The Philosophy of Tolkien

unless you've been living under a rock you've heard of J.R.R tolkien's Epic Fantasy the Lord of the Rings ever since Peter Jackson's Trilogy the story has grown even more popular and since then everyone has been trying to capitalize on this franchise recently Amazon Studios purchased the rights to Lord of the Rings and released a series based on the novels called the rings of power which is a story supposed to take place in the second age and long before the events of Lord of the Rings the show is visually stunning but it has received poor reviews from audience members and Tolkien fans like myself and this is because of two underlying problems first the writing was poorly done the story is filled with plot holes that disconnect you and leave you confused as to what is going on characters are supposed to drive the plot leading to character development but it rings of power the plot just happens for the most part and the characters have to react and sometimes in ways that do not make sense but there is a deeper problem that people are missing you like many others may watch the series and feel that something is off it looks like tolkien's Middle Earth but it doesn't feel like it share Tolkien fans have been quick to point out all the lore inaccuracies and I wholeheartedly agree but there is a deeper problem that the show creators imbued in the writing that you sense but can't put words to and it is that the show creators have rejected tolkien's philosophy when Tolkien wrote he imbued in this story's deep philosophical truths that were easy to digest through the medium of narrative this is the lifeblood of Middle Earth and it is what makes Lord of the Rings a masterpiece the philosophy of Tolkien drives the characters to act as they do which in turn drives the plot forward and this flow is missing in rings of power in the show the good guys like Galadriel and elrond no longer act as if they're working from tolkien's philosophy and instead of times seem to be operating from the philosophy of tolkien's villains with Tolkien would have deemed as evil the writers of rings of power deem as good this is a fundamental problem with the show and why you feel that something is off first we need to dive into the highlights of tolkien's philosophy what were the life lessons Tolkien wanted us to get from his stories Peter kref said critics say tolkien's fantasy is Escapist unrealistic and irrelevant to Modern social problems the problem is exactly the opposite it is far too relevant for the critic's comfort Tolkien of course said he wrote for the encouragement of good morals he also said Lord of the Rings is essentially a Catholic work and it is about God and His sole right to Divine honor which tells us Catholic themes and messages are woven into his story both consciously and unconsciously Tolkien was also a traditionalist and he prized order and chivalry men and women are equal but are made for different roles in Middle Earth Hobbits are meant for one way of life the quiet and simple life in the Shire men are meant to live in cities dwarves in their minds everyone is meant to live a certain way and when they do they flourish and find true happiness happiness is not about choosing your own path or bending the world to your will true happiness for Tolkien is fulfilling Your Design role in the world let's go back to the beginning of tolkien's World to see how this idea is set up in the silmarillion creation begins with a song The Creator eru sings together with the einar to create the world of Tolkien called Arda where elves men and dwarves will live a theme in tokens works is the importance of finding your rightful place in this song of creation and it's a subtle lesson to us but how we should not strive for power or greatness but we should be happy with where God has placed Us in life and find harmony with the role we were created for but then Tolkien introduces melkor the original dark lord who will later be called morgoth during the singing of the ainar Mel Corso's Discord into the song making it chaotic but then aru the god of tolkien's world rises from his throne and overtakes the singing of melkor and brings it into harmony so that what melkor meant for chaos eru uses for good the chaos of melkor is ultimately used by eru to make the song even more beautiful so we get the idea that chaos or evil is not good but it can be used by good for a greater purpose in fact we get the idea that some chaos is allowed to make the song Greater a truly good story has evil present because the triumph over evil is what really takes the story to another level evil is not something that is inherently necessary but a world with evil allows for character growth that could not have occurred in a world without it this is very much a Christian idea as it is seen in the words of Saint Paul and Saint Augustine who speak of God allowing evil so that a greater good could come out of it through Middle Earth this is tolkien's answer to the problem of evil it is allowed only so that it can be triumphed over by characters who grow out of their experiences with it but it's important to note that Tolkien does not place order as the highest good for Tolkien it is okay to break with tradition or order if your motive is love at the core of tolkien's world love is the greatest Force no power can overcome it and throughout tolkien's world characters are able to do things no one else could because they act out of love later in the silmarillion we read of the love story of Baron and luthien Baron is a mortal man in luthien is an immortal elf princess Baron asks for luthien's hand in marriage but her father King thingal says he will only allow this if Baron obtains a silmaril from the crown of the dark lord morgoth something no elf Lord has been able to achieve this would have diminished the hopes of any other character but Baron instead calls it a small price and sets out to obtain the jewel but he is quickly captured by none other than Sauron luthien senses her love is in danger Embrace from her traditional place to save him with the help of hula and the Hound she manages to save Baron just in time then the two of them later sneak into the Fortress of angban luthien sings morgoth to sleep and baron manages to take a silmorel from his crown because they are driven by love and not greed or glory in defeating the dark lord they managed to do what no Warrior was able to do for Tolkien their love allows them to do what the most powerful elf could not it is only when Baron out of greed attempts to steal another silmaril does it lead to their downfall morgoth wakes and causes a series of events that actually leads to Baron luthien's death then the story ends with their love being able to convince the Valar to allow them to return to Middle Earth and live out their lives as Mortals foreign for greed revenge or power was ultimately doomed but Baron and luthien were allowed to obtain one because it was done out of love for each other in The Lord of the Rings the ring itself is a central key to token's philosophy about the dangers of lusting after power and greed the ring is designed to tempt you with power and a master plan of how you could shape the world in your image Boromir succumbs to the Ring's Temptation and sees himself as a Conquering Hero defeating the enemies of Gondor and given the glory he thinks he deserves when the ring tempts Sam he sees himself turning Mordor into a beautiful garden for him to rule over as Joe Kraus says the ring holds out the false hope of power that people can use to remake the world But Eric Katz notes that what saves Sam is his love for Frodo and his humility his place is in the Shire with one small garden of a free gardener Boromir has no love that he sets above the temptation of the Ring no realization that he is not meant for the glory that he desires Sam remembers his love for Frodo and his own humility which ultimately saves him this shows a deep truth that Tolkien brings to light which is that real strength is not in seizing power so that you can conquer the forces of evil but in humility realizing that might does not make right as Douglas blunt says strength according to Tolkien manifests itself most clearly not in the exercise of power but rather in the willingness to give it up Sam is able to go back to the Shire and flourish because he resisted the temptation of the Ring he is able to become truly what he was meant to be not because he rose up sought glory in defeating the Dark Lord but because he rejected it and cared more for his friend power according to Tolkien is not the path to happiness instead rejecting power you are not rightly due is the path to happiness this is a central theme in tolkien's world because if you notice there is no savior in The Lord of the Rings unlike other stories no one is actually able to defeat evil and rise up to be the hero of the story Gandalf musters the forces of the West to stand together but he never delivers a decisive blow Aragorn the rightful King manages to squeeze a narrow victory at the Battle of the pelinor fields but greatly diminishes his forces after this all Aragorn can manage to do is lead his remaining troops to the black gate as a diversion tactic for Frodo the characters even know they might be sacrificing their lives to help Frodo but it's sacrificial love and the rejection of power that ultimately AIDS the cause and Frodo on Mountain Doom is not even able to resist the temptation of the ring and fails to cast it into the fire in the end Frodo loses dooming Middle Earth it is only when Golem manages to get the ring from him and accidentally Falls over the cliff his middle are saved there are no saviors in Middle Earth no one who Rises to power and defeats Sauron and this is a very Christian theme as Peter kref says the ring is so powerful that no creature can overcome it similarly Christianity teaches that sin is so powerful that no creature can overcome it would actually defeats Sauron in the end is Divine Providence which Tolkien even says in his letters stating Frodo was just an instrument of Divine Providence the real hero of the story according to Tolkien is God himself who acted through Providence Gandalf tells Frodo the ring did not intend to be picked up by Bilbo but there were other powers other than evil that are at work in the world Bilbo was meant to find the ring and pass it on to Frodo Golem was meant to be spared so he could be divine providences final blow into feeding Sauron his Thomas Hibbs says Golem is as Gandalf had predicted an unwitting instrument of Divine Providence but he manages to serve this role only because Frodo had earlier recalled Gandalf's words and taken hardest plea for mercy and patience the real hero of the story is not any of the characters but God himself who designed in the beginning at the song of creation that evil would ultimately be triumph over the same theme we read throughout the Bible the lesson I believe token is trying to tell us is that we need not fret about the evil in the world because God has already designed it so that it will be triumphed over but we still need to do our part by acting in love when we are called to Middle Earth doesn't need saviors it needs servants no one can be the Glorious hero that delivers the final blow to evil that seed is left only for God and anyone who attempts to rise up and overpower evil ultimately becomes evil instead the people of Middle Earth and US likewise are called to live humbly and be driven by love if we accept this we can play a part in the song of creation that will lead to the downfall of evil this is what we see in the characters of The Lord of the Rings people who know they are too weak to be the hero but still work to play a part in defeating evil they act out of love and Duty in this according to Tolkien as how we are supposed to live how we are not supposed to live is embodied in the villains like Sauron and Saruman characters who do not act out of love but with the will to power an attempt to bend the world to fit their desires these characters reject their proper place in creation and instead break out to make their own Purpose with themselves at the center to control all things for them might makes right as noted earlier Tolkien was a traditionalist who believed the wisdom of the past was essential for guidance on how to act in the present as Joe Krauss noted Tolkien rejected modernism in the sense of abandoning the wisdom of the past in favor of new philosophies that are now meant to guide us Saruman embodies this type of modernism he is a wizard and a long time defender of Middle Earth who turns to evil he abandons the old ways in favor of a new approach to what he thinks will actually help Middle Earth in the movies Saruman becomes a servant of Sauron but in the books it is only a ploy to achieve his real end of being the actual ruler of Middle Earth sauroman starts out good trying to help the people of Middle Earth but becomes frustrated by them he also obsessively studies the ring learning of its power and secretly begins to desire it so he can use it to shape Middle Earth in His image in his conversation with Gandalf he says a new power is rising against it the old allies and policies will not Avail us at all we may join with that power it would be wise Gandalf there is hope that way its Victory is at hand and there will be rich reward for those that aided it we can bite our time we can keep our thoughts and our hearts deploring maybe evils done by the way but approving the high and ultimate purpose knowledge rule order all the things we have so far striven in vain to accomplish hindered rather than helped by our weaker Idol friends there need not be there would not be any real change in our designs only in our means sauroman has abandoned the old ways in favor of a new modern path where the ends now justifies the means but he comes to view the world the same way as enemy Sauron does he has no humility and refuses to accept his place as only a steward of Middle Earth instead he seeks to transform the world into what he desires it to be and notice it starts with good intentions he wants to bring knowledge in order to Middle Earth for token evil occurs when one steps out to dominate the world even for good intentions we often start with the desire to make the world better we just need to control it and make it be the way we need it to be but as Gandalf says we choose Madness over reason the desire for power itself becomes too tempting and overtakes us this embodies the villains of tolkien's world those who abandon the wisdom of the past because it has not work the way they assume it should so instead of going along with a song of creation waiting for Divine Providence to triumph over evil and imperfection they attempt to seize power and do it themselves which ultimately consumes them this is very much the mentality of the main villain Sauron Scholars have noted Sauron embodies the modernist philosophy of Nietzsche the rejection of traditional religion and the will to power for those who do not know Frederick Nietzsche believed that a new era had Arisen one in which we no longer believed in God and where we could no longer derive morality from God this led to moral and existential nihilism in which there is no objective good and evil and no objective purpose for our lives out of this Nietzsche says we all must rise up to become an Uber mesh which is defined as a superior man who could rise above traditional Christian ethics to create and impose their own values and purpose [Music] accordion Nietzsche we can no longer pretend to rely on God we must become gods in his place God is dead God remains dead and we have killed him how shall we Comfort ourselves the murderers of all murderers is not the greatness of this deed too great for us must we ourselves not become Gods simply to appear worthy of it for Nietzsche this was liberating in a glorious realization now each man could derive their own laws desires and joys each individual could make his or her own purpose in their own roles but for Tolkien this was a nightmare Tolkien said the conflict of The Lord of the Rings is about God and His sole right to Divine honor Sauron desired to be a god king and was held to be won by his servants although Tolkien is not directly responding to Nietzsche he is indirectly crafted Sauron as an ubermesh figure an entity that rejects his place in the song of creation and attempts to rise up and turn himself into a god king Sauron forges his own purpose one in which power is Central and all around him must Bend to his will and plan he is described as one who wants to dominate all life bend it to his design and purpose Nietzsche said goodness was everything that heightened the feeling of power and Badness was everything born of weakness but for Nietzsche this didn't necessarily mean you would become something like Sauron or a cruel dictator instead for Nietzsche self-realization and expression in the Arts was a better path towards power being kind and helping others was a better way to gain power because others would be indebted to you and you would have more power and that you had more people willing to help and Aid you but Tolkien saw this philosophy as one that would slowly corrupt one may start out as good but slowly the will to power and dominating others would turn you into a dark lord Sauron embodies this an Angelic like being who started off as someone who desired to order the world for the better but is later consumed by his lust for power Desiring power starts off as a means for something better but the craving of more power eventually consumes you until it's all you care for whereas Nietzsche saw the will to power as a good thing Tolkien rejected it and thought it would lead to a consuming desire to dominate all others for the sake of power itself in The Lord of the Rings the good guys stand against Sauron by rejecting the will to power embodied in the rejection of the temptation of the one ring Peter kref says the ring is not a means to any further end it is nichi's Will To Power as itself the end the characters win by rejecting the will to power and instead choose to act through love and accept their place in creation token wrote in a letter the greatest example of the action of the spirit are an abnegation for Tolkien the way to defeat evil is not by seizing power to overcome the enemy but by rejecting power choosing love and playing your part in the song of creation for Sauron all that existed was the will to power not all fantasy stories hold to this dichotomy George R.R Martin's work of A Song of Ice and Fire attempts in many ways to turn the philosophy a token on its head Arya Stark in many ways is a more positive view of an Uber mesh more in line with the way Nietzsche would have seen it she's a young girl who desires to dominate her own life and forge her own purpose she rejects her traditional place in society and becomes something better Arya Stark would not fit into Middle Earth in tolkien's world living for power or attempting to make your own purpose is always evil there's only one good for Tolkien that is accepting the plan of God and Living For the Love of others he might be tempted to bring up aowin of Rohan the woman who disguises herself as a man and rides off to battle and ultimately is the one who defeats the witch King but Aon doesn't ride for power or to become an Uber mesh she rides for love Aragorn has rejected her love and she becomes depressed and wishes to die after the battle she comes close to death until Aragorn comes to the house of healing and revives her then notice that Tolkien narrates she falls in love with faramir allowing her to find her rightful place she's not another version of Arya Stark she's a woman driven by love the rejection of Love causes her to do something she's not supposed to and Only Love brings her back from the brink of death Tolkien working with his theme of Divine Providence uses her actions to bring about a good the defeat of the witch King but she's never driven by the desire to forge her own purpose she's driven by love and the feeling she has lost her place in the song of creation once farmer falls in love with her she finds real happiness and becomes a proper Lady of Gondor comparing Martin and tolkien's work side by side is actually a good way to see how Nietzsche's Uber mesh philosophy can be viewed in positive and negative lights I'm not saying either of these authors were intending this but they do embody the different perspectives on this philosophy within our culture for Tolkien it is evil something that will corrupt us and remove us from worshiping the true God in exchange for worshiping ourselves for Martin it is the path to defeat evil and find real meaning we must reject tradition and rise to become something better otherwise evil from the north will overpower the weakness of tradition and this brings us to Amazon's show rings of power which gives us a good opportunity to save it Faithfully captures token's philosophy so let me ask you this which philosophy do you think they're better capturing comment below and let me know what you think but I do not see a lot of tolkien's ideas in the show in the harfoot storyline tradition is set up as a Bad Thing something that holds them back from being kind to others and the character Nori is working to subvert that tradition I thought that it just made sense to ground that in in wanting to improve subvert heartfelt tradition to improve the quality of life Tolkien would have rejected this storyline where tradition or wisdom of the past is painted in a bad light [Music] we do not get clear good and evil characters instead we get morally ambiguous ones the Orcs were cruel and enslaved elves and humans but then we're told they're really victims who were enslaved by morgoth and they're just searching for a homeland of Their Own elrond constantly lies to Duran he tells Duran in the methrow cave that he's not spying on him after we literally just saw elrond spying on Duren from the bridge gilgal add lies to elrond manipulates him and tries to force him to commit the sin of breaking an oath these characters are acting more like sauromon with the mentality that the ends justifies the means it's okay for gilgalat to manipulate elrond because it will justify his ends Galadriel is established as the one who understands that evil is still around so the writers seem to tell us her actions are Justified because if she doesn't act as she does the forces of the West will not be ready to stand against the Orcs she acts as if she must rise up and stop evil when a wise old elf as she is in the books should know it is not her job to be the Glorious vanquisher of evil she's not supposed to act as an ubermesh someone who Rises up forges her own path to assure the world is made better she is supposed to understand she's only one part in God's plan for the defeat of evil not the one who will stop it worst of all she manipulates people to join her cause she does many evil things and mistreats those around her she manipulates halbrandt into returning to the Southlands to Aid her quest for Revenge even though he found a peaceful life on numenor and we as the audience are led to believe that what she is doing is Justified because if she did not act as she did then the Orcs in the Southlands would have killed all the villagers the numenoreans arrived just in time to save them it was only because of her manipulative actions that many lives were saved the writers also confirmed that collateral is in the right because the Petals of the white tree Begin to Fall when the new minorians do not help her with her War suggesting The Valor believes she is doing what is right this mentality is antithetical to Tolkien who strongly believe the ends did not justify the means the writers have given us a story where evil manipulative actions are Justified we get a clear sense this is the guiding principle in the first episode Galadriel is seen as a child and we're told this is a time before there was evil she's with her brother finrod who tells her we cannot be like the stone that sinks beneath the water in the darkness we must be like the ship that focuses on the light above us to guide us forward but collateral replies but sometimes the light shines just as brightly reflected in the water as they do in the sky it is hard to say which way is up and which way is down how am I to know which lights to follow later we see her brother replies sometimes we cannot know until we have touched the darkness the whole conversation is not in line with tolkien's philosophy token's world is a struggle between good and evil but there's always a clear good side and a clear dark side there's never a point the reader is supposed to get the idea we don't know who is good and who is evil goodness for Tolkien is always acting in love and following the plan of God the only characters who struggle to identify what is good are those who are tempted by evil or succumb to it one doesn't need to touch the darkness to know what goodness is because for Tolkien evil is the perversion of goodness later in the show halbrandt tells collateral that he has done many evil things but collateral replies with the line sometimes we must touch Darkness to know the light implying that all the evil he did was justified because it showed him what was good but in tolkien's World there is no indication one sometimes has to do evil or touch the darkness to know what is good [Music] the opening scene may also be suggesting that there is more than one good path the light above is good but there is another good we can choose which is to follow the light reflected in the water if this is true this is also a rejection of tolkien's philosophy where there can only be one path of goodness all other paths and in darkness galadriel's actions seem to embody this in the first episode and symbolically show us that there are multiple good paths the powers that control Middle Earth decide that she must return to valinor the land that represents all that is good we see her and the other elves on the ship looking up at the light of valinar but she hesitates and then she rejects this path diving into the ocean after the light reflected in the water this doesn't feel like it's following the philosophy of Tolkien but injecting foreign philosophy into the world of Middle Earth in tolkien's mind this would be setting her on a path of evil and doom her but we know from the audience perspective she is making the right decision because evil needs to be stopped so the plot has her head to numenor to obtain troops to take the Orcs on the Southlands head on but tolkien's world is not a place for people to rise up and defeat Evil by obtaining more power tolkien's world is one of Divine Providence where the characters are to act out of love and humility it is one thing to defend Gondor when it is attacked in the Return of the King but tolkien's world doesn't glorify Warriors who try to stop Evil by going on the offense with power as their means for token this is a path of evil galadriel's actions seem to embody how George R.R Martin would structure a protagonist but not how Tolkien would a true Tolkien protagonist would not be acting out of Revenge or rise up to be a savior figure but would be one who acts out of humility and only fight to defend those that they love [Music] now of course it's too early to say if the show creators will turn this around and actually reveal a conclusion that aligns with tolkien's philosophy but the seeds they have already sown do not suggest this is the path they are on it instead suggests a story where the heroes must rise up in an ubermesh fashion to stop evil from controlling the world but this path is evil for Tolkien and if the One Ring has taught us anything one cannot defeat evil with the weapons of evil Evil's defeat is already set by Divine Providence all the characters are required to do is play their part by acting in love finra's response to Galadriel doesn't fit with tolkien's vision his reply sews down to the story that we cannot know what the right path is until we touch evil as if evil is necessary to help Define what is good if I were to speculate a reply that would fit better with the world of Tolkien it would probably be more along the lines of pointing out the dangers of thinking that there could be another light below us a better reply that fits with tolkien's philosophy would be that there is only one light to follow and it is the one pointing up all other lights are Illusions meant to mimic the True Light but we cannot be deceived by them if you chase the light in the water you will fall like the stone down you will go into darkness chasing a false light believing you are really on the right path deeper you dig until you're recovered in mud your eyes becoming used to the darkness until you forget what you were even chasing and if you were to turn around and see the True Light Above you you would detest it for the pain that caused your eyes you would come to hate the very thing you thought you were chasing a creature of Darkness would emerge not beautiful as once was but a dark lord that detests the light that is the danger of chasing a false light it will always lead you into darkness I hope from this video you get a much better idea of how Tolkien thought and what he envisioned his stories were meant to teach us these Timeless truths and it is what we should take away from his novels to see a story in token's world and not Come Away with these truths is precisely the problem with rings of power but luckily for us we always have token's books as they were intended to be read and no matter what show comes along it will never destroy tolkien's true works and for that we should be grateful to Divine Providence foreign

Channel: InspiringPhilosophy

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Id: TeF6lomaU3I

Length: 32min 33sec (1953 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 21 2022