question

[jme24576]

Hello all. I just joined. I had a question about what influenced Tolkien's writing of the Lord of the Rings trilogy & the Hobbit. I know that C.S. Lewis' "Narnia" books have direct parallels to the Bible (i.e., Edmund would be Judas, the White Queen would be the Devil, etc.), but is it the same with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings & Hobbit books? Is

Comments

[serendipity_m]

No. Not the Bible or any turmoils of his time influenced Tolkien's writing. He makes a cautious suggestions that he had the “ SOURCES long before in mind “; that his books don't have ALLEGORY (why not? a Christian novel depicting victory of Good over Evil in such turbulent time would be more readily accepted.); that he prefers HISTORY (considering that prevailed amount of book readers prefer to read novels, fiction and detectives, who would promote his book by classifying it under such less popular and even boring to some readers subject ?), which he "recorded", specifically highlighting that fact; that the book, like any history work, does not have INNER MORAL (another downgrading of the book), but the history and ITS APPLICABILITY could be VARIED and "though the dates given are often conjectural,... they DESERVE ATTENTION" . All this, among other tidbits scattered through all professor's writing, is unpersuasively giving an implication that behind the whole story is something bigger than just an author's fantasy. This is how he

[jme24576]

So, did or didn't the Bible influence the Lord of the Rings trilogy or the Hobbit & are there or aren't there any parallels in the Lord of the Rings trilogy & the Hobbit to the Bible? I read through your answer, I just want to make sure I have it right.

[mosinging1986]

Why are you even asking this? Obviously, if you've read LOTR and the Bible, you see the influences. How can you not?

[wizardelfgirl]

Basically you can sum it up like this: Tolkien ALWAYS denied that he was influenced by the Bible, among other things, but we all know he actually was.

Directly influenced by the Bible? No

[ed_rex]

I'm not sure anymore who said it (possibly Michael Swanwick), but The Lord of the Rings is a novel profoundly informed by Tolkien's Catholocism (and so, by the Bible), but it it contains few or no parallels or direct references.

I've read that he tried to make sure that nothing in TLotR contradicted scripture, but again, the story itself is, he said (and I believe him) the attempt by a writer to tell a really long story. No more and no less.

The novel's main direct influences come from Tolkien's studies of languages and of northern European mythologies.

[elwenlj]

I hope you're not looking for the answer to an exam question here.

Tolkien was primarily interested in the structure of language and basically wrote his story to give the languages he created a context. As with all authors, what was important to him in his personal life comes through to a lesser or larger degree.