Lycorth Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 ^..^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fweethawt Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Until I learned that the author borrowed from the chistian storyline for much of his writings, it never occured to me to even make the comparison. At first, I looked at Frodo as being a character that is meant to portray the "good" human "spirit". That is, he was determined to do what is right regardless of the consequences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnosis of Disbelief Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Until I learned that the author borrowed from the chistian storyline for much of his writings, it never occured to me to even make the comparison. At first, I looked at Frodo as being a character that is meant to portray the "good" human "spirit". That is, he was determined to do what is right regardless of the consequences. Actually, Tolkien borrowed from a lot of mythological storylines, particularly the Norse and Celtic myths. The similarities to the christian storyline shouldn't be surprising, because christianity itself borrowed from other mythologies. Tolkien was a devout Catholic, but he never really intended the Lord of the Rings or any of his other works to be a religious allegory. When his friend, C.S. Lewis, came out with the Narnia books, he wasn't overly thrilled with them, because he wasn't a big fan of religious allegory. I think of Tolkien's works more as fables or morality plays (about greed in the Hobbit, about the evils of power in the Lord of the Rings). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sage Nabooru Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 And might I add that in writing style, plot development, and over-all Skill, Rings beats Narnia with an ugly stick. Regardless of whatever allegory was in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnosis of Disbelief Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Yes, I'd agree....while I enjoyed Narnia (in the same way that I enjoy Greek or Norse mythology), it really is written as if it were talking down to the little kiddies, and that detracts from its overall quality. And the world that Lewis invents has this thrown-together quality about it; it doesn't have any of the polish that Tolkien's world has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dhampir Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 Yes, Tolkien did spend much of his life preparing the world of Ea, which is in his mythology supposed to be Earth. For more parallels and dichotomies, you should read his creation account in The Silmarillion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lycorth Posted May 20, 2006 Author Share Posted May 20, 2006 ^..^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dhampir Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 I don't know. Illuvatar being the source of all, Melkor the most powerful Valar, corrupted by his desire to attain the Hidden Flame, thus inspiring the beginning of evil...I see some lines there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lycorth Posted May 20, 2006 Author Share Posted May 20, 2006 ^..^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sage Nabooru Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 Yes, I'd agree....while I enjoyed Narnia (in the same way that I enjoyGreek or Norse mythology), it really is written as if it were talking down to the little kiddies, and that detracts from its overall quality. And the world that Lewis invents has this thrown-together quality about it; it doesn't have any of the polish that Tolkien's world has. I agree. One could escape into Tolkien's world; the closest one gets to being immersed into Lewis's story is equivalent to as one would get from reading a script of a play but not actually seeing it acted live. (Forgive my grammar; I spent at least ten minutes trying to get that sentence out correctly and still haven't figured it out.) I suppose the unenlightened Philistine's comparison would be that Lewis was like the original 8-bit Legend of Zelda on NES, whereas Tolkien was like LoZ: Ocarina of Time on 64-bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosingMyReligion Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 I Love The Sillmarillion. Absolutely exquisite writing! With that said, Tolkien took most of his influences from Norse and Celtic folklore. Which is why I often wonder why Christianity latches onto it. Sure, there are similarities(such as Gandalf rising from the dead and etc el); however, the parrallels between other myths are uncanny. Pretty soon Christians will be comparing Harry Potter to Jesus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sage Nabooru Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Which is why I often wonder why Christianity latches onto it. Sure, there are similarities(such as Gandalf rising from the dead and etc el); however, the parrallels between other myths are uncanny. Pretty soon Christians will be comparing Harry Potter to Jesus. It's because just about any story in which the good people win in the end goes essentially the same way: Bad guys abuse good guys. Good guys get fed up and go after bad guys. Good guys go through a lot of tough shit but prevail in the end. Pare any good-guys-vs.-bad-guys story down, and you'll always end up with the same morality-play storyline - Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Christianity (with Jesus as the "good guy", of course, and the Romans and those terrible, god-forsaken Jews as the bad guys). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts