The Lord of the Rings and other works of J.R.R. Tolkien have had a far-reaching impact on culture in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. In print and on film, Tolkien's works seem to be incredible epics, but religious aspects are less obvious. Yet Tolkien himself stated in his letters that the chief conflicts of his epic works were "about God, and His sole right to divine Honour," and whether Sauron can wrest and destroy all that is good in Middle-earth. It is from this that readers awaken to the theological truths that imbue Tolkien's works. In Theology and Tolkien: Constructive Theology, an international group of scholars consider how Tolkien's works (and Jackson's interpretations) can help us build better theologies for use in our world today. From essays on the music of creation in the Ainulindale, to angels, demons, and Balrogs, to Tolkien's theology of God, providence, evil, and love, to the eschatology of the Final Chord of the Great Music, this book invites the reader to journey through Middle-earth as the contributors engage the theology of Tolkien's works and its impact on the world.
Douglas Estes is associate professor of Religion at New College of Florida.
Introduction Douglas Estes Part I: Aman Chapter 1: Freedom and Fidelity: Improvisation in the Ainulindale Bradley K. Broadhead Chapter 2: "When Things Are in Danger, Someone Must Give Them Up": Redemption and Ecology in Tolkien's Legendarium Alison Milbank Chapter 3:Critiquing Tolkien's Theology Austin M. Freeman Chapter 4: In the Brilliant Darkness of a Hidden Silence: J.R.R. Tolkien's Apophatic Tendencies Douglas Estes Chapter 5: Gandalf, Sauron, Melian, and the Balrog as Angels: A Study of J.R.R. Tolkien's Maiar in the Context of Biblical Angelology Charlie Trimm Part II: Erebor Chapter 6: The Marian Valkyrie: Tolkien's Theology of the Heroic Feminine Lisa Coutras Chapter 7: Songs of Light and Darkness: Theological Imagination and Metaphor in J.R.R. Tolkien Beth M. Stovell Chapter 8: Christianity and Paganism in The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings: A Typology Based on Niebuhr's Christ and Culture Allan M. de Novaes, Milton L. Torres, and Joao Fernando O. Barboza Chapter 9: Perceiving the Material and Immaterial in Middle-earth Adam B. Shaeffer Chapter 10: A Chance for Metanarrative to Prove its Quality Jeremy M. Rios Part III: Ithilien Chapter 11: "An Encouraging Thought": The Interplay of Providence and Free Will in Middle-earth Devin Brown Chapter 12: The Redemptive Power of Love: Arwen as the Anti-Eve in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Julie Loveland Swanstrom Chapter 13: Spiritual Sloth and Diligence in Tolkien's Work Martina Jurickova Chapter 14:Evil and the Fall into Violence in Tolkien's Mythopoesis John C. McDowell Chapter 15: A Far Green Country: The Eschatology of Tolkien's Middle-earth Donald T. Williams About the Contributors
