A Tolkien Blog Party: Christ Figures in Lord of the Rings

Hurrah! It's finally time for Rachel's Tolkien Blog Party! (The button above contains a link, if you want to go check it out. 😉) I'm going to do the absolutely fabulous and very, very difficult tag on Friday, but today, we're starting with a post on the numerous Christ figures in LOTR! 

*Warning: This should be obvious, but this post contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings.*

One of the things I noticed as I was reading LOTR for the first time this past winter was the proliferation of Christ figures. But was I right to see all these Christ figures? After all, after it was published, Tolkien said:

"As for any inner meaning or "message," it has in the intention of the author none. It is neither allegorical nor topical....I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence." 

And my favorite:

“An enquirer (among many) asked what the L.R. was all about, and whether it was an ‘allegory’. And I said it was an effort to create a situation in which a common greeting would be elen sila lumenn’ omentielmo, and that the phrase long antedated the book. I never heard any more.” 

But he also says:

"[LOTR] is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision...the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism." 

So on the one hand, we have the claim that it is neither allegorical nor topical, and on the other, that there is religiosity and symbolism in the story. What to think? Perhaps a third quote will clear things up:

“I have no didactic purpose, and no allegorical intent. (I do not like allegory (properly so called: most readers appear to confuse it with significance or applicability) but that is a matter too long to deal with here.)” 

It seems that Tolkien, in denying "allegory" was denying it in the sense of Pilgrim's Progress, and those who asked if LOTR was a retelling of WWII. However, he acknowledges that there is Catholic symbolism in the book, so it is not erroneous to look for Catholic symbolism, including Christ figures!

Quick note: My thoughts in this post (which has been sitting in my drafts for quite awhile, waiting for Tolkien Week!) were formed as and after I read LOTR and numerous biographies of Tolkien. Afterwards, I read Joseph Pearce's Frodo's Journey, which contains (and distills!) a lot of the things I noticed, so while most, if not all, ideas in this post are mine, I may reference Joseph Pearce where he distilled things better than I did. 

Frodo

First of all, Frodo as Christ figure. After reading the book, I knew that Frodo had to be a Christ figure--after all, what is the journey through Mordor, if not a sort of Passion? But I wasn't quite sure how else than having a "Passion" Frodo lined up with Christ.

But one of the striking ideas that Joseph Pearce puts forward is the One Ring represents sin--the power the dark lord has over the ones who carry it, the corrupting power of it, etc. 

In this sense, on one level, Frodo can be seen as the one who carries 'sin' and destroys it, and through it, its master, making an obvious parallel between him and Jesus, Who destroyed sin on the Cross, and thereby destroyed death. 

One interesting point related to Frodo as Christ figure, is that he and the ring leave Imladris on the 25th of December (the day on which Jesus was born, and thus began His journey towards the cross), and the ring is destroyed on March 25th, the traditional historic date of the Crucifixion. 

Interestingly, Tolkien, who, through the dates makes it obvious that Frodo is a Christ figure, says in one of his letters “No, Frodo ‘failed’. It is possible that once the ring was destroyed he had little recollection of the last scene. But one must face the fact: the power of Evil in the world is not finally resistible by incarnate creatures, however ‘good’; and the Writer of the Story is not one of us.” 

Looking at this quote, it's possible to observe that on another level, if the ring is seen as a symbol of sin, Frodo can be seen as simply an Everyman who takes up his particular cross of sin, as Christ commanded. This theory leads into my next Christ figure character. 

Sam

Sam, while he very briefly carries the ring for Frodo while he's captured by the orcs, primarily carries Frodo. But he carries Frodo who carries the ring. In this capacity, as the one who carries the one who carries the burden of sin, or the one who carries the sins of others, he, more truly than Frodo, may be seen as a figure of Jesus, Who took our sins upon Himself during His passion. (This also, for better or worse, reminds me of that saccharine "Footprints in the Sand" poem. XD)

Aragorn

While both Sam and Frodo are Christ figures in the persona of Suffering Servant, Aragorn represents Jesus's identity as King. Aragorn is the long-expected king, the heir of Isildur, in a similar way to how Jesus is the heir of David ("He shall sit on the thrown of David, his father"). 

One of my favorite Aragorn/Jesus parallels happens in the Houses of Healing, where the old woman (whose name I'm regrettably blanking on) repeats that "The hands of the king are the hands of a healer", and indeed, Aragorn's hands do heal Eowyn and Merry. This, quite obviously, parallels Jesus's many healings during His ministry. 

Additionally, Aragorn, like Jesus, only comes into his kingdom as king after the defeat of evil. 

Besides his role as King, Aragorn also is the only one of the four major Christ figures to embody (sort of) "Priest". He listens to Boromir's dying confessions, and tells him to "Be at Peace", a symbolic absolution (or as much as it can be, in a fantasy world without the Church!)

Gandalf

Gandalf's role as Christ figure is perhaps more obvious than Aragorn's, given that he actually gives himself for his friends (so they can escape), and rises more powerful and "brighter" than before. 

His predictions about Gollum (that he will have his part to play in the story before the end) show him as conveying the "prophet" part of Christ's role, as well. Tolkien knew that the parallels were obvious, and noted, in Letter 181: 

“Thus Gandalf faced and suffered death; and came back or was sent back, as he says, with enhanced power. But though one may be in this reminded of the Gospels, it is not really the same thing at all. The Incarnation of God is an infinitely greater thing than anything I would dare to write.” 

The Lord of the Rings, unlike Narnia, does not have only one Christ figure. So, Tolkien is right when he asserts that his story is not an allegory. It cannot be, since in reality, there is only one Christ! However, the "bigness" of God is emphasized in Tolkien's use of more than one Christ figure, since one single non-divine character (i.e. not Aslan) cannot symbolize the whole reality of Jesus. One of the emphases of LOTR is the necessity of everyone to follow Christ, to almost be a Christ figure for others. Another emphasis is the way no one can truly be a Christ figure except Christ--each Christ figure contains one or two 'parts' of Christ's role (as Priest, Prophet, King, and Suffering Servant), but not the entirety. 

Can you think of any other Christ figures in LOTR? How's the blog party going for you? Have you ever used elen sila lumenn’ omentielmo in real life?