Augustine Mary F.

Abellana
A reflection on the movie “Tolkien” in relation to Hermeneutics
J.R.R Tolkien says, “I made stories, legends. After all, what is language for? It's not just
the naming of things, is it? It's the lifeblood of a culture, a people.” 1 Tolkien dreams of creating
other worlds using language and life. We communicate with each other through language. Hans
Georg-Gadamer says, “To understand each other rather means to understand related to work” 2 I
haven’t read Tolkien’s works but I watched some of them like “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of
the Rings” and I am very impressed by the movies. There isn't anything that you wouldn't expect,
no plot twists that blow your mind, and so on. Contemplating on his life based on the movie, I
can see his passion for writing; expressing his emotions and imagination. Despite his living
conditions growing up, he had a very good education. The phrase “let’s change the world” is
often repeatedly said by the characters in the movie. And they changed the world through
literature. Anyone can always be inspired to write in any circumstance. I was inspired when the
priest in the movie said that “there is comfort in ancient things and words” and it’s true. There is
a connection between the past and the future. The combination of the decisions you make daily
and events that have occurred in the past will affect what happens in the future. Many of the
decisions made today are based on knowledge of what has happened in the past.
One of the most important aspects here is our language. Martin Heidegger says that
"there can be no being without language and no language without being"; language is essential
for disclosure, "For to be a man is to speak". 3 The power of language was expressed by
Wittgenstein: “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world”. 4 Gadamer also says that
“understanding itself has a fundamental connection with language”.5 This can also be expressed
as “Language and understanding of transmitted meaning are not two processes but one and the
same.”6 In his book Truth and Method, Gadamer says that a text is constituted of a repository of
an indeterminate amount of content. Furthermore, the meaning of a text is not limited to the
intentions of the author. The content of a text extends beyond what a person meant in a particular
time and place. The text is invested with a ‘surplus’ of meaning which is not exhausted by what
the creator had in mind when composing a particular work.7 This is because texts arise within the
framework of horizons, in which some aspects are foregrounded or noted as points of focus, and
according to which other aspects slip silently unnoticed into the background. Nonetheless, these
elements are included implicitly in the author’s text, even if the author is not aware or conscious
of it. This ‘surplus’ of meaning as Joel Weinsheimer calls it, is while at times invisible to the
author, but is still available to the reader.8 One important implication then is that hermeneutics
1
Karukoski, Dome, director. Tolkien, Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2019.
2
Hans-Georg Gadamer, “Truth and Method”, 2nd ed. London and New York: Continuum, 2004.
3
Harold E. Palmer (trans.), 2001, “Gadamer in Conversation: Reflections and Commentary”, English
translation of Dutt (ed.) 1993, New Haven: Yale University Press, 44.
4
Ludiwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1922)
5
H-G Gadamer, Truth and method, 2nd ed.
6
Ludiwig Wittgenstein 1922
7
H-G Gadamer, Truth and method, 303.
8
Matthew W. Knotts, “Readers, Texts, and the Fusion of Horizons: Theology and Gadamer’s
Hermeneutics”, KU Leuven – Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), 2014, 240.
and proper textual interpretation, whilst it requires attention to the particular circumstances of the
author, also extends further. As Weinsheimer explains, “analysis of the author’s mind per se
always misses what the author had in mind. That consciousness is intentional means it intends an
object. What consciousness intends, what it is conscious of, is not a psychological entity but an
ideal unity of all possible experiences. It is meant as objective. The author’s intention, therefore,
is not to be confined within the parameters of the author’s mind.”9
The movie focuses on the early years of the famous author's life. Just like the Fellowship
of the Ring, this is a story about chosen family. And the friends that Tolkien chooses are all
fellow creative types. A little bit of romance always gives color to the movie. The context of the
author such as that of World War I presents the brutality of life. Tolkien's talent for linguistics
and the creation of new worlds in the field of fantasy is just top-notch. Despite the circumstances
by which he arrives, he amasses around him a circle of friends who as they progressed to
Cambridge university they're more than just a circle of friends they're more of a fellowship.
Edith, whom he loves wants to give her a ring but he's forced to choose between love and
education; between desire and duty. With any great work of art, there is inspiration taken from
life and firsthand experiences. It is difficult when you're making a film about the life of a writer
who is whose writing is so revered as inspirational that the writing of the film itself should be so
inspirational.
Tolkien was a genius. The true war that was depicted in the movie was the war to create
new languages and new worlds. Most will fail to grasp the filmmaker’s point of reference
regarding language. As a film about Tolkien himself it’s hard to imagine a better film. But if
you had no idea who Tolkien was and just happened upon this movie. It would still in my
opinion be a masterfully crafted film. I was very much pleased with the emphasis on his passion
for language first and foremost- this is a game changing author that cannot be equaled in our
time or likely any other time and his work deserves to sit alongside other works of literary
genius. I have no other reference point but Shakespeare and Joyce. I realize this may sound
slightly off... bordering on absurd to some- but this is a magician of storytelling that invented
worlds upon worlds of treasure- a language that can actually be studied and taught and in my
opinion is the greatest fantasy writer that has ever lived and ever will live.
It's remarkable journey through the life of Tolkien was a sight to see. The time period, of
which England was in WWI, shows the true struggles of being passionate in something. The
T.C.B.S was a great group with young minds, who grew old, and despite such intelligent goals,
Jeffery was not able to share his great poems. To me, this movie highlights the routes of
successful and brilliant minds, and how such great ideas are hidden in compact diaries waiting
for the world to embrace such great works by such great minds. It puts in perspective the
experience of a Child and his brothers’ losses, but also the fact of the Human Experience. It
points to the Imagination of a Soul, which seeks Refuge in dealing with hardship and life’s
situations. The fact of kinship, family and love is depicted in so many ways. The emotional bond
between the characters displays the loyalty that most of us want to find in our lives today. The
message of the movie is need today. It’s message is so needed today. That message is during the

9
H-G Gadamer, Truth and method, 156.
abomination of war with all the senseless killings the best way to help one to deal with this
destruction is with love and comradeship plus the arts must play a role during those desperate
times showing how this helps one to survive and cherish this wonderful thing called “ living”! It
is a celebration of life.
Will there ever be another Tolkien? I think no — because he is too foundational. It
doesn't matter how brilliant you are: if you work in the same field or genre, you will always
stand in a tradition where someone else was more influential, because they were there first and
had the genius to be there first. It doesn't even help if you're a better writer and world builder
than Tolkien, a better scientist than Newton or Darwin, or a better philosopher than Plato or
Aristotle: you can't undo the fact that they blazed their respective trails, nor can you be as
important as the trail-blazer, even if you are better.

References
Dome Karukoski, director. Tolkien, Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2019.
Gadamer, Hans-Georg. “Truth and Method”. 2nd ed. London and New York: Continuum, 2004.
Knotts, Matthew W. “Readers, Texts, and the Fusion of Horizons: Theology and Gadamer’s
Hermeneutics”, KU Leuven – Research Foundation Flanders (FWO).
Palmer, Harold E. (trans.), 2001, “Gadamer in Conversation: Reflections and Commentary”,
English translation of Dutt (ed.) 1993, New Haven: Yale University Press,
Wittgenstein, Ludiwig. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner,
1922.