Tolkien’s Forgotten Masterpiece: The Silmarillion
Christian Faith and Fiction Literature
The way in which John Ronald Reuel Tolkien conceives the relationship between his literary creations and his own Christian (i.e., Catholic) faith has given rise to extensive analyses and never-ending discussions. As one might say, we are dealing with a subject that provokes strong passions and reactions. Within the entire corpus of his letters, the most significant fragment regarding such a delicate topic is found in a letter addressed to a distinguished scholar and Jesuit friend, Father Robert Murray S.J.[1] Here, Tolkien explains how he conceives and incorporates the religious element into his stories:
The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put in, or have cut out, practically all references to anything like ‘religion,’ to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism.[2]
In the above lines, the author offers an important clue for analysis, highlighting the diffuse religious element that is implicitly present in the fabric of his n
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