped JRRT, and which are not shared by non-Catholics generally. The expression of these images in Lord of the Rings will then concern us.
War is the means to many ends. The ends of ruthless dictators, of land disputes, and lives – each play its part in the reasoning for war. War is controllable. It can be avoided; however, once it begins, the bat...
In Tolkien’s lecture, “Beowulf: The monsters and the Critics,” he argues that Beowulf has been over analyzed for its historical content, and it is not being studied as a piece of art as it should be. He discusses what he perceives the poet of Beowulf intended to do, and why he wrote the poem the way he did. Tolkien’s main proposition, “it was plainly only in the consideration of Beowulf as a poem, with an inherent poetic significance, that any view or conviction can be reached or steadily held” (Tolkien). He evaluates why the author centers the monsters throughout the entire poem, why the poem has a non-harmonic structure, why and how the author fusses together Christianity and Paganism, and how the author uses time to make his fictional poem seem real. He also discusses the overall theme of Beowulf and other assumptions of the text. To support his viewpoints, Tolkien uses quotations and examples from the poem, quotations from other critics, and compares Beowulf to other works of art. Tolkien discusses several statements in interpreting Beowulf as a poem.
"Peacekeeping and Peacemaking." Reading and Remembrance . N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. . (tags: none | edit tags)
· Urang, Gunnar. "J. R. R. Tolkien: Fantasy and the Phenomenology of Hope" Religion and Fantasy in the Writing of C. S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and J. R. R. Tolkien. United Church Press, 1971
Archetypes can be enforced by using symbols, a pattern, a characteristic, a certain idea or theme, or an image of some kind. They can also be conveyed in dreams, literature, religion, folklore, fantasies, and myths. There are a total of six archetypal groups including: symbolic, character, situational, heroic, and characteristics of the hero’s journey. Within the epic poem, a lengthy poem that portrays a story of a certain hero’s tasks, of Beowulf, originally written by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet and translated by R.M Liuzza, effectively portrays many differing archetypal groups. Furthermore, the work of the anonymous poet who created the marvelous epic poem by the name of Beowulf illustrates broadened examples of
The paper will begin with a look at the life of Tolkien. This will serve the purpose of providing some context for the novel. Looking into the life of Tolkien will also serve to give the reader some insight into the mind that gave birth to such a rich land and why the novel may have some importance for sufferers of mental illness. Next will likely be a short summation of the
Throughout his works, Tolkien includes, in varying degrees, every major component of our Primary World: landforms, minerals, weather and climate, natural vegetation, agriculture, political units, population distribution, races, languages, transportation routes, and even house types. “He did more than merely describe these individual comp...
J.R.R. Tolkien can be considered the founding father of the genre fantasy. Most of Tolkien’s texts revolve around the same themes. An author will often write about important messages that pertain to society as a whole. His texts often have hidden messages that relate to his themes. In the fantasy novel The Hobbit and novella “Farmer Giles of Ham”, J.R.R. Tolkien demonstrates that possession ears to overconfidence, greed and selfishness.
While it is certainly an exciting and well written work of fantasy, which cannot help but grip the imagination, all this would be for naught except for the poignancy of the themes which serve as its backbone. Foremost of these is Tolkien’s determination to show the natural world as the measure of all things. His world revolves around nature, and his character’s affinity to it determines their place in Middle-Earth.
Throughout, J.J.R Tolkien’s The Hobbit, many themes come into place to give a better understanding of the novel. The underlying theme of the struggle between good vs. evil while Gandalf and the dwarves fight the evils during their journey through middle earth. The battle is manifested in the goblins, Trolls, and spiders where good always triumphs evil. Even though the journey is about stealing the gold back from the dragon there is still some moral clarity to this, the dragon stole the gold and torched the city. The dwarves want to make this right and get back what was rightfully theirs.
Beowulf, being Tolkien’s biggest inspiration in The Lord of The Rings, is the prime example of Anglo-Saxon Literature. Written anonymously, it is the oldest surviving epic poem in history. The Anglo-Saxon time period thrived on the heroic codes of Honor, Strength, and Bravery. The warrior, Beowulf himself, exemplified this heroic code...
In the The Lord of the Rings, by J. Tolken, there are many things that make the story symbolic of a Christian influence. The constant emphasis of good vs. evil brings forth reason to suspect that this novel has a Christian basis. In this paper I will prove and backup my personal opinion through sighting specific examples of the influences from the book.
Supernatural elements – religious figures and activities, ghosts, witches, and anthropomorphized animals among others – have been used throughout the history of literature from its origins in oral folktales to Shakespeare’s plays to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series. Throughout the history of literature, supernatural elements have been useful in developing themes that reflect the nature of humanity. Supernatural elements are often used to outline and comment on conflict and power struggles: both within the plot of the work and within society at the time of the work’s publication. These otherworldly components are also commonly used to adapt, expand upon, and make a work of literature more applicable to its settings. Supernatural elements also play a r...