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Celebrating Middle-earth: The Lord of the Rings as a Defense of Western Civilization
In Celebrating Middle-earth six writers explore the important place that J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings occupies in the literary, political and religious traditions of Western society. Those writers are: John West, Peter Kreeft, Janet Blumberg, Joseph Pearce, Kerry Dearborn and Phillip Goggans. Each discusses the deeper message beneath the story.
- GenresPhilosophy
108 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 18, 2008
Great article on Anglo-Saxon poetry.
August 5, 2011
It didn't have a whole lot to add to what I already knew about the LOR already (having read it so many times), but it was a good focus on the religious side of the work and the Inklings.
January 13, 2019
When I was researching for my doctoral dissertation, I would often chance upon scholarly articles, particularly those published since the late 1980s, where the academic devoted more time to expounding upon a particular theory than to discussing the particular classical work—or mythological figure—under consideration. That is, the study of theory seemed to supplant understanding story and image.
Scholars were not using the theory to help explain the stories, the images, but the stories and images to elucidate the theory. This small volume, written by individuals likely concerned about the explosion of theory in the humanities suffers from a similar problem. Only here, the various authors try to tease out the Christian imagery and themes in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings with greater reference to that imagery and those themes than to the events recounted in that great epic.
That said, Tolkien himself was a practicing Catholic and the authors’ arguments don’t entirely ring hollow. They just need be fleshed out more. For example, in his essay, “Wartime Wisdom: Ten Uncommon Insights about Evil in The Lord of the Rings,” the second in the book, Peter Kreeft contends that Samwise Gamgee’s “friendship and love of Frodo” is the “single force most responsible for winning the War of the Ring”. I believe he is right, but Kreeft barely has time to introduce the argument before moving on to his next point.
Now, to be sure, a twenty-page essay ostensibly on evil may not be the place for a detailed consideration of Sam’s friendship with and affection for Frodo. Still, we are left with an idea introduced and barely explained.
That said, the authors of the various essays in this book make a number of smart observations and offer more than a handful of astute insights. But, the book felt a little rushed to me, as if each put his—or her—thoughts to paper and then submitted them for publication.
But, given these men and women are scholars who have studied theology and have thought seriously about The Lord of the Rings, there is some merit to this collection.
One wishes that seventeen years after its initial publication, the authors might revise—and expand upon—this edition.
Scholars were not using the theory to help explain the stories, the images, but the stories and images to elucidate the theory. This small volume, written by individuals likely concerned about the explosion of theory in the humanities suffers from a similar problem. Only here, the various authors try to tease out the Christian imagery and themes in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings with greater reference to that imagery and those themes than to the events recounted in that great epic.
That said, Tolkien himself was a practicing Catholic and the authors’ arguments don’t entirely ring hollow. They just need be fleshed out more. For example, in his essay, “Wartime Wisdom: Ten Uncommon Insights about Evil in The Lord of the Rings,” the second in the book, Peter Kreeft contends that Samwise Gamgee’s “friendship and love of Frodo” is the “single force most responsible for winning the War of the Ring”. I believe he is right, but Kreeft barely has time to introduce the argument before moving on to his next point.
Now, to be sure, a twenty-page essay ostensibly on evil may not be the place for a detailed consideration of Sam’s friendship with and affection for Frodo. Still, we are left with an idea introduced and barely explained.
That said, the authors of the various essays in this book make a number of smart observations and offer more than a handful of astute insights. But, the book felt a little rushed to me, as if each put his—or her—thoughts to paper and then submitted them for publication.
But, given these men and women are scholars who have studied theology and have thought seriously about The Lord of the Rings, there is some merit to this collection.
One wishes that seventeen years after its initial publication, the authors might revise—and expand upon—this edition.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews