Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Religious Music & Entertainment
The Lord of the Rings: the Universal Appeal of a Catholic Work

The Lord of the Rings: the Universal Appeal of a Catholic Work

Last updated on: August 16, 2022 at 5:30 pm by Dennis Knapp

The Lord of the Rings: the Universal Appeal of a Catholic Work 2022-08-16T17:30:28-06:00 Dennis Knapp

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Is there a greater work of fiction than The Lord of the Rings? Its epic scale and thematic grandeur make it exist on a level unto itself. Peter Jackson’s cinematic adaption, with its billions of dollars earned and a myriad of awards received, confirms the timelessness of this work. Why the universal appeal? The answer is simple, it is a Catholic work.

A Catholic Work

The Lord of the Rings was written by the devout Roman Catholic, JRR Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings is a Catholic work. Tolkien admitted the work was Catholic in a 1953 letter to Father Robert Murry.

He states:

The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision.

The universally Christian themes in the book show through clearly in the death and resurrection of Gandalf, the imagery of the humble servant’s willingness to sacrifice for the greater good (Frodo, who was willing to die in the unmaking of the Ring), and the good king, Aragorn, assuming the throne after traversing the Paths of the Dead. The singularly Catholic themes in the work, often missed by the casual reader, I explore below.

The Catholic Lady Galadriel

On two chairs beneath the bole of the tree and canopied by a living bough there sat, side by side, Celeborn and Galadriel. They stood up to greet their guests, after the manner of the Elves, even those who were accounted mighty kings. Very tall they were, and the Lady no less tall than the Lord; and they were grave and beautiful. They were clad wholly in white; and the hair of the Lady was of deep gold, and the hair of the Lord Celeborn was of silver long and bright; but no sign of age was upon them, unless it were in the depths of their eyes; for these were keen as lances in the starlight, and yet profound, the wells of deep memory.

–The Fellowship of the Rings, “The Mirror of Galadriel”

In the same letter, Tolkien confirms Father Murry’s suspicion that Galadriel is an image of the Virgin Mary. Again, he says,

I think I know exactly what you mean by the order of Grace; and of course your reference to Our Lady, upon which all my own small perception of beauty both in majesty and simplicity is founded.

Regarding the imagery of Mary in Galadriel, in a letter wrote in 1958 to a Deborah Webster, Tolkien refers to a critic who wrote him a letter and asserted that the invocation of Elbereth, and the character of Galadriel as directly described (or through the words of Gimli and Sam), were clearly related to Catholic devotion to Mary.

And in a letter to Mrs. Ruth Austin in 1971, Tolkien comes out and admits the influence of Mary on Galadriel, but only to a point. In The Lord of the Rings, she is an exile who desires to return to the Undying Lands across the sea.

I think it is true that I owe much of this character to Christian and Catholic teaching and imagination about Mary, but actually Galadriel was a penitent: in her youth a leader in the rebellion against the Valar (the angelic guardians).

Lembas Bread for the Journey

Eat little at a time, and only at need. For these things are given to serve you when all else fails. The cakes will keep sweet for many many days, if they are unbroken and left in their leaf-wrappings, as we have brought them. One will keep a traveler on his feet for a day of long labour, even if he be one of the tall Men of Minas Tirith.

–The Fellowship of the Ring, “Farewell to Lorien”

In a letter to Forrest J. Ackerman in 1958 regarding a film treatment of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien remarks on lembas’ religious importance:

In the book lembas has two functions. It is a ‘machine’ or device for making credible the long marches with little provision, in a world in which as I have said ‘miles and miles’. But that is relatively unimportant. It also has a much larger significance, of what one might hesitatingly call a ‘religious’ kind.

Furthermore, in the letter to Deborah Webster, Tolkien comments on another critic that saw the Catholic origin of the bread of the elves.

Another saw in the waybread (lembas) = viaticum and the reference to its feeding the will (vol. III, p. 213) and being more potent when fasting, a derivative from the Eucharist.

A Eucatastrophic World

Moreover, Tolkien, the philologist, created the word eucatastrophe by combining the Catholic word eucharist, which means thanksgiving, with the word catastrophe (a disaster) to form a new word that means the joy of a happy ending, or a good catastrophe.

Tolkien states in On Fairy Stories:

I would venture to say that approaching the Christian Story from this direction, it has long been my feeling (a joyous feeling) that God redeemed the corrupt making-creatures, men, in a way fitting to this aspect, as to others, of their strange nature. The Gospels contain a fairy-story, or a story of a larger kind which embraces all the essence of fairy-stories. They contain many marvels- peculiarly artistic, beautiful, and moving: “mythical” in their perfect, self-contained significance; and among the marvels is the greatest and most complete conceivable

Eucatastrophe. But this story has entered History and the primary world; the desire and aspiration of sub-creation has been raised to the fulfillment of Creation. The Birth of Christ is the Eucatastrophe of Man’s history. The Resurrection is the Eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy. It has pre-eminently the “inner consistency of reality.” There is no tale ever told that men would rather find was true, and none which so many skeptical men have accepted as true on its own merits. For the Art of it has the supremely convincing tone of Primary Art, that is, of Creation. To reject it leads either to sadness or to wrath

Please forgive the extra long quote, but the point Tolkien makes is paramount to understand the Catholic essence of The Lord of the Rings. “The Christian Story” ends with the resurrection of Jesus and, thus, a catastrophic defeat is turned into victory. This historical event, which happened in time and space, all men would hope were true. So, too with The Lord of the Rings. This work of fiction, while not allegorical, contains elements of realism that continue to resonate with readers to this day. The real portrayal of suffering, fellowship, and sacrificial love touch the deep places of the human heart.

A Catholic Work Revisited

Clearly, given all the evidence provided (and Tolkien’s own words), The Lord of the Rings is a Catholic work. From Tolkien’s imagery of the Lady Galadriel, the eucharistic power of lembas bread, to the whole story as a reflection of eucatastrophe, this tale instructs the reader in the Catholic faith. Now, those who read this tale may not pick up on these themes right away, but they are present in every word, line, and paragraph.

Like what you read? Please check out my other writing here.

Please like and follow me on Facebook.

Religious Music & Entertainment

Previous Post

March 11, 2022

The Innocent Who Suffer: Where is God in the Pain?

Next Post

March 23, 2022 Election 2020: The Victory Ensured by Big Tech and Big Media's Manipulation of the American People

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Arius Atheists Catholic Apologetics Catholic Culture Catholic History Catholic Humor Catholic Poetry Catholic Politics Catholic Theology Dr. James White Faith Alone Joe Heschmeyer Kamala Harris Martin Luther Pope Francis Preborn Children President Biden Science and Catholicism Sola Scriptura Synod of Synodality Trinity

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many times does Jesus perform a miracle in the Gospel of John?

Select your answer to see how you score.

12 10 5 7