J.R.R. Tolkien: Storytelling & the Eucatastrophe
What book has been voted #1 on NPR’s “Top 100 Fantasy Books,”[1] Waterstone’s “Book of the Century,”[2] and Amazon’s “Greatest Book of the Millennium”?[3] None other than J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings (LOTR). But why? One can almost hear the voices of literary critics lamenting, “Of all the books in the world, why pick this?” Why indeed? Why does the incredible and fantastical imagination of one man resonate so deeply with so many? The famous writer W.H. Auden said of LOTR, “If someone dislikes it, I shall never trust [his] judgment about anything again.”[4]
Through his books Tolkien has introduced us to the wondrous world of Middle Earth, full of orcs, elves, dwarves, trolls, wizards, and hobbits. His epic storytelling has wowed readers for more than 50 years. LOTR has taken literary and popular culture by storm (especially in recent years with Peter Jackson’s films). For this and many other reasons, Tolkien’s works have inspired generations of writers and readers.
In this article we will consider several themes in Tolkien’s work and discover what is so profound about his stories. We will first look at the author, then his mythopoeia, and conclude by observing his thoughts on the “eucatastrophe.”
Biography
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on January 3, 1892. After his father died in 1896, he, his mother, his brother moved back to England, where his parents were originally from. In 1900 Tolkien’s mother joined the Catholic Church in opposition to both sides of her family. Tolkien and his brother became devout Catholics for the rest of their lives. In 1904 Tolkien’s mother died from complications with diabetes, leaving him and his brother as orphans.
From a young age Tolkien showed promise in the area of languages. Even before college, he began inventing different languages—just for fun. In 1916 he and his wife Edith married. However, Tolkien was called up for active duty in World War I, but would suffer from “trench fever” for the majority of his tour.
Before the War, Tolkien had studied at Oxford, and afterward he returned as a professor. Most notably, Tolkien joined together with other notable twentieth century figures to create an official group called “the Inklings.” This group included, but was not limited to Owen Barfield, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams. [5]
The Art of Storytelling
One day, in the monotony of grading exams, Tolkien grabbed a piece of paper and arbitrarily wrote, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” From this small epiphanaic sentence sparked the epic we know as LOTR. (This line appeared as the first line of The Hobbit, which in turn spawned LOTR.)
Tolkien’s masterpiece comes in an equal balance of two fields: story and writing. He was a master of not simply developing a grand story, but also of writing about it in a beautiful and artistic way. Both young and old are captivated by Tolkien’s wondrous storytelling. Within the confines of Tolkien’s stories we see “pure excitement, unencumbered narrative, moral warmth, barefaced rejoicing in beauty, but excitement most of all; yet a serious and scrupulous fiction, nothing cozy, no little visits to one’s childhood.”[6] Certainly, a true mark of good storytelling is the ability to enjoy the story anew, again and again.
What truly sets apart Tolkien’s ability of storytelling is his pristine focus on what he called “sub-creation.” In his own words,
Although now long estranged,
Man is not wholly lost nor wholly changed.
Dis-graced he may be, yet is not de-throned,
and keeps the rags of lordship once he owned:
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
with Elves and Goblins, though we dared to build
Gods and their houses out of dark and light,
and sowed the seed of dragons- ’twas our right
(used or misused). That right has not decayed:
we make still by the law in which we’re made . . .
. . . Fantasy remains a human right: we make in our measure and in our derivative mode, because we are made: and not only made, but made in the image and likeness of a Maker.”[7]
To Tolkien, if man is made in the imago dei of the Creator, then part of humanity’s purpose is to be “sub-creators,” to be artists and continue making and cultivating through our vocations—whatever they may be. However, as humans, we are only imaginative, creative, and artistic, because we are created in God’s image, the supreme Creator. As Tolkien describes us, we are “Man, Sub-creator, the refracted Light.”[8] For Tolkien, to banish the imagination was to banish the one Who created us.
We can see this clearly evident in Tolkien’s work. He developed such a mythopeia (a mythology completely constructed by the author) that the fantastical fiction of Middle Earth seems all too real. Herein lies the heart of sub-creation—to make (or sub-create) with such excellence it mirrors the greatest creation.[9]
The Good Turn Backwards
Tolkien was not only concerned with sub-creation. He also called for great respect of a concept he called the eucatastrophe: the sudden and favorable resolution of events in a story, or simply a happy ending. Tolkien argues that this is what makes any myth or fairy story true and good. Tolkien writes in On Fairy Stories, “[I]n the eucatastrophe we see in a brief vision that . . . may be a far off gleam or echo of evangelium in the real world.”[10]
For Tolkien, a eucatastrophe in a story pointed to the greater eucatastrophe,
The Gospels contain a fairy-story, or a story of a larger kind which embraces all the essence of fairy-stories. . . . But this story has entered History and the primary world; the desire and aspiration of subcreation has been raised to the fulfillment of Creation. The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man’s history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy. . . . There is no tale ever told that men would rather find was true.[11]
All happy endings point to the truest and greatest happy ending: Christ has redeemed His people and will redeem all of creation one day. In a world full of sadness and disparity, the joy of eucatastrophes resonates deeply in our hearts. At the end of LOTR, the young hobbit gardener, Sam Gamgee states, “Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue?”[12] For both the hobbits and the bride of Christ, we can respond with a deep and joyous, “Yes!” In the story that is human history, Christ has entered the world and began the process of the ultimate happy ending.
Jerram Barrs writes illustrates this point of eucatastrophe well when he writes,
In The Lord of the Rings there is indeed no mention of religion, the Bible, the church, Christ, the sacraments, or worship rituals—but the unseen and unheard backdrop to every moment of The Lord of the Rings is the biblical story. It is the story of the battle between light and darkness, between good and evil; the story about coming of the kingdom; the story of good creation that has been given to the inhabitants of the world; the story of the marring and falling of that world into disobedience; evil and death; the story of the hope of restoration of what is good, and the redemption that brings that restoration back.[13]
Conclusion
Tolkien’s books have never been more popular. His works continue to captivate the imagination of new generations. Thankfully Tolkien has given us a work that points to something greater. His ideas on sub-creation and the eucatastrophe, which are laced throughout his writings, work as signposts to the greatest story ever told.
May we take up the banner that Tolkien carried before us: making (or sub-creating), and in so doing imitating our Maker and Creator; and telling of “happy endings,” and in so doing pointing to the greatest good news in history. As Tolkien put it, “Blessed are the legend-makers with their rhyme . . . or in fantastic banners wave the sheen / heraldic emblems of a lord unseen.”[14]
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[1] NPR Books, “Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books,” last modified August 11, 2011, accessed September 3, 2014, http://www.npr.org/2011/08/09/139248590/top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books.
[2] Salon, “The Book of the Century,” last modified June 4, 2001, accessed September 3, 2014, http://www.salon.com/2001/06/04/tolkien_3/.
[3] Peter Kreeft, The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind ‘The Lord of the Rings’ (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2005), 13.
[4] Kreeft, 13.
[5] The Tolkien Society, “Who Was Tolkien?”, accessed September 3, 2014, http://www.tolkiensociety.org/author/biography/.
[6] Donald Barr, “Shadowy World of Men and Hobbits,” review of The Two Towers, New York Times, May 1, 1955, accessed, www.nytimes.com/1955/05/01/books/tolkien-towers.html?_r=0 as quoted in Jerram Barrs, Echoes of Eden: Reflections on Christianity, Literature, and the Arts (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), 113.
[7] J.R.R. Tolkien, “On Fairy Stories” (1947), 18; accessed September 4, 2014, http://brainstorm-services.com/wcu-2004/fairystories-tolkien.pdf
[8] J.R.R. Tolkien, Mythopoeia, accessed September 4, 2014, http://home.agh.edu.pl/~evermind/jrrtolkien/mythopoeia.htm.
[9] It should be noted that the act of creation (that is, the making of things ex nihilio) belongs to God alone. Therefore, man is only ever able to “sub-create”, or make/subdue/cultivate what has already been created. As human beings we can do “creative” work, but we can never truly create as God has.
[10] Tolkien, On Fairy Stories, 23.
[11] Ibid.
[12] J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
[13] Jerram Barrs, Echoes of Eden: Reflections on Christianity, Literature, and the Arts (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), 119.
[14] J.R.R. Tolkien, Mythopoeiai. This was actually a poem that Tolkien wrote for Lewis. Tolkien wrote this poem upon talking late into the night with Lewis about the Christian faith, which ultimately lead to Lewis’ conversion. You can read the poem in its entirety here: http://home.agh.edu.pl/~evermind/jrrtolkien/mythopoeia.htm.
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