that the world is different today because Frodo lived? Literature inhabits a world of its own, but it is not without impact on our lives. This is a very small consequence of how God has chosen to interact with us through a story that also changes the course of history and has a power within it that is "unutterable, deep, divine."
Frodo Lives!
ReplyDeleteTruly, Frodo Lives!
ReplyDeletewritten on the walls of many a New York City subway wall in the 1970.
Fr. Benjamin Pollock
And he lived even though he didn't "deserve" to; at the end, he chose the Ring for himself. By all rights, he should've have perished with the Ring. That would've been the fair thing.
ReplyDeleteBut he was spared. As are we. Praise be to God.
Traditionalist and liturgical Christians being fans of LOTR... far too predictable for me to admit to it. The movies lessened the 'nerd herd' stigma, but I've got a rep to uphold (that's the sound of my wife laughing in the background).
ReplyDeleteThat being said, yes, I played D&D as a teenager and read almost exclusively fantasy.
My spiritual father also confessed that back in the day he preferred the Jerusalem Bible for no other reason than that JRR Tolkien had been involved.
I'm always wary of liturgics and worship becoming something akin to a year round Renaissance Festival.
I'm ashamed to admit that I had to do a search to know who Frodo is (was?) Fiction is not my cup.
ReplyDeleteThis liturgical Christian has never been a fan of LOTR...not in the stereotypical sort of way that Reader Christopher describes. And sometimes it makes me feel a bit like a square peg in a round hole.
ReplyDeleteI read the books and never understood the frenzy about them among Christians.
First I wondered... Frodo Who? I never got far in the reading of the LOTR, but watching the movie helped me want to try to get past the 10th page.
ReplyDeleteSo, I have a friend who announces to everyone she meets that she is a Pagan. LOTR is her FAVORITE. Tell me.... how does that work? How could both pagans and Christians be so attracted to it? That, more than the actual story, intrigues me to no end.
The LOTR books are just plain good books. People are attracted to good books. I don't think the Pagan vs Christian thing doesn't have anything to do with it, really.
ReplyDeleteI mean, Pagans can love Gothic ecclesiastical architecture, right? :)
Tolkien was Christian (RCC), like CS Lewis (CoE), but differed quite a bit w/ Lewis on the concept of allegory in fiction. Tolkien's books are nowhere near as overtly CHRISTIAN as some of Lewis's are.
The great achievement of Tolkien is that one actually is able to "feel" in many passages what holiness feels like when you are in its presence. In this, he is probably unique, only surpassed by--of course--Scripture itself.
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