”
Return of the King
”
opens this week, and I can hardly wait. I first read
”
The Lord of the Rings
”
when I was 11. My dad sent me
”
The Fellowship of the Ring
”
and
”
The Two Towers
”
for my birthday.
“Return of the King” opens this week, and I can hardly wait. I first read “The Lord of the Rings” when I was 11. My dad sent me “The Fellowship of the Ring” and “The Two Towers” for my birthday. I devoured them, and then had to wait two eternal months for Christmas, when he gave me “The Return of the King.” It was the longest two months of my literary life.
In the decades since, I’ve had many friends who shared my love for Tolkien’s trilogy. I have also had a lot of friends who just could not make it past the first 50 pages. I used to try to persuade people to persevere. Eventually I accepted the fact that some people were just not charmed enough by hobbits and ents and wizards to enjoy reading 1,200 pages about them.
The movies, however, seem to appeal to both groups. Most of those of us who have long dwelt in Middle Earth feel a profound sense of recognition when we watch the films. Two years ago, as the opening sequence of “Fellowship” rolled, I said softly to my husband, “Oh, Stuart, it’s the Shire!”
I cannot help but feel sorry for my friends who have never read the books. I think they must miss a lot of the nuances and sight gags. But at least they are finally becoming acquainted with the insouciant Pippin and with Gandalf’s bushy eyebrows.
I hope that “Return” shows Merry and Eowyn at the Battle of Pellanor Fields, and the scouring of the Shire. I know from hints in “Towers” that Shelob will make her appearance. I know from the books and the title that Aragorn will become king.
Anne has downloaded scenes from “Return” trailers, and mixed them into a screen saver for us. Legolas, Theoden, Denethor, Boromir, Gandalf, Pippin, Frodo, Samwise, and Aragorn slip silently across our screen in endless random sequence.
I walked into the living room a few weeks ago just as Aragorn came onto the screen. His head was inclined a little forward; he grasped his sword, hilt up. For the first time I was struck, forcibly, with his physical resemblance to my conception of Jesus.
The resemblance is entirely appropriate. J.R.R. Tolkien, like his friend, C.S. Lewis, was a Christian: not just an Anglican, but a Christian who believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and that He died for our sins, and that He was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. He wrote “The Lord of the Rings” as a Christian allegory.
It is an epic story of the battle of good against evil. Frodo is a Christ figure; he carries a terrible burden: the sin of the world on a chain around his neck. What sacrifice will he have to make to destroy that sin?
Aragorn is a Christ figure, too. He is a king, but seems to be merely “one of them Rangers.” He serves and protects. He makes no claims, but in the end he will assume the throne.
Just so Jesus walked our earth, God disguised as a man. He came to serve and to save. He bore the sins of the world. He will come again in glory.
Of course, the three movies can be enjoyed on their own merits, without reference to Christian allegory, just as they can be enjoyed without having been read as books. Good and evil, love and death, loyalty and betrayal, sacrifice and power-lust, beauty and horror, courage and deceit: these are the themes of humanity. These are the choices we make each day.
Today I want to wish a happy Chanukah to my Jewish friends, who are celebrating the courage of the Maccabees, freedom of religion, and the miracle of light God vouchsafed them.
I also want to wish a merry Christmas to my Christian friends, who are celebrating God’s incarnation next week. Happy holidays to everybody else. God bless us, every one.
