There is frequently, if not continually, a fuss somewhere on line as to whether JRR Tolkien intended allegory in writing The Lord of the Rings. The straight answer is no, he didn’t, and that he said so himself is a fact pointed out with great glee by the breed of fan that becomes indignant over any assertion that LotR is a Christian saga.

From his foreword to LotR: “I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence.”

On the other hand, to anyone both reasonable and familiar with the Bible, the Christian parallels are stark-naked obvious. To anyone both reasonable and familiar with the art of writing, the fact that Tolkien (a devout Catholic), like any author, wrote out of his own worldview should scarcely astonish.

From Tolkien’s own pen: "The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision."

So is it or isn’t it?

Is Frodo meant by Tolkien to be Christ? Is Aragorn?

The point I wish to make here is: It doesn't matter. The bones of the story are pure Christianity. The truth and light blaze like the great sword Anduril itself.

So what does that mean - assuming it means anything? We can know what men think, what posters on messageboards think and various pundits, what Tolkien himself thought. But can we know what a Mind and Power beyond place and time thinks?

What does it mean?

If there is no force beyond the universe, then such a beautiful tale in the end means nothing, except perhaps the best of mankind as a purposeless species. If there is that Power, then it would seem to me to be illogical and perverse to declare it to have no interest in us. So I take my question from that premise, that it means something.

Is it silly to think that the Author of mankind’s story would tweak things a bit here and there in human affairs to accomplish his purposes?

Scripture doesn’t tell us that Christianity will conquer the world in this age; rather we are instructed that “…this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

Is it too farfetched to think that God works through secular voices as well as strictly religious ones?

I posit therefore that Christ has used the talents of both JRR Tolkien and Peter Jackson as opportunity to present his story to our little modern “age of the world” in a manner that is more palatable to many of the inhabitants of a post-Christian society. They’re being witnessed to and they don’t even realize it.

This brings me to a few of the more obvious indications of Divine tweaking.

Power can be held in the smallest of things.

Thus reads the line on the poster. That’s the Ring, of course, but it also means Frodo. The one is the doom of Middle-Earth; the other is a scrap from the Shire whose fate is to spend his own life to save Middle-Earth.

Hobbits are absurd creatures, with their silly feet and subterranean cottages and fixation on six meals a day (and snacks if they can get them). That’s part of what is so lovable and enchanting about them - their fussy little ways and customs, that and their love of coziness and domesticity. Definitely not the material for Great Quests, as Frodo was quick to tell Gandalf. And yet, Illuvatar – God - chose to use a hobbit to destroy the Dark Lord’s power over Middle-Earth. Not by military might: every hobbit in Middle-Earth could have taken up arms against Sauron and it would have achieved precisely nothing. There was no battle-strength in the Shire to conquer Mordor.

Instead, as Paul tells us, “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are…”

Christ came first as a gentle sacrifice.

Lyrics to Frodo’s song In Dreams from Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring match up beautifully with various scriptures pertinent to Christ as man:

To human eyes, a “king” who lets himself be abused and murdered without lifting a finger to save himself isn’t much of a king. A three-foot high hero can at first glance seem a bit of an oxymoron, too. But the three-foot high hero got the Ring to Mount Doom, thus saving man and hobbit-kind from annihilation.

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil…”

Christ came as a physically vulnerable human being for the specific purpose of dying for the sins of mankind, thus purchasing our lives with his. When you purchase something, it then belongs to you. Having laid down his life as a Frodo, Christ then took it back up as an Aragorn and the lives he had purchased – all of mankind – thus became his property, the subjects of his kingdom.

There is Christ the lamb, slain for the world, but there is also Christ the warrior king come to confront the armies that threaten mankind with utter destruction. “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.”

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war… And the armies which were in heaven followed him… And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations…”

“For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken…Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations…”

(This is also beautifully illustrated by Peter Jackson’s representation of Gandalf the White Rider descending the mountainside at Helm’s Deep with the armies of Rohan behind him. If that isn’t the Second Coming on film, I don’t know what it is. Spine-tingling.)

From LotR and the Battle of the Pelannor Fields: In that clear air watchmen on the walls saw afar a new sight of fear, and their last hopes left them…they cried in dismay; for black against the glittering stream they beheld a fleet borne up on the wind… ”The Corsairs of Umbar!” men shouted. “The Corsairs of Unbar! Look! The Corsairs of Umbar are coming! So Belfalas is taken, and the Ethir, and Lebennin is gone. The Corsairs are upon us! It is the last stroke of doom!”

…Stern now was Eomer’s mood, and his mind clear again. He let blow the horns to rally all men to his banner that could come thither; for he thought to make a great shield-wall at the last, and stand, and fight there on foot till all fell, and do deeds of song on the fields of Pelannor, though no man should be left in the West to remember the last King of the Mark. So he rode to a green hillock and there set his banner, and the White Horse ran rippling in the wind.

…And lo! Even as he laughed at despair he looked out again on the black ships and he lifted up his sword to defy them. And then wonder took him and a great joy and he cast his sword up in the sunlight and sang as he caught it. And all eyes followed his gaze and behold! Upon the foremost ship a great standard broke and the wind displayed it as she turned towards the Harlong. There flowered a White Tree and that was for Gondor; but Seven Stars were about it and a high crown above it, the signs of Elendil that no lord had borne for years beyond count… Thus came Aragorn son of Arathorn, Elessar, Isildur’s heir, out of the Paths of the Dead, borne upon a wind from the Sea to the kingdom of Gondor…

Frodo first, then Aragorn. “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.”

”And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people…And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. “

Leon J. Podles at touchstonemag.com asked this question: “Does Providence work through artists, leading Englishmen into war and philology, New Zealanders into horror-film making and special effects, so that a book and film may give strength and comfort to hearts in times of great trial, to awaken us to the terror and beauty of life?”

I think Professor Tolkien answers it for us very well.

“Sing and be glad, all ye children of the West, for your King shall come again, and he shall dwell among you all the days of your life. And the Tree that was withered shall be renewed, and he shall plant it in the high places, and the City shall be blessed.”

C. Baillie / '03

Christianity and Middle-Earth