Absorbed Into the Story: Catholic Themes in Tolkien

by
Charles Klamut
CHAPTER SUMMARIES
Chapter One: Intrusion/Awakening
An intruder is common in popular and effective literature and movies. A character is
intruded upon unexpectedly by an outsider, usually from the wider world. The intruder
offers a proposal of adventure entailing suffering, excitement, and ultimately growth and
destiny. Gandalf is Bilbos intruder in The Hobbit. The Christian Gospel is perhaps an
especially prominent and influential intruder story, from which Tolkien may well have
drawn. Pertinent examples from The Hobbit demonstrate the theme.
Chapter Two and Three: Grace: Unlooked-for Friends
Grace as a beneficent gift of help offered in timely fashion is portrayed in a unique way
by Tolkien. Particularly, his use of the unlooked-for friend (a term used by Elrond
during his Council) characterizes Tolkiens chief literary portrayal of grace. At key
moments in the story, when the situation appears most dire, friends emerge unlooked-for,
offering just the help needed at the right time. This chapter and the next discuss eight
examples from the text: Gildor and the wood-elves; Farmer Maggot; Tom Bombadil;
Strider (Chapter Two); Galadriel, Eomer, Treebeard, and Faramir (Chapter Three).
Chapter Four: Sacramentality
The logic, though not the explicit form or doctrine, of sacraments forms the basis in
Tolkien for a distinctive world-view whereby the material is routinely and without
scandal viewed as the vehicle for the spiritual. Grace through nature; divine through
human; invisible through visible: this is the pattern. The material realm is thus never just
material, but rather always holds at least the potential for transmitting something more. A
careful look is taken at Tolkiens attempts to reconcile the divine claims of the church
with its very fallen human traits, mainly through his personal letters. Then, examples
from this fiction are discussed, including the elvish cloaks, lembas bread, the Phial of
Galadriel; horns; the healing Athelas plant ; and the Ring of power, proposed as an antisacrament. One reader, writing a letter to Tolkien, said that his work seems to present
light from an invisible lamp. Exploration of this theme is a basis of this chapter.

Chapter Five: Friendship/Fellowship

The first part of The Lord of the Rings is entitled The Fellowship of the Ring.
Fellowship is the typical translation, at least as far back as the King James Bible, of the
Greek word koinonia, a prominent term from the New Testament describing the ideal
communion of believers with God and with one another. In addition, in the NT the chief
earthly locus of this fellowship is the church. Recent doctrinal formulations have referred
to the church as a primordial sacrament and a universal sacrament of salvation. For
Tolkien, then, his heavy emphasis on friendship is fueled by a deeply Christian
understanding of friendship and fellowship. This chapter looks at the multi-racial makeup of the Fellowship in light of the universality of the fellowship that is the church.
Particular emphasis is placed on exploring the friendship between Frodo and Sam within
this context.
Chapter Six: Environmental Stewardship
The Lord of the Rings foreshadowed many concerns of the modern environmental
movement, even though written decades earlier. Tolkien drew from a deeply Catholic
tradition of respect for nature for its own sake as a God-given resource over which we are
made stewards not dominators. A brief overview is given of the Christian and Catholic
tradition of environmental stewardship, from the Scriptures up through modern figures
like Hopkins and Balthasar. The Saruman-Sauron domination ethos is then contrasted
with the Elvish, Entish, and Hobbit approaches to nature. Many textual examples are
cited from the Lord of the Rings as well as Tolkiens letters.
Chapter Seven: Providence
Early on in The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien has Gandalf tell Frodo that perhpas Bilbo was
meant to find the Ring, and thus maybe Frodo too was meant to have it. Although
never explained, such subtle allusions to some higher guiding power are common in
Tolkiens work. Numerous examples from the text are cited to this effect, followed by a
discussion of the Christian view of providence and its prevalence in the Lord of the Rings.
Chapter Eight: Eucatastrophe
Defined by Tolkien as the sudden joyous turn, eucatastrophe is a term he himself
coined to describe the greatest happy turns of fortune in his stories. In his great essay
On Fairy Stories, Tolkien states that the Resurrection of Christ was the greatest
example. Numerous examples from the Lord of the Rings are discussed as examples of
eucatastrophe as their Christian inspiration is explored.

Chapter Nine: Mercy

Tolkien once said that the Lord of the Rings is a book that breathes mercy from start to
finish. This thesis is examined more closely as examples of mercy from the Lord of the
Rings are discussed, with particular emphasis on mercy saving Middle-earth through
Bilbo, and later Frodo, opting to trust Gandalf and forebear killing Gollum. Tolkiens
letters are quoted extensively, particularly those having to do with Frodos moral
failure at the cracks of Mount Doom and the strange fact that Gollum, in spite of
himself, actually averted disaster for both Frodo and Middle-earth. The deeply Christian
basis for Tolkiens understanding of mercy is examined.
Chapter Ten: Tradition
One of Tolkiens greatest gifts was his ability to reconstruct the great insights of ancient
lore and myth while re-presenting them in a story ancient in style but modern in
substance. He did this not only with the great Norse and Anglo-Saxon myths which were
the subject of his philological studies, but with his Catholic faith as well. This chapter
details how Tolkien, despite the increasingly marginalized status of his scholarly field,
drew on the riches of tradition to write a compelling story for modern times. This chapter
draws parallels between Tolkien and Gandalf; as well as Tolkien and Frodo. Verlyn
Fliegers Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkiens World is used as a chief
reference. In a way, this chapter summarizes the point of the whole book: the previous
chapters serve as exhibits which testify to the skill Tolkien employed to resurrect and represent Christian tradition via themes compellingly and engagingly presented for today.