Ents, Elves, and Eriador: The Environmental Vision of J.R.R. Tolkien

Culture of the Land

by Matthew Dickerson, Jonathan Evans, Donald D. Elder (Foreword)

Many readers drawn into the heroic tales of J. R. R. Tolkien's imaginary world of Middle-earth have given little conscious thought to the importance of the land itself in his stories or to the vital roles played by the flora and fauna of that land. As a result, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion are rarely considered to be works of environmental literature or mentioned together with such authors as John Muir, Rachel Carson, or Aldo Leopold. Tolkien's works do not express an activist agenda; instead, his environmentalism is expressed in the form of literary fiction. Nonetheless, Tolkien's vision of nature is as passionate and has had as profound an influence on his readers as that of many contemporary environmental writers. The burgeoning field of agrarianism provides new insights into Tolkien's view of the natural world and environmental responsibility. In Ents, Elves, and Eriador, Matthew Dickerson and Jonathan Evans show how Tolkien anticipated some of the tenets of modern environmentalism in the imagined world of Middle-earth and the races with which it is peopled. The philosophical foundations that define Tolkien's environmentalism, as well as the practical outworking of these philosophies, are found throughout his work. Agrarianism is evident in the pastoral lifestyle and sustainable agriculture of the Hobbits, as they harmoniously cultivate the land for food and goods. The Elves practice aesthetic, sustainable horticulture as they shape their forest environs into an elaborate garden. To complete Tolkien's vision, the Ents of Fangorn Forest represent what Dickerson and Evans label feraculture, which seeks to preserve wilderness in its natural form. Unlike the Entwives, who are described as cultivating food in tame gardens, the Ents risk eventual extinction for their beliefs. These ecological philosophies reflect an aspect of Christian stewardship rooted in Tolkien's Catholic faith. Dickerson and Evans define it as "stewardship of the kind modeled by Gandalf," a stewardship that nurtures the land rather than exploiting its life-sustaining capacities to the point of exhaustion. Gandalfian stewardship is at odds with the forces of greed exemplified by Sauron and Saruman, who, with their lust for power, ruin the land they inhabit, serving as a dire warning of what comes to pass when stewardly care is corrupted or ignored. Dickerson and Evans examine Tolkien's major works as well as his lesser-known stories and essays, comparing his writing to that of the most important naturalists of the past century. A vital contribution to environmental literature and an essential addition to Tolkien scholarship, Ents, Elves, and Eriador offers both Tolkien fans and environmentalists an understanding of Middle-earth that has profound implications for environmental stewardship in the present and the future of our own world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Literature, Literary Criticism, Nature, Environment, Ecology

346 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2006

About the author

Matthew Dickerson (PhD, Cornell University) is a professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, a writer, the former director of the New England Young Writers’ Conference at Bread Loaf and the current co-director of the Northern Pen Young Writers' Conference. His previous works include fantasy novels The Gifted and The Betrayed; works about fantasy including From Homer to Harry Potter along with Narnia and the Fields of Arbol: The Environmental Vision of C. S. Lewis, A Hobbit Journey, and Ents, Elves, and Eriador: The Environmental Vision of J. R .R. Tolkien; some medieval historic romance including The Rood and the Torc; and even philosophy of mind and computation The Mind and the Machine: What it Means to be Human and Why it Matters.

Reviews

[Justin Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a Christmas gift from some friends of mine. It was a very good read about how J.R.R.Tolkien's philosophy on human beings being stewards of the earth is embedded in his fascinating mythology.
Reading this book was a very important reminder of striving to exude goodness in daily life in our own Shire.

[Rachel Libke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book featuring Tolkien AND Aldo Leopold?! Dream team. Absolute gold. Will be hugging trees even tighter from now on.

[Eustacia Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me two tries before I could finish LOTR, and it took two attempts before I really got into this book – rather fitting, don’t you think?

Ents, Elves, and Eriador focuses on the environmental vision of J.R.R. Tolkien, which is another way of saying that the authors read LOTR and associated works, Leaf by Niggle, Farmer Giles of Ham, and other works and analysed what Tolkien’s feelings towards the environment might have been. The book goes into lots of wonderful detail, but in sum, they hypothesise that Tolkien believed that:

The created world is good because it has been created
Stewardship over the earth means taking care of the earth, not exploiting it, and hence
Small farms that have a stake in the earth (and don’t have acres to waste) are better than big agri-businesses.
In terms of structure, the book starts with the value of the earth, and then zooms in into how the various people of Middle Earth treat the land (there are individual chapters for the hobbits, ents, and elves), before looking at the environment in other Tolkien works. With a view of how Tolkien built his world (and what that might say about his attitude towards ours), the book goes on to look at Modor and the consequences of environmental destruction.

As I mentioned in the start, this book took some time for me to warm up to it. It’s pretty academic in nature and I just did not understand what was going on until I finished Notes from the Underground and The Double, and then suddenly my brain had gotten used to more complex sentences and I found myself enjoying the book. If you’re already a huge Tolkien fan, however, you might have an easier time with this one.

Since I’ve only read a couple of Tolkien’s works, I enjoyed learning about all the other stories that Tolkien wrote. Leaf by Niggle, for example, sounds charming and I’ve added that to the TBR list. For books that I have read, like LOTR, this book made me realise that I had overlooked so much and made me want to reread them.

Given the academic tone of this book, I don’t think the casual Tolkien fan is going to pick this up. But if you’re really into Tolkien analysis or you’re interested in how Tolkien built his world/viewed ours, this is a book that you’re going to want to read.

This review was first posted at Eustea Reads

[Marvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was an interesting read, connecting principles of environmentalism to Tolkien's view of nature.

However, some points are worthy of critique in this book.

First, the authors' arguments in Chapter 2 are not convincing. The statements about Christianity and the environment are too absolute and therefore inaccurate. Tolkien's view of nature was certainly connected to his beliefs but they were not necessarily mainstream in Christian thought. The authors attempt to show that the bible clearly provides reason for a good stewardship by interpreting passages from the Bible. However, they fail fundamentally by not taking different interpretations into account, namely that people have always interpreted these passages in many different ways, including in favor of preserving nature and in favor of destroying it. Tolkien may have seen his Christian beliefs as a call to be a good steward of the world, but Christianity in general has not. Christians have justified their actions, both good and bad, both killing and destruction and saving and charity, with their beliefs.
It follows that Christian ideology undoubtedly contributed to the exploitation of nature, rather than its preservation, as the authors want to argue. In the mind of Tolkien and also the authors, Christianity should argue for the environment but it has not, and the exploitation of the environment in the 19th and 20th century by people who were overwhelmingly Christians in Europe and the Americas is undeniable proof of that.

Second, the connection of environmentalism and rustic life deserves some more critique. This is brought up later when the authors talk about the Ent wives and the Ents as conservationists and preservationists. Traditional rustic farmland is not necessarily good for the environment. Most of the forest of England were felled long before industrialization. Humans are capable of exploiting nature without machines. Therefore, rustic life is not always pro environment.
Tolkien was a lover of rustic life, but the authors do not sufficiently explain how that is connected to the environment specifically, instead of his own nostalgic imagination of his childhood in the English countryside.

Lastly, concerning again the stewardship in the works of Tolkien. It is certainly right that Tolkien places great importance on being a good steward over land and people. However, the authors of this book fail to sufficiently link this stewardship with the environment specifically. Tolkien's stewards are stewards of many things, and not just nature in particular. The authors read too much into Christian stewardship over nature in particular. This point is not convincing.

Nonetheless, I did enjoy reading this book despite my critiques. I would recommend it so anyone who wants to engage with Tolkien and his views on the environment.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

let’s be real i was never actually going to finish this but from the parts i did actually read it was interesting! if a bit of an unnuanced introduction to environmentalist thought in tolkiens works

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my 3rd time to read this book. It is wonderful stuff. I actually give it a 4.5 it is just short of being amazing as 5 stars would make it. I am rereading it to prepare for writing a conference paper.

[Regitze Xenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me want to focus my thesis solely i the environmental issues in Lord of the Rings. But I think that might be too much of a rip-off of this book. However, it presents some really interesting and great points that I want to include in my thesis.

[The Fantasy Review · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant exploration of Tolkien's legendarium through an ecocritical eye.

[Julianne S · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the main reading goals I set for myself this year was to incorporate more nonfiction into my reading; this book was at times a great and at times a discouraging start to that plan.

There was plenty that I liked (or at least appreciated) about it. I adore Tolkien, and it provided a nice way to experience some of his writing and spend some time in Middle Earth without committing to the full twelve hundred pages of LoTR. It also gave a helpful crash course in the Silmarillion to tide me over until the day when I eventually work up the courage to tackle it for real. And many of the ideas in this book are worthwhile and valuable, particularly the thoughts it offers on the inherent value of creation and Christian stewardship.

What drawbacks it has are due to the extreme intellectualism of its writers. These are men who have dedicated their lives and careers to a very specific field of study (namely modern environmentalism), while also being the most intense and pedantic type of Tolkien nerd. This gives them a certain amount of tunnel vision and a tendency to stretch and twist passages from Tolkien’s books to suit their points. They have a habit of repeating themselves in some places and then failing to fully articulate their arguments in others (although that’s something I’ve observed in multiple nonfictions of this kind). It’s also very depressing at times, as pretty much any environmental commentary inevitably will be.

In my opinion, Tolkien’s works and the love of nature he expresses in them speak for themselves, so I don’t know that I would describe this book as a necessary resource that was lacking in the world. But it is a decent and concise overview of some of Tolkien’s most deeply held and revisited beliefs, and if nothing else, I think it has the potential to inspire a deeper love and respect for Tolkien, Middle Earth, and the real world we live in for those who read it.

[Ken Mcafee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any serious fan of Tolkien should read this book. No doubt, even as Tolkien sought to tell stories with his books, he also sought to teach us, and we would do well to heed what he had to say. Understanding Tolkien's environmental vision should drive us to treasure Tolkien even more (if possible) and to seek to impact the world around us in a more positive way, as he did.

[Josh Sturm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am quite skeptical of attempts to read themes and ideas into Tolkien’s mythology. But this felt different. Themes of environment and stewardship obviously weave throughout Tolkien’s work. This study just puts them together into coherent chunks. Very enjoyable and enlightening!

[EL Core · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique, I think, analysis of Tolkien's stories without short shrift of the Catholic Christian foundation of his ideas as he expresses them in his works.

[Jay Shank · Rating 3 out of 5]

“It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till”

Tolkien’s perspective on nature, ecology, environmentalism, etc. stemmed from his Christian faith. He believed that because God created everything, pronounced it good, and that God himself is good, God’s creation demands respect and care. This book argues, in part, that we should farm like hobbits, grow beautiful things like elves, and take care of nature like ents. Ultimately, we must care for our earth properly, not exploiting it, but by being good stewards until Christ returns.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book about environmental themes in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. The authors did a nice job of looking at agriculture, horticulture/conservation, and what they called feraculture, using the examples of the hobbits, the elves, and the ents. Lots of underlining of great quotes from Aldo Leopold and Wendell Berry, as well as from Tolkien himself. The end dragged a bit, but overall I liked this very much. Now that I am older, reading paper books is a bit more work for me, but I do enjoy reading with a pencil in hand instead of on my phone or my Kindle.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't help but agree with them that Tolkien was an environmentalist. He cared deeply about preserving forests and fields. This is one of the things that appealed to me when I first read Tolkien's books in my late teens. I was deeply sympathetic with the ecologists who were concerned with the loss of natural habitat, and the pollution that was spreading, which was leading to a loss of species. I'm certain Tolkien understood these same issues, and was highly sympathetic himself. He was trying to warn us, in the very best way possible, by making us see the damage with new eyes. Exploring the way that Tolkien did this, is what this book is all about. It is a worthwhile read.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this exploration of Tolkien's environmental vision, but I have one very large sticking point: there is virtually no mention of Tolkien's experiences in France during WWI despite the catastrophic environmental destruction he would have witnessed. It feels like such a massive oversight that I can't ignore.

I also think it would have benefitted from including an exploration of the Wild Men's relationship to the land, opening the door for an inclusion of indigenous practices and wisdom in confronting the modern problems the natural world faces.

[Jens Hieber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent scholarship, well and clearly written, and so insightful. I loved how the authors put this together and appreciated even more how well Tolkien created his world to reflect what health, growth, and hope can look like. Highly recommend for any Tolkien fans/scholars, though the first bits would be tricky for anyone that hasn't read the Silmarillion.

[Michael Gerardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've made a LOT of notes while reading this book, and will have a review soon.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

[Steven Shinder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe it's because I've read a bunch of these now, but I didn't have as much to latch onto with this one.

[Mitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and persuasive.

[Silvio Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really unique idea: a book on how to use Tolkien's writings as an inspiration for your environmental conscience. The authors have a refreshingly clear understanding and respect for the Tolkienian distinction between allegory and applicability. They give plenty of original analysis of how environmental themes work within the books, concentrating on The Lord of the Rings but without ignoring The Silmarillion and shorter works. The biggest finding is a distinction between three different models of environmental purpose - agriculture, practiced by hobbits; horticulture, practiced by Elves; and "feraculture," practiced by Ents - and how Middle-Earth is a mosaic of all three. Preceding that is a discussion of how Tolkien's real-life Christian beliefs motivated his respect for the environment, which helps bring into focus a lot of things that have been nearly invisible to me because of how closely they matched the culture I used to live in. For example, the excellent discussion of "Gandalfian stewardship" sounds as Quaker as anything. The picture that emerges of humans tending the earth like a combined farm and garden still strikes me as arrogant and in the long run dangerous, but it's a good sight better than treating the earth like a combined oil well and trash bin, which seems to be the standard attitude nowadays, so I welcome any impact this book might have and I'd recommend it to any Tolkien reader with an analytical turn of mind. I'd been meaning to read this for a long time, since one of the authors teaches in the English and Linguistics programs right here at UGA.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Often noted as one of the most popular writers of the 20th century, Tolkien is well known for his textured, epic sagas infused with a transcendent mythic quality sorely missed in modern literature. But he is not often recognized for a thing which is exceedingly obvious to anyone who has read The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, or The Silmarillion: his all-pervading love of green and growing things. Tolkien was an environmentalist before there was an environmentalism movement. In the body of his writing, Dickerson and Evans here shows us, Tolkien established a threefold vision for responsible environmental stewardship: the agrarian community of the Shire, the aesthetic, conservationist horticulture of the Elves, and the preservationist "feraculture" of the Ents. Further, the authors demonstrate, through an exploration of Tolkien's own creation myth, how nature is valuable in and of itself and not for any utilitarian purpose; and how care and appreciation for the natural world is best supported and engendered by a transcendent and religious worldview such as Tolkien's own Christianity. Observantly exploring hidden corners of his writing, and citing the most current names in environmental literature such as Wendell Berry, Norman Wirzba, Aldo Leopold, John Elder, and others, Matthew Dickerson and Jonathan Evans demonstrate how Tolkien's legendarium can serve as an imaginative vision to inspire environmental feeling and action today.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A study of environmental fiction that extrapolates Tolkien's environmental ethics from his works, proving how relevant to the contemporary environmental crisis his masterpieces can still be. Argues essentially that Tolkien had consciously integrated a Christian ecological approach in his work, as well as the potency of fairy tales and mythology in shaping the reader's understanding of our relationship with the natural world. Strongly recommended.

[Jacques le fataliste et son maître · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un tentativo di cogliere la visione ambientale al fondo dell’opera di Tolkien. “Visione ambientale” è però un termine riduttivo: è una visione del mondo – dell’intera creazione nella prospettiva cristiana di Tolkien – quella che emerge dalla ricostruzione degli autori. Un approccio alla realtà segnato da un profondo rispetto per l’autonomia e le potenzialità di ogni creatura.

[Devon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ya gotta love any book that lists you by name in the acknowledgments...but aside from that I really did enjoy this bit o criticism by my esteemed friend/mentor/professor Matt Dickerson. A must-read for all Tolkien enthusiasts.