#j. R. R. Tolkien

[smbhax]

Cover illustration by Roger Garland

Additional info from ISFDB

[illustratus]

Gandalf and Frodo arrive at Bag End by John Howe

[arianwen44]

‘… and he does not share power.’ 🔥✨

[verecunda]

Happy birthday, Professor Tolkien, you'd be absolutely appalled at the whole damn lot of us. <3

[queeringclassiclit]

Bilbo Baggins

from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series by J. R. R. Tolkien

[who-canceled-roger-rabbit]

One funny difference between J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis is that Tolkien seemed entirely uninterested in writing about sex, whereas Lewis's writing was also chaste but with barely repressed kinkiness simmering just beneath the surface

[r2b2grady]

Probably one of the Devil's greatest lies is the image of hope as something fleeting and ephemeral. It ties into the lie that you have to effortlessly feel something for that feeling to be real. Just because I don't feel like there's gravity, or just because I can't see the movement of the floor as the world whirls endlessly through space, doesn't mean that those things aren't there, and the same can be said for things like hope.

Hope isn't just some flighty butterfly, something fragile and wispy. Hope is the woman praying daily at her husband's side in the hospital, waiting for him to wake and wondering if he'll remember her after his head injury.

Hope is the sailor clinging to the helm in the teeth of a gale, riding it out because he hopes and knows that the storm cannot last forever.

Hope is Samwise storming the tower of Cirith Ungol, not knowing whether he can truly overcome the orcs in the tower, but hoping that he can help his Master Frodo in some way at least.

Hope is the last stand of Húrin the Steadfast: holding the gap against the forces of Morgoth in Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, swinging his axe as he and his kinsmen fight to the death to protect the retreat of Turgon and the elves of Gondolin, shouting with each swing, "Aurë entuluva! Day shall come again!"

Hope is not something fleeting, something ephemeral. It can become such, because like any other emotion or feeling, it needs cultivation. But if you cling to it, if you hold it tight, then it will grow. If you let it, hope is a fighter, a shieldwarden, a warrior. Hope is not simple platitudes, but a knowledge that whatever things might feel like, the truth of the matter is different—no matter how hopeless things seem, things will not stay that way.

[emmster]

Reposting so ye old rings of power fanart from like 2 years ago

[animatejournal]

The Return of the King Studio: Rankin/Bass | USA, 1980

[a-ramblinrose]

JOMP BPC || January 7 || Deals With Rough Stuff: The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien

[artist-issues]

When it comes to using media to preach the gospel, how do you think a Christian should handle creating their own media? We have great examples! Lewis was more direct with narnia, while LOTR was indirect but still riddled with biblical imagery. Where should christians stand when it comes to creating their own stories and including the biblical narrative? I have my own world build and I tend to swing more Lewis when it comes to biblical allegory- but I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea!

I think this falls under “according to your personal conviction.”

I’m inclined to say, “Lewis did it right and Tolkien did it wrong,” because look at the legacy. Only people who are willfully media-illiterate, to the most obtuse degree, read Chronicles of Narnia and come away with anything but the Christian Gospel. It’s inseparable from that. And bravo, C.S. Lewis, for that. But look at Lord of The Rings. It is not remembered in the eye of the culture for having any connection to God, or religion. It’s remembered for being a great—possibly “the greatest,”—fantasy story.

Narnia gets Christian folk songs written about it, gets used as excerpts in sermons, is a lifelong staple in Christian family homes, gets a movie that has a fully-Christian-artist-produced-album attached to it, gets angry atheists to write answering-hate-fantasy series about it because they hate Christianity and Narnia can’t be separated from the Gospel.

Lord of the Rings gets Dungeons & Dragons and an original spin-off about women empowerment and identifying with your race.

Now let’s compare that with the model of how a Christian is supposed to be a Christian.

”Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.” Matthew 10:26-27

16 “Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it with a container or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. 17 For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.18 So beware how you listen, for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.” Luke 8:16-18

Which I don’t fully understand, but my loose grasp of it is: the teller has a responsibility to be clear and to SAY IT, especially about The Most Important Message Ever. But also, the listener has a responsibility in how they listen.

So like. People could get Gospel-imagery and therefore be led to the clear Gospel from Lord of the Rings. They could. AND if they read those books and aren’t careful about “how they listen,” they’ll come up with a different meaning or they’ll miss the Gospel imagery inside that could’ve done them good. And missing what could’ve done them good is, to that extent, their fault.

But. I think you could argue that also, to some extent, Tolkien’s fault. To some—not all—extent. Because Tolkien was nice and vocal about how he didn’t want this story to be treated as an allegory or for anyone to get a message out of it. And as a Christian, that is a terrible thing for him to say.

But he also said, ”I am a Christian and of course what I write will be from that essential viewpoint” As if the Christianity in his fiction was inherent because of his worldview. And also said, contrariwise, that Lord of the Rings was “a fundamentally religious and Catholic work.”

Besides, much of the rest of his life was lived as a big loud screaming lighthouse for what he thought was the Gospel—(we can talk about the fact that he was Catholic somewhere else)—even if it wasn’t loud-and-screaming in his fantasy epic.

Now factor in the fact that Tolkien was a philologist and an expert on Old English literature, particularly fictional works. This is important because it means that when he read a story, he read it in a completely different and deeper language than the rest of us understand. He got the meaning of Beowulf in a way that none of us ever will, and he probably understood the way it was intended to be understood better than anyone else.

It’s like he spoke a language that the rest of us can only catch a few words of. And then he wrote his book in that language. In that language, his book is probably intensely stupidly clear about God. But we don’t speak it. So is that his fault? That’s the question.

Because the main, big question is, “Should you be unmistakably clear about the Gospel or just sprinkle it in intuitively, accidentally, because you’re a Christian so it’ll leak in there somewhere?”

Or, like my favorite songwriter Tyler Joseph says, “which theory works/ yelling on the street corner or cleverly masking your words?”

I think the answer is “yes, be intentional and be clear, don’t do it ‘by accident.’”

But the thing is, for fallible humans divided and confused by the Fall…there’s a limit to how clear we can be, even with people we’re being perfectly plain with. There’s no such thing as “unmistakable,” because nobody is perfect at communicating, and even when they’re very good at it, everybody’s ability to understand is clouded. It’s like they have vision that is impeded by smudges of ‘prejudice’ and ‘biased personal experience’ and ‘propensity to only hear what they want to hear.’ We don’t speak the same language.

So I guess my final answer would be, “Be as clear as you know how to be, and be intentional, to make your whole life say the Gospel.”

When people interview or ask you about your story, tell them in no uncertain terms that it’s about the Gospel. If they don’t get it, explain it to them. Spell it out. Then do better on your story next time so they don’t have to ask you—or assume that it’s a “them” problem and “this kind of person needs me to explain it, even if there’s no lack of clarity in my work.”

Meanwhile, live your whole life as an example of the Gospel in the way you work hard and treat others. Open your MOUTH and tell your testimony of how Christ saved you to people, in person, whenever you get the chance.

The point is to put God’s glory on display. You want to do that with every aspect of your life and every facet of your capabilities. So you can do it with symbolism in a story, but you better also do it with how you answer interview questions or write an author-synopsis of who you are as a person on the back cover, and you better also do it with how you treat someone in traffic, and you better also do it with how you open your mouth and tell your co-worker what you believe about God.

As long as your heart is to put God’s glory on display—over being successful, over building your talent and skill, over being popular, over having an audience—I think you’ll be doing the right thing. But how you do it is open to a little bit of interpretation, because different levels of communication hit different levels of understanding. So be super symbolic and imagery-vague, or be very one-to-one and allegorical—but with everything you do, do it to point to God in no uncertain terms and with your whole heart.

[uwmspeccoll]

Tolkien's Fantastical Realms

David Day's A Tolkien Bestiary, published by Ballantine Books in New York in 1979, is an alphabetical guide to the various creatures, races, deities, and flora found in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantastical realms of Middle-earth and the Undying Lands. The book identifies 129 distinct races in detail and explains their physical characteristics, languages, behavior, and cultures. More than just a guide, the book is a key that unlocks the door to Tolkien's works, enhancing the accessibility to his mythical creatures and elaborating on their significance in his vast world.

The book contains more than one hundred black-and-white illustrations and thirty-six full-color paintings. It features illustrations by eleven different fantasy artists, both well-established and emerging artists. The Tolkien Gateway website notes, however, that:

The book has been accused of containing extrapolations and thus deviating from Tolkien's writings. For example, there is a reference to "Kraken" referring to the Watcher in the Water, but the word does not appear as a species in Tolkien's works. While fans have argued that the book is less reliable as a Tolkien reference than similar works by Robert Foster and J.E.A. Tyler, many are fond of its illustrations.

-- Melissa, Special Collections Graduate Intern

[illustratus]

[queer-ragnelle]

Hi there! Pardon the possibly very silly question (I mean...wizards, swords, etc...), but given how looped in Tolkein seemed to be with the Arthurian legend, have you seen anything interesting on how that influenced LOTR? Ground level isn't a stretch of course, but I'm curious about anything deeper since the guy really seemed to mine myths/legends/etc. I think there's a dead dwarf named Balin, though that seems like just a borrowed name? Anyway, curious if you've seen anything interesting?

YES actually I discovered a couple funny things while reading Wigalois by Wirnt von Grafenberg. I haven’t looked it up to see if this was Tolkien’s actual inspiration or if anyone else has written about this, it’s just something I noticed on my own.

Gawain's son Wigalois is given a gift by his sweetheart, Larie. Here's the quote from page 153.

Another example comes a little later on pages 171-172, when Wigalois given some resources for his quest, including a special armor.

I mean the similarities are pretty plain. Does anyone know whether Tolkein ever referenced Wigalois as an inspiration? Or even if he read it? I think it's so cool to draw on Medieval literature in abstract ways like this (I mean in ways besides recycling names, like Balin).

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

These are equivalent.

Actually, no they're not. We actually know who wrote The Lord of the Rings.

[queeringclassiclit]

Legolas & Gimli

from The Lord of the Rings series by J. R. R. Tolkien (1954-1955)

submitted by @allhailthebiblipholie