Hell and Middle-earth

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Christian cosmology: heaven above, earth in the middle, hell below.[1] Vank Cathedral
, Isfahan

Scholars have seen multiple resemblances between the

Angband
. The gates to some of these realms, like the guarded West Door of Moria, and the Black Gate to Mordor, too, carry echoes of the gates of hell.

Some of the journeys down into the dark places of Middle-earth, too, have been likened to the

Christ descends into hell after his crucifixion, and sets the Devil's captives free with the power of his divine light. The Devil is paralleled by both of Middle-earth's dark lords, Morgoth and Sauron; Sauron is in turn supported by a range of demonic figures, including the Nazgûl who appear like the Devil as black riders on black horses, the fiery-eyed Balrogs
, and the Orcs with their devilish habits and appearance.

Context

See also: Evil in Middle-earth

In medieval

Roman Catholic. He described The Lord of the Rings as rich in Christian symbolism.[T 1] Many theological themes underlie the narrative, including the battle of good versus evil, the triumph of humility over pride, and the activity of grace.[T 2] The Bible and traditional Christian narrative also influenced The Silmarillion; in particular, the fall of man influenced the Ainulindalë, the fighting amongst the Elves, and the fall of Númenor.[T 3]

Hellish places

Several places in Tolkien's

First Age is an instance. In The Lord of the Rings, the land of Morgoth's successor Sauron, the realm of Mordor with its volcano, Mount Doom, and Sauron's Dark Tower of Barad-Dûr, is another. The dark and dangerous tunnels of Moria form another, as does the enclosed circle of Isengard, centred on the tower of Orthanc, with its underground fires and furnaces, home to Orcs under the control of the traitorous Wizard Saruman.[2]

Industrial hells

Further information: Environmentalism in The Lord of the Rings

The scholar of English literature

Moria and Mordor]."[2] All the same, he writes, the tower of Orthanc cannot but be admired, with its "marvellous shape" and wonderful, ancient strength; he supposes that for Tolkien, technology could neither be "wholeheartedly embraced nor utterly rejected".[2]

Shippey, discussing Saruman's character, notes several facts about him: Treebeard's comment that "He has a mind of metal and wheels"; that Isengard means "Irontown" in

Flammenwerfer".[3] Shippey concludes that Saruman had been led into "wanton pollution ... by something corrupting in the love of machines",[3] which he connects to "Tolkien's own childhood image of industrial ugliness ... Sarehole Mill, with its literally bone-grinding owner".[3]

David D. Oberhelman, writing in the

Angband, whose name meant "Iron Prison" or "Hell of Iron".[4]

  • Isengard is an "industrial hell":[2] in Tolkien's words "...hammers thudded. At night plumes of vapour steamed from the vents, lit from beneath with red light".[T 4] Steam hammer at work, England
    Isengard is an "industrial hell":[2] in Tolkien's words "...hammers thudded. At night plumes of vapour steamed from the vents, lit from beneath with red light".[T 4]
    Steam hammer at work, England
  • Charles A. Huttar likened Isengard to hell.[2] Medieval fresco of hell, St Nicholas in Raduil, Bulgaria
    Charles A. Huttar likened Isengard to hell.[2]
    Medieval fresco of hell,
    St Nicholas in Raduil, Bulgaria

Gates of hell

Gateway to Hell: the Fellowship's passage through the West-gate of Moria has been compared to Odysseus's passage between the devouring Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis.[6] Painting by Ary Renan, 1894

Wandering Rocks that in Greek mythology lie near the opening of the Greek underworld. That realm, also called Hades, the name of its ruler, is where the Greeks thought people went after death, never to return. The gigantic tentacled Watcher in the Water, a monster who guards the gate to the underground realm, parallels the mythical Scylla who attacked Greek mariners.[6]

The gate to Mordor at the Morannon is named the "Black Gate".

the Annunciation, and the last day of Creation.[7]

From the Eagle's psalm-like[7] song

Sing and rejoice, ye people of the Tower of Guard,
for your watch hath not been in vain,
and the Black Gate is broken,
and your King hath passed through,
and he is victorious.

"The Steward and the King"[T 5]

The other entrance to Mordor, the dangerous pass of

Cirith Ungol, is guarded by the giant spider Shelob. Jane Chance likens Shelob to the guardian of the gateway to Hell in John Milton's Paradise Lost.[8] George H. Thomson similarly compares Shelob to Milton's Sin and Death, noting that they "serve neither God nor Satan but look solely to their own interests", as Shelob does; she is "the Death and Chaos that would overcome all".[9]

Hellish journeys

Katabasis

Further information: Tolkien and the classical world

Scholars have likened some of the journeys down into dark places to the

Mandos, the Vala who watches over the souls of the dead.[10] Tolkien indeed called the story "a kind of Orpheus-legend in reverse",[T 6] following the Middle English poem Sir Orfeo.[11] Ben Eldon Stevens adds that Tolkien's retelling contrasts sharply with the myth. Where Orpheus nearly manages to retrieve Eurydice from Hades, the Hell or underworld of classical mythology, Lúthien rescues Beren three times – from Sauron's fortress-prison of Tol-in-Gaurhoth, involving singing; from Morgoth's Angband, with the Silmaril; and by getting Mandos to restore both of them to life. In the original myth, Eurydice meets "a second death", soon followed by the griefstruck Orpheus, whereas Tolkien has Lúthien and Beren enjoy "a second life" after their "resurrection".[12][T 6]

Harrowing of Hell

Further information: Harrowing of Hell
The Harrowing of Hell, Petites Heures, 14th-century illuminated manuscript for John, Duke of Berry

In multiple places in The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien echoes and in Robert Steed's words "creatively adapts" the medieval theme of the

Of Beren and Lúthien" as an instance, where Lúthien sets Beren free from Sauron's imprisonment. Beren is freed from darkness, Lúthien from despair, so, Steed remarks, both of them take on aspects of Christ:[13]

But Beren coming back to light out of the pit of despair lifted her up, and they looked again upon one another; and the day rising over dark hills shone upon them."[T 7]

Steed suggests that Tom Bombadil's rescuing of the Hobbits from the dark spells of the undead Barrow-wight in The Lord of the Rings[T 8] is another "less immediately obvious" instance of the Harrowing of Hell motif. As Bombadil breaks the spell, he sings "Get out, you old Wight! Vanish in the sunlight!", making him the light-bringing Christ-figure in this case.[13][T 8]

Steed offers two further examples of the medieval motif, commenting that they are rather more thoroughly camouflaged. The first is the Wizard

Wormtongue, who has become a servant of the evil Wizard Saruman. In Steed's words "After rebuking Wormtongue, Gandalf raises his staff, at which point thunder rolls and the hall falls into darkness, except for the shining figure of Gandalf himself."[T 9][13] Steed observes that Théoden was not actually dead, nor actually imprisoned; he was still King, but shut away in the darkness of despair, "reinforced by Wormtongue's crafty counsel".[13]

The final instance is

Sam Gamgee's complex liberation of Frodo, involving the devious imprisonment brought about by the monster Gollum, who, pretending to be helpful, leads them to Shelob's dark lair. Shelob stings Frodo, and ties him with her spider-silk. Sam fights off Shelob, and cuts down Frodo's body, thinking him dead, only for a party of Orcs to carry Frodo's body off to the tower of Cirith Ungol, joking darkly amongst themselves that he is still alive. Sam breaks into the tower and rescues Frodo.[T 10] Steed comments that he uses light, in the form of the Phial of Galadriel, in the liberation, both when fighting Shelob and when breaking through the guard of the silent Watchers of the tower's gate. Frodo had not actually been dead, but he looked it, and death was undoubtedly close. Steed comments that Sam was an "odd" fit for the pattern of the Christ-like irresistible force, but in the narrative he indeed plays the part of the "light-bearing liberator at the center of the Harrowing of Hell motif".[13]

Robert Steed's analysis of Middle-earth parallels of the Harrowing of Hell[13]
Agent of light Subjects freed Jailors Method As narrated in
Christ
 Human captives in Hell
The Devil
 Power of Divine light
Medieval Christianity
Lúthien
Beren
 Sauron Elvish power The Silmarillion
Tom Bombadil Frodo's party of Hobbits Barrow-wight Power of singing The Lord of the Rings
Gandalf King Théoden of Rohan
Wormtongue
's insidious control		 Wizard's power The Lord of the Rings
Sam Gamgee
 Frodo Shelob, Orcs of Cirith Ungol Elvish light of Phial of Galadriel The Lord of the Rings

The Devil

See also: Satan
One of Tolkien's names for Sauron is the "lidless eye",[T 11] denoting the "destructive power of the Devil".[14]

Scholars have likened both Melkor and Sauron to the Devil;

possessed by the devil. They worship him. Their bodies have been deformed from torture and suffering. Like traditional representations of the Devil, the orc's complexion is dark and his eyes are as live coal."[14]

References

Primary

  1. Robert Murray, S.J.
    , 2 December 1953
  2. ^ Carpenter 2023, Letters #181 to Michael Straight, drafts, early 1956
  3. ^ Carpenter 2023, Letters #131 to Milton Waldman, late 1951
  4. ^ a b Tolkien 1954, book 3, ch. 8 "The Road to Isengard"
  5. ^ Tolkien 1955, book 6, ch. 5 "The Steward and the King"
  6. ^ a b Carpenter 2023, Letters #153 to Peter Hastings, September 1954
  7. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 19 "Of Beren and Lúthien"
  8. ^ a b Tolkien 1954a, book 1, ch. 8 "Fog on the Barrow-downs"
  9. ^ Tolkien 1954, book 3, ch. 6 "The King of the Golden Hall"
  10. ^ Tolkien 1955, book 6, ch. 1 "The Tower of Cirith Ungol"
  11. ^ Tolkien 1954, book 5, ch. 6 "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields"

Secondary

  1. ^ a b Christopher 2012, p. 206.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Huttar 1975, pp. 135–137.
  3. ^ a b c Shippey 2005, p. 194.
  4. ^ a b Oberhelman 2013, p. 18.
  5. ^ Petty 2003, p. 63.
  6. ^ a b Huttar 1975, pp. 121–122.
  7. ^ a b Shippey 2005, pp. 226–227.
  8. ^ Chance 1980, pp. 111–113.
  9. ^ Thomson 1967, pp. 43–59.
  10. ^ a b Sundt 2021, pp. 165–189.
  11. ^ a b Costabile 2024.
  12. ^ Stevens 2021, pp. 113–114.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Steed 2017, pp. 6–9.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h Poveda 2005, pp. 155–174.
  15. ^ Freeman 2020, pp. 139–171.
  16. ^ Ekman 2010.
  17. ^ Wright 1873, p. 63.

Sources

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hell_and_Middle-earth&oldid=1287442674"