Symbolism in Lord of the Rings

[Flick James]

I didn't know if this should go here or in the Entertainment forum. Oh well. Read if you're interested. If not, feel free to move on.

Indy’s humorous post about The Lord of the Rings helped prompt this topic, but it’s one that I’ve been fascinated about for many years.

Tolkien’s epic fantasy has been said to have a good deal of symbolism relevant to the times in which it was written, that is, World War II and the early days of the Cold War. Indeed, much of it was written during WWII by an Englishman who, like all Brits at that time, profoundly affected by it and what was happening in Europe.  Tolkien was also a devout Catholic and as such it is said LOTR had many religious allegories relevant to the Christian world, while not nearly to the extent of his contemporary C. S. Lewis, whose Christian symbolism in the Chronicles of Narnia was not vague at all.

Tolkien himself denied any specific allegories in LOTR, particularly to political events of the time, saying he preferred for the reader to apply his or her own symbolism to characters, places, objects and themes presented.

I believe that Tolkien was genuine in saying such a thing, but anybody who reads LOTR with any historical eye knows that, while certainly open to wide interpretation, the work is teeming with allegory and symbolism of all kinds. I believe Tolkien, subconsciously at times, wove symbolism into LOTR relevant to religion, politics, the Western vs. Eastern worlds, technology, etc.

Here are some common allegories already popularly associated with LOTR, along with my own interpretations:

The One Ring symbolizes the Atomic Age. I’m certainly not the one who came up with that, but I like the idea of the One Ring symbolizing an enticing aspect of science: that temptation to use science to control or dominate the world. The Atomic Age was in it’s infancy at the time of LOTR, and certainly during a time of great fear that humanity would destroy itself. It can also be loosely applied to runaway technology in general.

Sauron symbolized Adolf Hitler. That’s a natural conclusion that can be drawn even at the basic levels: LOTR was written in part during Hitler’s life, and Sauron was a tryrannical force bent on world domination. I doubt Tolkien intended Sauron as a direct correlary to Hitler, but there are so many thing presented that support that, at least subconsciously, a lot of symbolism can be drawn. Sauron allied with people from the south and east, people who had a resemblence in LOTR to people Africa, India, and the middle east. Hitler admired Islam, and shared their disdain for Judaism. He had a fascination for ancient Egyptian and Eastern occult symbols. In fact, the swastika was a symbol he took that was used by Buddhism, Jainism, Hinnduism, and other Asian traditions. Also, don’t forget their Axis partner, Japan. I think this correlary is particularly interesting.

The wizard Gandalf has been seen as symbolic of Jesus in many regards. He is constantly travelling Middle Earth and being “all things to all men.” He sacrificed himself for the Fellowship (hello) and returned to finish his task. He is known as Mithrandir to the Elves, which is interesting to me. The elves are the most magical and mystical of all creatures in LOTR. Mithras is an ancient deity seen by some, particularly mystics and gnostics (not agnostics), as an influence on the aspects of Jesus as a deity. Certainly a stretch, but Mithrandir and Mithras is either coincidental or Tolkien was injecting a bit of mysticism there.

There are a few to discuss. They are by no means meant to be authoritative and are simply my take on popularly held notions by people other than Tolkien. In my opinion Tolkien did not attempt any conscious symbolism in his work, but rather subtley and perhaps even subconsciously projected themes into LOTR that were profoundly influenced by the times in which it was written. I welcome any criticisms, alternate interpretations, or additional interpretations from any Tolkien fans who are willing.

[akiratubo]

Every frame has green somewhere in it.  This symbolizes all the money Peter Jackson took to the bank.

[Doggett]

What do all the really terrible songs symbolise ?

 

[indianasmith]

Dissertations and theses on this topic have abounded since the 1960's, and Professor Tolkein denied any allegorical interpretation of his work, although he did admit to a strong influence from the Catholic traditions in which he was raised (my daughter did a paper for my class on the Christian influences in LOTR, and found a number of appropriate quotes supporting this contention.
  However, a couple of things to remember before we read too many parallels between LOTR and the Nuclear Age: First, LOTR was the culmination of a much deeper, broader, and richer mythology that included all the tales embodied in THE SILMARILLION.  Sauron of Mordor was merely a servant of Morgoth, the great Dark Lord of the First Age.  The War of the Rings was a pale shadow of the titanic struggle to recover the Jewels of Feanor from the dark, brooding Northern fortress of Thangorodrim.
  Secondly, Tokein was first and foremost a linguist.  His myth cycle started out with the creation of imaginary languages, then the races and cultures that spoke those languages.  So a resemblance between Mithrandir and Mithras could be purely coincidental -  mithr is Quenya for silver or grey, andir is Quenya for wanderer or traveller.  So "Mithrandir" is simply an Elvish word for "Grey Pilgrim."  Notice the precious silver-steel Frodo's mailshirt is made of is called mithril, and the Grey Havens in Quenya are rendered Mithlond.
   I always saw Frodo as more the Christ figure in the trilogy, though.  He is the one who truly has to give up everything he loves and sacrifice his future to save the Shire.  But, of course, Aragorn is the returning King of Kings . . . hmmm.  Yes, I think there is definitely some Christian symbolism going on there, along with generous chunks of Norse and Saxon mythology.  At any rate, now I want to go read all the books again. Shame on you, Flick!  My reading list is backed up enough already!!!

[Flick James]

Dissertations and theses on this topic have abounded since the 1960's, and Professor Tolkein denied any allegorical interpretation of his work, although he did admit to a strong influence from the Catholic traditions in which he was raised (my daughter did a paper for my class on the Christian influences in LOTR, and found a number of appropriate quotes supporting this contention.
  However, a couple of things to remember before we read too many parallels between LOTR and the Nuclear Age: First, LOTR was the culmination of a much deeper, broader, and richer mythology that included all the tales embodied in THE SILMARILLION.  Sauron of Mordor was merely a servant of Morgoth, the great Dark Lord of the First Age.  The War of the Rings was a pale shadow of the titanic struggle to recover the Jewels of Feanor from the dark, brooding Northern fortress of Thangorodrim.
  Secondly, Tokein was first and foremost a linguist.  His myth cycle started out with the creation of imaginary languages, then the races and cultures that spoke those languages.  So a resemblance between Mithrandir and Mithras could be purely coincidental -  mithr is Quenya for silver or grey, andir is Quenya for wanderer or traveller.  So "Mithrandir" is simply an Elvish word for "Grey Pilgrim."  Notice the precious silver-steel Frodo's mailshirt is made of is called mithril, and the Grey Havens in Quenya are rendered Mithlond.
   I always saw Frodo as more the Christ figure in the trilogy, though.  He is the one who truly has to give up everything he loves and sacrifice his future to save the Shire.  But, of course, Aragorn is the returning King of Kings . . . hmmm.  Yes, I think there is definitely some Christian symbolism going on there, along with generous chunks of Norse and Saxon mythology.  At any rate, now I want to go read all the books again. Shame on you, Flick!  My reading list is backed up enough already!!!

Take That! Yes, I'm finishing The Hobbit (because Peter Jackson is working on an adaptation to come out next year and I want to refresh myself), and I'm going to start in on LOTR again. However, I'm going to hold off on that and read Atlas Shrugged. I just learned there's a film adaptation to be released later this year. I can't believe somebody is actually ambitious enough to attempt adapting that novel. I have my doubts.

Anyway, yes, those were just some observations regarding LOTR allegory that I've heard and added some of my own takes. You seem pretty well-versed. Like I said before, I think any symbolism is more abstract and thematic than direct and conscious. One thing that always strikes me is that LOTR in many ways seems like a allegory for the Western world in general. It points out a radical cultural difference between the people of the west and the people of the east and south. John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli in the films, talked about this aspect in 2004, commenting on what you were recently talking about with the Islamization of Europe. Here's a quote:

"There is a demographic catastrophe happening in Europe that nobody wants to talk about, that we daren’t bring up because we are so cagey about not offending people racially. And rightly we should be. But there is a cultural thing as well… By 2020, fifty percent of the children in the Netherlands under the age of 18 will be of Muslim descent… And don’t forget, coupled with this there is this collapse of numbers. Western Europeans are not having any babies. The population of Germany at the end of the century is going to be 56% of what it is now. The populations of France, 52% of what it is now. The population of Italy is going to be down 7 million people"

Now here I go, probably going to spark a political debate, and that's not the intent, I just think that the comparison is interesting. When writers write, they distill a number of things into their work, and I don't doubt that Tolkien observed certain things that were happening in his climate and they found their way into his work, mixed in with the element of Norse and Saxon mythology that are clearly there at the forefront. I don't mind if anyone adds political commentary to this thread, as it allows for it from the outset, just try and keep it from taking over if you please.

[indianasmith]

I think Tolkein was also denouncing the modern trends of mechanization and corporatism in favor of a rather idealized view of "the way things used to be."  Some of his observations on race are very comparable to those of Rudyard Kipling . . . I can imagine the Numenoreans nodding in agreement as they listened to him recite "Take Up the White Man's Burden".