It's like The Lord of the Rings out there

There is a lot more to Tolkien that resembles our faith than just the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The whole world/ universe of Middle Earth resembles the Catholic/ Christian faith.

I’ve read other of his books (the Simarilan) but if you want to delve into the mythology of Tolken a great tool is the YouTube channel - Men of the West.

Its very interesting

 

The witch king of the Nazgul is killed by a woman. The Blessed Mother will destroy satan... so many things to think about

 

YES!

Our Lady, Queen of Victories!

 

Well said, PF! Numbers are overrated!

Matthew 18:19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 2For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

 

How cool! I did not know this was a channel on youtube! I read The Silmarillion so many years ago.. this is a great find for me : )
Thanks for posting this Ananchal!

 

I have read some of Tolkien’s additional works, including the Silmarilion though I haven’t finished it. One work I have finished is The Children of Hurin which is quite dark.

One of my favourite Catholic elements that I heard recently, (I probably read it in the Silmarilion and didn’t pick up on it) is Elbereth is described as shining with the Light of Iluvater Himself; which obviously points to Whom She’s based off of; in the LOTRs evil things flee whenever Her name is mentioned.

 

Galadriel is an allegorical representation of Our Lady.

 

It's interesting to me that this section is the most difficult to translate, since most other languages don't handle gender the way English does. Specifically, most other languages don't treat "man" as a general form of "person". The line "I can be defeated by no man," would have been translated as "I can be defeated by no one," leading translators to jump through hoops to capture that ambiguity of her being female being an exception to the rule, i.e., he can be killed by women but not by a man.

 

But remember Tolkien made all the languages used in his mythology so he could make words mean whatever he wanted

 

Like Macbeth. "No man born of woman can slay MacBeth"and then McDuff replies "then know McDuff was from his mother's womb untimely ripped" and goes on to slay Macbeth (who had it coming)

 

They can also be thought of as the Holy Souls who died before the Resurrection being kept in the "Bosom of Abraham". (They are in the "heart" or bosom of the mountain.) (Sorry, can't remember exact names and I'm at work, so can't look them up.) Aragon (who is a Christ figure) is able to free them because he bears the reforged sword (symbol of the True Cross). They are released in what is called the Harrowing of Hell. They are the souls who appear to the residents of Jerusalem on Good Friday after Jesus dies.

Something else about that reforged sword: there's an apocryphal story that says the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, after the Fall, the Tree started spreading out its roots with new trees sprouting from them, until a forest arose.

When God wanted Noah to build an Ark, He led Noah to this forest for the wood. The wood was strong, easily worked, and as the pieces were nailed together the boards began to sprout branches and roots, binding the construction together into a living ship.

When the Ark set down, the tree once again put down roots, and once again a forest grew. The locals thought the woods were cursed and never went there. Years passed, and eventually a survey team from the local government showed up. They were amazed at the trees, as they had never seen anything like them before. They forced some of the locals to cut down some of the trees to take back with them. The locals were amazed at how they weren't killed when they first struck the trees with the axe, and at how easily the trees were felled.

The tree logs were loaded along with some old nails they found there. After some weeks of travel they arrived in Jerusalem for a few days of rest, and stored the logs and nails with the local garrison.

Now, the garrison's carpenter was worried because there was to be an extra unscheduled execution that day and there was no more lumber available. So when he found the logs along with the nails, he didn't hesitate. The cross was forned and the nails were used to fasten the criminal to it.

And so, in the words of the old Latin hymn, the tree responsible for man's downfall became the source of man's redemption.

 

In case I didn't use enough words The sword that was shattered was still able to cut the Ring off Sauron's finger. But the human king who did this didn't destroy the Ring, but kept it and so condemned future generations to suffer from evil. Aaragorn took this sword forged from the shards of the old sword of failure and was able to use it to free Middle Earth.

 

A Christ figure for sure. Leading a hidden life until the fullness of time. But LOTR uses all 3 major figures it seems to denote the roles of Christ. Prophet King and Sacrifice. It is an amazing tour de force.

 

I love this thread.

I watched the LOTR again recently and was left wondering if Tolkien was a mystic or perhaps he read the 3rd Fatima Secret? I notice new biblical connections every time I watch it.

I made a connection just recently between that awful huge spider that Frodo had to get past in order to get to the fires of Mordor and the world wide web (www) of our times. In a recent report about the antichrist, Michael Brown referred to the internet as having a huge hidden spider hiding behind it, waiting to pounce and that's what happens in the LOTR. The internet used to be very cool, but it's increasingly controlled, censored and surveilling users. The spider appears in the last movie, the Return of the King, like the equivalent of the current end times since we are nearing the end of this age.

The battle scene with the elephants reminded me of the battles in the book of Maccabees

"And the number of his army was a hundred thousand footmen, and twenty thousand horsemen, and thirty-two elephants, trained to battle...And they distributed the beasts by the legions: and there stood by every elephant a thousand men in coats of mail, and with helmets of brass on their heads: and five hundred horsemen set in order were chosen for every beast... And upon the beast, there were strong wooden towers, which covered every one of them: and engines upon them: and upon every one thirty-two valiant men, who fought from above; and an Indian to rule the beast."​

Yes I loved this too!

There is a message given in the locutions to Fr Michelini about how the battle on earth in the end times will culminate in a final confrontation that will involve humanity and all of heaven against all of hell. I had just read this passage when I watched TLOTR again and thought of it when I saw this wonderful battle scene with the souls. I've started praying for the holy souls more regularly since then and asking for their intercession for us in this battle.

I haven't read the books but think that Peter Jackson did a brilliant job with the movie. I wish there were more movies like this!

 

We know Tolkien took his inspiration from the bible and the Catholic faith
We watch LOTR annually and sometimes more. Usually around Christmas but just watched it all a couple of months ago. I read the books a few times in high school. Didn't think the movie would be as good as it was - the characters were so well done, but apparently license was taken with the story but my goodness, getting everything perfect, the movie would have been a longer series than it already was!