Christianity is a centraltheme in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional works aboutMiddle-earth, but the specifics are always kept hidden. This allows for the books' meaning to be personally interpreted by the reader, instead of the author detailing a strict, set meaning.

J. R. R. Tolkien was a devoutRoman Catholic from boyhood, and he describedThe Lord of the Rings in particular as a "fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision".^{[1][T 1]} While he insisted it was not anallegory, it contains numerous themes fromChristian theology. These include the battle of good versus evil, the triumph of humility over pride, and the activity of grace. A central theme isdeath and immortality, with light as a symbol of divine creation, but Tolkien's attitudes as to mercy and pity,resurrection, theEucharist,salvation,repentance, self-sacrifice,free will, justice, fellowship, authority and healing can also be detected.Divine providence appears indirectly as the will of theValar, godlike immortals, expressed subtly enough to avoid compromising people's free will.The Silmarillion embodies a detailed narrative of the splintering of the original created light, and of thefall of man in the shape of several incidents including theAkallabêth (The Downfall ofNúmenor).

There is no singleChrist-figure comparable toC. S. Lewis'sAslan in hisNarnia books, but the characters ofGandalf,Frodo, andAragorn exemplify thethreefold office, theprophetic,priestly, andkingly aspects of Christ, respectively.

Middle-earth is the generic name for thesetting of much of the English writerJ. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy, and more specifically the central continent ofhis world of Arda. Works set there include his 1937 children's bookThe Hobbit, his 1954–55 novelThe Lord of the Rings, and his 1973 workThe Silmarillion. These works are set in an imagined time in the distantpagan past of the Earth's history, long beforeChristianity.^{[T 2][2]}

Tolkien was a devoutRoman Catholic. He describedThe Lord of the Rings as rich in Christian symbolism, as he explained in a letter to his close friend andJesuit priest,Robert Murray:^{[T 1]}

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.^{[T 1]}

The Tolkien scholarPatrick Curry writes that Tolkien's statement however elides thepaganism that pervades the work; it may befundamentally Christian, but on other levels it is another matter, with its paganpolytheism andanimism, and many other features.^[3] In other words, Middle-earth is both Christian and pagan.^[4] The Tolkien scholarPaul H. Kocher comments that "having made the times pre-Christian, [Tolkien] has freed himself from the need to deal with them in a Christian context, which would be awkward if applied to elves, ents, dwarves, and the rest."^[5]

Many theological themes underlie the narrative, including the battle of good versus evil, the triumph of humility over pride, and the activity ofgrace, as seen withFrodo's pity towardGollum. The workincludes the themes of death and immortality, mercy and pity, resurrection, salvation, repentance, self-sacrifice, free will, justice, fellowship, authority and healing. Tolkien mentions theLord's Prayer, especially the line "And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil" in connection with Frodo's struggles against the power of theOne Ring.^{[T 3]} Tolkien said "Of course God is inThe Lord of the Rings. The period was pre-Christian, but it was a monotheistic world", and when questioned who was the One God of Middle-earth, Tolkien replied "The one, of course! The book is about the world that God created – the actual world of this planet."^[6]

The Bible and traditional Christian narrative also influencedThe Silmarillion. The conflict betweenMelkor andEru Ilúvatar parallels that between Satan and God.^[7] Further,The Silmarillion tells of the creation and fall of the Elves, asGenesis tells of the creation and fall of Man.^[8] As with all of Tolkien's works,The Silmarillion allows room for later Christian history, and one version of Tolkien's drafts even hasFinrod, a character inThe Silmarillion, speculating on the necessity of Eru Ilúvatar's eventualIncarnation to save Mankind.^{[T 4]}A specifically Christian influence is the notion of thefall of man, which influenced theAinulindalë, the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, and the fall ofNúmenor.^{[T 5]}

Commentators including some Christians have taken a wide range of positions on the role of Christianity in Tolkien's fiction, especially inThe Lord of the Rings. They note that it contains representations of Christ and angels in characters such as the wizards, the resurrection, the motifs of light, hope, and redemptive suffering, the apparent invisibility of Christianity in the novel, and not least the nature ofevil, an ancient debate in Christian philosophy, that has led to lengthy scholarly argument about Tolkien's position in the book.^[9] Commentators disagree in particular on whetherThe Lord of the Rings is a Christian work, despite Tolkien's statement that it is.^[10][11]

Catherine Madsen writes that she found herself drawn to faith by the novel, "yet not particularly to the Christian faith".^[11] She notes that Tolkien wrote that "Myth and fairy-story, as all art, reflect and contain in solution elements of moral and religious truth (or error), but not explicit[ly]".^{[T 5]} She states that Tolkien clearly "did not intend his work to argue or illustrate or promulgate Christianity".^[11] In her view, Tolkien uses "Christian magic", not doctrine; she notes that Tolkien wrote that Middle-earth was "a monotheistic world of 'natural theology'".^{[T 6]} The "natural religion" of the book is, she argues, based on matters such as the Elves and their longing for the sea, creating a "religious feeling ... curiously compatible with a secular cosmology".^[11] A world of religion without revelation, she writes, is necessarily ambiguous, and any triumph over evil also diminishes the good, so the world inevitably fades. Hence, whatThe Lord of the Rings offers is not a supernatural hope, but what Tolkien called "recovery", the reawakening of the senses, an unmediated attention to the present, as when Sam looks up into the night sky inMordor, and is struck by the beauty of a star. To Madsen, this is "the most compelling thing about the book, and also the least Christian ... available to anyone of any persuasion, and not contingent upon belief."^[11]

The Tolkien scholarTom Shippey notes that Tolkien stated in the foreword to the second edition ofThe Lord of the Rings that^{[T 7]}

it is neitherallegorical nor topical ... I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations ... I much prefer history, true or feigned, with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers.^{[T 7]}

Despite this, writes Shippey, Tolkien certainly did sometimes write allegories, giving the example ofLeaf by Niggle,^[12] and there is certainly meant to be some relationship between his fiction and fact.^[13] He notes, too, that Tolkien deliberately "approach[ed] to the edge ofChristian reference"^[14] by placing the destruction of the Ring and the fall ofSauron on 25 March, the traditional Anglo-Saxon date of thecrucifixion of Christ and of theannunciation, and of the last day of theGenesis creation.^[14] Other commentators have noted further echoes of Christian themes, including the presence of Christ figures,^[15] the resurrection,^[16] hope,^[17] and redemptive suffering.^[18]

Paul Kocher, in his bookMaster of Middle-earth, writes that "having made the times pre-Christian, [Tolkien] has freed himself from the need to deal with them in a Christian context, which would be awkward if applied to elves, ents, dwarves, and the rest."^[19] On the other hand, Kocher notes thatElrond ascribes purpose to events including the summoning of the Free Peoples tohis council; Elrond uses the words "purpose", "called", "ordered", and "believe", implying "some living will".^[20] Similarly, he comments,Gandalf firmly tellsDenethor, the despairingSteward of Gondor, that suicide is forbidden and indeed is "heathen".^[21]

The scholar of theology and literatureRalph C. Wood, in his 2003 bookThe Gospel According to Tolkien, concludes "Christians are called to be hobbit-like servants of the King and his Kingdom.Frodo andSam are first in the reign ofIluvatar because they are willing to be last and least among those who 'move the wheels of the world'".^[10] Wood notes, too, that the elves'lembas waybread is "reminiscent of theeucharistic wafer: its airy lightness gives strength in direct disproportion to its weight".^[23] Pat Pinsent, inA Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien, states that "his own devout adherence to Catholicism is in fact reflected throughout his writing, to the extent that ... his faith was the driving force behind his literary endeavors".^[24]

TheEpiscopal priest and theologianFleming Rutledge, in her 2004 bookThe Battle for Middle-earth: Tolkien's Divine Design in'The Lord of the Rings', writes that Tolkien had constructed his book both as an exciting surface narrative, and as a deep theological narrative. She cites his statement that "I am a Christian (which can be deduced from my stories)."^{[T 8][25]} In her view, Tolkien very rarely allows the hints and suggestions of divine intervention to break the surface, but that the cumulative effect of his "veiled substructure" can have a powerful effect on the reader. She writes that Tolkien was providing "a rare glimpse of what human freedom within God's Divine Plan really means."^[25] She notes that while Tolkien had saidThe Lord of the Rings was fundamentally religious, Middle-earth appears "a curiously nonreligious world". Her view is that this was entirely deliberate, as Tolkien wanted to avoid any hint ofpantheism, worship of the natural world; and while Arda is, as Tolkien wrote, "my own mother-earth", the action is set long before the Christian era; she points out that he wrote in a letter that^[25]

We are in a time when the One God, Eru, is known to exist by the Wise, but is not approachable save by or through the Valar, though he is still remembered in (unspoken) prayer by those of Númenórean descent."^{[T 9]}

The scholarVerlyn Flieger writes that Tolkien's fantasy "has no explicit Christianity", unlike the medievalArthurian legends "with their miracles, pious hermits, heavy-handed symbolism, and allegorical preachiness".^[22] Tolkien's Middle-earth, "greatly to his credit", avoidedpreachiness andallegory.^[22] On the subject of making Christianity explicit in fantasy, he wrote:^[22]

For reasons which I will not elaborate, that seems to me fatal. Myth and fairy-story must, as all art, reflect and contain in solution elements of moral and religious truth (or error), but not explicit, not in the known form of the primary "real" world.^{[T 10]}

Flieger comments that the word "fatal" is to be taken literally: an explicit Christian message "would have killed the work", draining the life from thesecondary world, and that Tolkien had indeed written in a letter:^[22]

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.^{[T 1]}

The philosopherPeter Kreeft, like Tolkien aRoman Catholic, observes that there is no one complete, concrete, visibleChrist figure inThe Lord of the Rings comparable toAslan inC. S. Lewis'sChronicles of Narnia series. However, Kreeft and Jean Chausse have identified reflections of the figure of Jesus Christ in threeprotagonists ofThe Lord of the Rings: Gandalf, Frodo and Aragorn. While Chausse found "facets of the personality of Jesus" in them, Kreeft wrote that "they exemplify the Old Testamentthreefold Messianic symbolism ofprophet (Gandalf),priest (Frodo), andking (Aragorn)".^[15][28][29]

Baptism, the rite which welcomes Christians into the new life of the Church by immersing them in water, symbolically drowning their old life, has been identified in aspects of the story inThe Lord of the Rings. One is the water of the fountain called the Mirror of Galadriel. Rutledge suggests that if this does symbolise baptism, then the fountain's water should protect against Sauron's evil will "to penetrate the defences even of the wise", such as Galadriel's guarding of her Elf-realm ofLothlórien. She notes that some of the water is held in thePhial of Galadriel, which protects Frodo and Sam on their way into Mordor.^[30]

A very different symbol is the dark underground Dwarf-realm ofMoria. Here, the nine members of theFellowship of the Ring enter, are submerged, and re-emerge on the other side of the mountains, symbolically having gone through death and been reborn; one of them, Gandalf, actually dies there, though he too is reborn.^[16][31]

Aragorn is acclaimed as King of Gondor by his own people, following their old proverb that the hands of a King are the hands of a healer. He goes about after the battle, using the healing herbAthelas or "Kingsfoil" to revive those stricken by theBlack Breath, the evil of the Nazgûl. Rutledge comments on the echoes of theSamaritan woman at the well, who tells her people to come and see the miraculous man who spoke to her: "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?", and about Aragorn's laying his hand on Merry's head and calling him by name, recalling Christ's raising up ofJairus's daughter.^[32]

Several commentators have seen Gandalf's passage through the Mines of Moria, dying to save his companions and returning as "Gandalf the White", as a symbol of theresurrection of Christ.^{[16][18][35][31]} LikeJesus who carried his cross for thesins of mankind, Frodo carried a burden of evil on behalf of the whole world.^[36] Frodo walks his "Via Dolorosa" toMount Doom, just like Jesus who made his way toGolgotha.^[37] As Frodo approaches the Cracks of Doom, the Ring becomes a crushing weight, just as the cross was for Jesus.Sam Gamgee, Frodo's servant, who carries Frodo up to Mount Doom, parallelsSimon of Cyrene, who helps Jesus by carrying his cross toGolgotha.^[26] When Frodo accomplishes his mission, like Christ, he says "it is done".^[38] Just as Christ ascends toheaven, Frodo's life inMiddle-earth comes to an end when he departs to theUndying Lands.^[36]

Another symbol of resurrection is theWhite Tree, the symbol ofGondor. It stood dry and lifeless in the Court of the Fountain at the top of the city ofMinas Tirith throughout the centuries that Gondor was ruled by the Stewards; Aragorn brought a sapling of the White Tree into the city on his return as King.^[39] The White Tree has been likened to theDry Tree of the 14th centuryTravels of Sir John Mandeville.^[40][33] The tale runs that the Dry Tree has been lifeless since thecrucifixion of Christ, but that it will flower afresh when "a prince of the west side of the world should sing a mass beneath it",^[33] while the apples of the trees allow people to live for 500 years.^[34]

A dramatic^[41] event inThe Lord of the Rings is the reappearance of Gandalf, or as the Elf Legolas names him in a joyous shout of recognition, "Mithrandir!" Tolkien scholars and theologians have called this atransfiguration.^[27][41] Rutledge considers the Biblical echoes are unmistakable, likening the event to the Transfiguration of Christ on the mountaintop. Among the parallels are the fact that Gandalf stands above the companions, and his robes and hair are "gleaming white". She notes that the return ofMoses fromMount Sinai, his face shining too bright to look at with the reflected light of God, could be a closer parallel, as Aragorn comments that his sight had been "veiled".^[41]

At least two other events inThe Lord of the Rings have been called transfigurations. One is the change in the seemingly-crippled KingThéoden of Rohan, when Gandalf visits his hall, Edoras, and lifts him out of the control of the traitorWormtongue, who has been controlling Rohan on behalf of the WizardSaruman. Gandalf gets the King to straighten up, stand, and walk outside his hall, and to grasp his own sword. Gandalf "announces 'The Lord of the Mark comes forth!' and the king's entire aspect is transformed as he straightens his back to meet Gandalf's description".^[42] The other is Aragorn's splendour at his coronation, with the "stately procession of the Knights of the West" into the victorious city of Minas Tirith, the liveries:^[43]

green with a white horse for Rohan, blue with a silver swan for Dol Amroth, and black or grey with silver for Gondor. At the head of them all is Aragorn, transfigured, leading the Grey Company of the Dúnedain; but Éomer King of Rohan is with him, and Prince Imrahil, and Gandalf in pure white^[43]

The motif of hope is illustrated in Aragorn's successful handling of Saruman's seeing-stone orpalantír. Aragorn is given the very name of "Hope" (Sindarin "Estel"), by which he is still affectionately called by his queen, Arwen, who at the hour of his death cries out "Estel, Estel!". Only Aragorn, as the heir of Isildur, can rightfully use the palantír, while Saruman and Denethor, who have both also made extensive use of palantírs, have fallen into despair or presumption. These latter traits have been identified as the two distinct sins "against the virtue of Hope".^[17]

The Christian theme of theredemptive and penitential nature of suffering is apparent in the dreadful ordeal ofSam and Frodo in Mordor.^[18] The Catholic authorStratford Caldecott calls Frodo "a very 'Christian' type of hero. ... He allows himself to be humiliated and crucified."^[44] In a different way,Boromir atones for his assault on Frodo by single-handedly but vainly defending Merry and Pippin from orcs,^[18] which illustrates another significant Christian theme:immortality of the soul and the importance of good intention, especially at the point of death. This is clear from Gandalf's statement:^[18][45] "But he [Boromir] escaped in the end.... It was not in vain that the young hobbits came with us, if only for Boromir's sake."^{[T 11]}

Rosebury writes thatThe Lord of the Rings is saved from simple moralising orallegory by the presence of realistically complicated moral conflict within the characters: the "good" characters are challenged by temptations, while the "evil" characters all have good sides, were once good, or hesitate over evil actions.^[46]

Rutledge writes that moral conflict, as seen in the struggle within Gollum, is central both to the narrative and to the "underlying theological drama".^[47] Far from being a battle of good people against evil monsters, she writes, the evil is within each individual, citing Saint Paul's comment in Romans 3:9–10 that "none is righteous, no, not one".^[47]

Tolkien rarely^[48] breaks his rule to avoid explicit religion of any kind, but when Frodo and Sam have dinner with Faramir in his hidden fastness ofHenneth Annûn, all the Men turn towards the west in a brief silence. Faramir explains that^[48]

We look towardsNúmenor that was, and beyond toElvenhome that is, and to that which is beyond Elvenhome and will ever be.^[48]

Rutledge notes the parallel of this action, that she calls a sort ofprayer, with theGloria Patri ofChristian liturgy,^[48]

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be".^[48]

She comments that while the mention of Númenor could be a romantic nostalgia, there is also an echo of the Christian identity exiled from theGarden of Eden, and always seeking its true home. The mention of what is beyond Elvenhome, she writes, "invokes the transcendent dimension", and is an "austere acknowledgement" ofmonotheism.^[48]

Tolkien wrote of theEucharist orBlessed Sacrament that it was "the one great thing to love on earth"^{[T 12]} where, he advised his son Michael, "you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth".^{[T 12]} He described it as a divine paradox, meaning death but also eternal life.^{[T 12]} Tolkien alluded to a religious significance of thelembas waybread inThe Lord of the Rings in a letter to Forrest J. Ackerman in 1958:^{[T 13]}

In the book lembas has two functions. It is a 'machine' or device for making credible the long marches with little provision, in a world in which as I have said "miles are miles". But that is relatively unimportant. It also has a much larger significance, of what one might hesitatingly call a "religious" kind. This becomes later apparent, especially in the chapter "Mount Doom".^{[T 13]}

Based on Tolkien's statements, Christian commentators have argued that a highly developed Eucharistic symbolism is carried by lembas and its history. This is elaborated further inThe Silmarillion, noting that "waybread" can be seen as a translation ofviaticum, the Eucharistic food for a journey.^{[49][50][51][23]} InThe Silmarillion, the lembas, for example, is given to the Elves to feed them during their Great Journey to the Undying Lands, recalling to Christian commentators God's gift ofManna to the Israelites during their exodus to the Promised Land at Exodus 14.^[49][52] TheMaiaMelian makes a royal gift of lembas to Beleg, brother-in-arms of the mortalManTúrin, to be his "help in the wild":^{[T 14]}

And she gave him store oflembas, the waybread of the Elves, wrapped in leaves of silver, and the threads that bound it were sealed at the knots with the seal of the Queen, a wafer of white wax shaped as a single flower ofTelperion; for according to the customs of the Eldalië the keeping and giving oflembas belonged to the Queen alone.^{[T 14]}

Tolkien immediately emphasizes the special nature of this gift:^{[T 14]}

In nothing did Melian show greater favour to Túrin than in this gift; for the Eldar had never before allowed Men to use this waybread, and seldom did so again.^{[T 14]}

Beleg uses the lembas, along with his Elvish power, to help heal Men of Túrin's company, and later also the Elf Gwindor, who had been enslaved byMorgoth.^{[T 14]}

An event inThe Lord of the Rings has been compared to theLast Supper, the feast commemorated by the Eucharist. The HobbitPippin has a sunlit morning meal with his friendBeregond, a Guard of the Citadel, in Minas Tirith just before the coming of the long-expected storm as the forces ofMinas Morgulassault the city. Rutledge comments that this "creates a remarkable mood. One might even think of Jesus with his disciples at the Last Supper".^[53] Indeed, very soon all who cannot fight leave the city, it grows cold, and a Nazgûl flies ominously across the sun; Rutledge remarks on the biblical echoes.^[53]

Shippey notes that a pair of references to theChristian year, rarely picked up by readers, is that Tolkien chose dates of symbolic importance for the quest to destroy the Ring. It began inRivendell on 25 December, the date ofChristmas, and ended onMount Doom on 25 March, a traditionalAnglo-Saxon date for thecrucifixion (the modern date ofEaster being moveable, and thus not yielding any fixed calendar date).^[14]

A theme that runs throughoutThe Lord of the Rings but is especially clear inThe Silmarillion is of light. The scholar of mythology and medieval literatureVerlyn Flieger explains that Tolkien equates light with God and theability to create. She cites from Tolkien's poemMythopoeia ("Creation of Myth"):^{[54][T 15]}

man, sub-creator, the refracted light
through whom is splintered from a single White
to many hues, and endlessly combined
in living shapes that move from mind to mind.
Though all the crannies of the world we filled
withelves andgoblins, though we dared to build
gods and their houses out of dark and light,
andsow the seed of dragons, 'twas our right
(used or misused). The right has not decayed.
We make still by the law in which we're made.^{[T 15]}

Flieger writes that by this, Tolkien meant that an author's ability to create fantasy fiction, or in his terms "subcreation", was derived from and could be seen as a small splinter of the Divine Light, the "single White" of the poem. Further, the whole ofThe Silmarillion can be seen as a working-out of this theme of Man splintering the original white light of creation "to many hues, and endlessly combined in living shapes" in the forms of thesundering of the Elves intolight and dark elves, men good and bad, and dragons and other monsters. This creative light, she states, was for Tolkien equated with theChristianLogos, the Divine Word.^[54]

The light begins inThe Silmarillion as a unity, and in accordance with the splintering of creation is divided into more and more fragments as the myth progresses. Middle-earth is peopled by the angelicValar and lit by two great lamps; when these are destroyed by the fallen ValaMelkor, the world is fragmented, and the Valar retreat toValinor, which is lit byThe Two Trees. When these too are destroyed, their last fragment of light is made into theSilmarils, and a sapling too is rescued, leading to the White Tree ofNumenor, the living symbol of the Kingdom ofGondor. Wars are fought over the Silmarils, and they are lost to the Earth, the Sea, and the Sky, the last of these, carried byEärendil the Mariner, becoming theMorning Star. Some of the star's light is captured inGaladriel's Mirror, the magic fountain that allows her to see past, present, and future; and some of that light is, finally, trapped in thePhial of Galadriel, her parting gift to Frodo, the counterbalance to Sauron's evil and powerful Ring that he also carries. At each stage, the fragmentation increases and the power decreases. Thus the theme of light as Divine power, fragmented and refracted through the works of created beings, is central to the whole mythology.^[55]

The place ofChristianity's angels is taken by the immortalAinur, who are divided into two orders of beings, theValar and theMaiar. The powerful Valar behave much like the pagan gods ofGreek mythology. Flieger calls their role in Middle-earth "eccentric" from a Christian point of view: they are lower than the One God, certainly, but unlike angels they are sub-creators, each with their own realm. So, for instance, Manwë is King of Arda (the Earth), Ulmo is Lord of Waters, Mandos Judge of the Dead, and they were married. This positions them, as Tolkien stated, asdemiurges, godlike figures in thePlatonic scheme of things with the ability to shape the material world. As with the splintering of light, Flieger writes, the choice of the name "demiurge" implies subdivision, its original meaning including "to doby dividing".^[56]

Some Maiar, a lesser order than the Valar, were sent by the Valar into Middle-earth in mortal bodies to influence, but not to direct, events there.^[56] This group of Maiar were calledWizards or Istari, of whom Gandalf is the best known to readers. Tolkien stated that they fitted the original Greek descriptionἄγγελος (Angelos) meaning messenger.^{[T 16][57]}

Two figures in Middle-earth have reminded commentators of theVirgin Mary: the Vala Varda, called by the ElvesElbereth, and the Elf-ladyGaladriel. Wood writes that Sam's invocation of Galadriel's name, however unintentional, caused his Elven-rope to release itself from the knot that fastened it, after letting the Hobbits descend a cliff, quoting Sam's explanation "I think the rope came off itself—when I called".^[58][c] Rutledge notes that Frodo, facing the deadly attack of the "pale King", the Nazgûl onWeathertop, cries outO Elbereth! Gilthoniel!, apparently causing Aragorn to arrive just in time: Frodo is dangerously wounded but not killed. Rutledge comments that while there is no direct correspondence between anyLord of the Rings character and any biblical figure, Elbereth does resemble the Virgin Mary in one sense, in that she can grant favours and come to the help of people in need.^[60] Similarly, she writes that Sam makes the invocationElbereth Gilthoniel! as he faces off withShelob in the darkness of her lair, holding aloft thePhial of Galadriel, which blazes with (in Tolkien's words) an "intolerable light" as if "'his indomitable spirit' had activated it".^[61]

Rutledge considers the question ofdivine providence,predestination, andfree will a central theme ofThe Lord of the Rings. The question hinges on the apparent contradiction between divine action and intention on one side, and human freedom on the other: if the divine power acts in the world, how can individual action be free? Rutledge notes that theologians have grappled with the problem, and that Tolkien's book can be read as an explanation of how it can work out in practice. The divine will remains almost entirely beneath the surface in the story, as she believes it does in the real world; but Tolkien gives hints throughout the text, most often in the form of statements in thepassive voice about the causes of events which might appear to be luck or chance.^[62] Thus, for example, Gandalf says that Bilbo and Frodo were "meant" (in the passive voice) to have theOne Ring, though it remained their choice to co-operate with this purpose.^[63]

Providence is represented in Middle-earth by the will of the Valar. This can be detected but is subtle enough not to affect the free will of the story's characters, or the need for individual courage and trust in the face of an uncertain future.^[64] In keeping with that subtlety, the Valar are mentioned directly only once inThe Lord of the Rings, when one ofFaramir'sRangers of Ithilien encounters the enormousMumak or battle-elephant of theHaradrim and says "May the Valar turn him aside".^[65]

Tolkien stated thatThe Downfall of Númenor (Akallabêth) was effectively a secondfall of man, with "its central theme .. (inevitably, I think, in a story of Men) a Ban, or Prohibition".^{[T 5]} Bradley J. Birzer, writing inThe J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia, notes that Tolkien thought that every story was essentially about a fall, and accordingly his legendarium contains many "falls": that ofMorgoth, ofFëanor and his relatives, and that ofNúmenor among them.^[67] Eric Schweicher, writing inMythlore, notes that the ban was "soon defied", as in the Biblical fall.^[66] Thetemptation for the Númenoreans was the desire forimmortality, and the ban that they broke was not to sail towards theUndying Lands of Aman, parallelling the Biblical prohibition on eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.^[68][69]

Tolkien mentions also "the 'Fall' of the High-elves" in a letter, giving as the cause "a strange case of an Elf (Míriel mother of Fëanor) that tried todie, which had disastrous results"; he discusses it in the context of the Fall of Man.^{[T 17]}Matthew T. Dickerson writes that while Fëanor is held responsible by the Valar, "neither Finwë nor Míriel is blameless".^[70]

Shippey writes thatThe Lord of the Rings embodies the ancient debate within Christianity on the nature ofevil. Shippey notesElrond'sBoethian statement that "nothing is evil in the beginning. Even [the Dark Lord]Sauron was not so",^{[T 18]} in other words all things were created good; but this is set alongside theManichean view that Good and Evil are equally powerful, and battle it out in the world.^[71] Tolkien's personal war experience was Manichean: evil seemed at least as powerful as good, and could easily have been victorious, a strand which Shippey notes can also be seen in Middle-earth.^[74]Brian Rosebury, a humanities scholar, interprets Elrond's statement as implying anAugustinian universe, created good.^[46]

TheJesuit John L. Treloar writes that theBook of Revelation personifies evil in theFour Horsemen of the Apocalypse: the first, on a white horse, represents a conquering king; the second, red with a sword, means bloody war; the third, black and carrying a scale balance, means famine; and the last, green, is named death. Treloar comments that thepersonification increases the emotional impact, and that the Ringwraiths (Nazgûl) are introduced "as terror-inspiring horsemen who bring these four evils into the world. They are bent on conquest, war, [and] death, and the land they rule is non-productive."^[75]

Christianity Today reported thatOxford University'sBodleian Libraries exhibition "Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth" was "nearly comprehensive" but had one "glaring omission": "any mention of the author's devout, lifelong Christian faith." It mentionsMichael Ward's comment that Tolkien's faith is not obvious in Middle-earth, unlike his friendC. S. Lewis'sNarnia, and concludes that "Only if we recognize Tolkien's deep Christian faith can we hope to understand the life and work of the 'Maker of Middle-earth'".^[76]

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