Tolkein was a "prophet".

Anybody who is interested in Norse paganism/ heathenism and who has read anything by Tolkein will now that Tolkein studied the Norse tradition in-depth.

Tolkein studied heathenism so much that he even developed his own language Elvish. As far as I know Tolkein did not create this language from scratch (well its impossble to create anything from scratch, everything has an influence) and is actually based on heathen languages.

Alot of people might think that The Lord of The Rings is just a fun book, but in my opinion it can be just as important as The Bible when teaching moral lessons, in fact it could be argued that it would be even better.

In the LOTR (Lord Of The Rings) Tolkein identified what was wrong with the Viking world and the present world. People are just too greedy everybody wants to be better than everbody else and nobody wants to share. This is the corruption which all creatures had which the ring used to work on. This is why Frodo was such an important character, Frodo didnt care about power all he wanted to do was hang out with his friends. Bare in mind this does not mean that we should all be wasters. Frodo was not a lay about he just did not want to be powerful.

This is an important point, if people were more interested in just being "happy" instead of the accumulation of power the world would be a happier place.

The LOTR is also about racial unity and tolerance. In the LOTR there are different races but they are all important. In the end its because all the races joined togther which enabled the world to be saved. Not only that there are races with different characteristics but they were all special. Despite the fact that Hobbits were small in stature their passion and loyalty helped make a difference.

Another important point if we spent more time looking at peoples hearts instead of their stature and physical appearance this would improve the world also.

So I think Tolkein was a "prophet" in the sense that he studied the religon of the Vikings and he identfied what was wrong with their world and identified what was wrong with this world. Tolkein has created books which teach us great moral teachings for now and forever. Discuss.

He was also a great writer. I wish they would do The Hobbit as a movie.

I saw a show once that showed how LOTR was about WWII. There are many parallels.

Tolkein also freaked out and wrote 3 huge books because a highway was built through his hometown. 😬

If having studied something makes you a prophet, I'm a prophet in many things...I think thats false.

Tolkein also has overarching racism, anti-industrialism and his novels are reactionary. I don't really consider those valuble contributions.

Originally posted by Alliance
Tolkein also has overarching racism

This is interesting. Do continue...

I never read any books, but this interests me.

Originally posted by lil bitchiness
This is interesting. Do continue...

I never read any books, but this interests me.

You have never read any of his books? 😱

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
You have never read any of his books? 😱

😑 No...it just never itnerested me as much.

Much like damn Harry Potter. But I've seen the movies....last week for the first time 😮

Originally posted by lil bitchiness
😑 No...it just never itnerested me as much.

Much like damn Harry Potter. But I've seen the movies....last week for the first time 😮

I recommend The Hobbit over LOTR any day.

Originally posted by Alliance
Tolkein also freaked out and wrote 3 huge books because a highway was built through his hometown. 😬

Is that how you see it?

Originally posted by Alliance

If having studied something makes you a prophet, I'm a prophet in many things...I think thats false.

Well "prophet" was in speech marks. I also said that he his writing has good moral teachings.

Originally posted by Alliance

Tolkein also has overarching racism,

Well ok prove it. LOTR can be seen to be metaphorical since there are many races in it.

Originally posted by Alliance

anti-industrialism

So he wasnt to keen on it, and? All he was doing was pointing out how industralism can destroy the world. Obvoulsy industralism has its good points and bad points.

Originally posted by Alliance

and his novels are reactionary.

Alot of things are reactionary.

Originally posted by Alliance

I don't really consider those valuble contributions.

I dont know seems like you are making a sweeping generalisation to me. You have focused on all the negative points and ignored the positive. I dont get it.

He knew C.S. Lewis and they used to read each others works and make suggestions.

I saw a show once that showed how LOTR was about WWII. There are many parallels.

Originally posted by debbiejo
He knew C.S. Lewis and they used to read each others works and make suggestions.

I heard the same.

Ive heard that as well, but it was obvoulsy influenced by Norse lore as well. To be quite honest its about mankind in general.

Tolkien's entire world revolves around hereditary/genetic right to rule. It's hardly a guide on modern ethics and nor was it intended as such.

It's also rather male-dominated. In fact, specifically, no woman can rightfully rule Humans in it.

As for LOTR being based on WWII- Expressly and eloquently denied by Tolkien.

Tolkien a Prophet? Nope, a great storyteller? Yessir.

It's our Mythology....let's treasure it.

Originally posted by Ushgarak
Tolkien's entire world revolves around hereditary/genetic right to rule.

Ok fair enough. Im not sure if that was to be taken that seriously

Originally posted by Ushgarak

It's hardly a guide on modern ethics and nor was it intended as such.

I dont know about that. Ypu can obvoulsy see that friendship and unity are also important aspects of the book.

Originally posted by Ushgarak

It's also rather male-dominated. In fact, specifically, no woman can rightfully rule Humans in it.

That sucks. Im not sure if he actually believed that or he was basing some of the aspects on Norse traditions.

Well... I mean, Enid Blyton has a lot to say about friendship and unity (and, apparerently, a fair undercurrent of white supremacy also). Just because something is a theme in your book that does not make it some sort of call to arms in the style of a religious text.

Originally posted by Alfheim
Anybody who is interested in Norse paganism/ heathenism and who has read anything by Tolkein will now that Tolkein studied the Norse tradition in-depth.

Tolkein studied heathenism so much that he even developed his own language Elvish. As far as I know Tolkein did not create this language from scratch (well its impossble to create anything from scratch, everything has an influence) and is actually based on heathen languages.

Alot of people might think that The Lord of The Rings is just a fun book, but in my opinion it can be just as important as The Bible when teaching moral lessons, in fact it could be argued that it would be even better.

In the LOTR (Lord Of The Rings) Tolkein identified what was wrong with the Viking world and the present world. People are just too greedy everybody wants to be better than everbody else and nobody wants to share. This is the corruption which all creatures had which the ring used to work on. This is why Frodo was such an important character, Frodo didnt care about power all he wanted to do was hang out with his friends. Bare in mind this does not mean that we should all be wasters. Frodo was not a lay about he just did not want to be powerful.

This is an important point, if people were more interested in just being "happy" instead of the accumulation of power the world would be a happier place.

The LOTR is also about racial unity and tolerance. In the LOTR there are different races but they are all important. In the end its because all the races joined togther which enabled the world to be saved. Not only that there are races with different characteristics but they were all special. Despite the fact that Hobbits were small in stature their passion and loyalty helped make a difference.

Another important point if we spent more time looking at peoples hearts instead of their stature and physical appearance this would improve the world also.

So I think Tolkein was a "prophet" in the sense that he studied the religon of the Vikings and he identfied what was wrong with their world and identified what was wrong with this world. Tolkein has created books which teach us great moral teachings for now and forever. Discuss.

Tolkein created the Elvish language from scratch, although I doubt it did not incidentally include aspects of languages he knew of, his profession was linguist, and he spent many years defining the language.

Tolkein's books were meant to create a modern mythology for the world at the time, he saw that the mythology was dying off and becoming lost, he viewed this as a sad thing and endeavored to create a new and lasting mythology.

Do some real research before making statements about great men.

Originally posted by Ushgarak
Well... I mean, Enid Blyton has a lot to say about friendship and unity (and, apparerently, a fair undercurrent of white supremacy also).

Well I dont think Enid Blyton books are set on a global scale.

Originally posted by Ushgarak

Just because something is a theme in your book that does not make it some sort of call to arms in the style of a religious text.

Well this is the thing im not sure if you have analysed the level of detail that the LOTR. It doesnt just say that greed is bad, it explains how people become evil and what it does to them. Also alot of stuff is symbolic. Enid Blyton are just kids books in the LOTR the characters are far more complicated.

It also explains how your worst enemies are not neccesarily strangers but your best friends or allies.

Bare in mid that alot of ideas were also taken from the religon of the thinkings. eg Middle Earth is obvoulsy based on the Norse Midgard.

Mid = Middle Gard = Earth.

Err, I am afraid that if you think LOTR goes into this in more detail than dozens, or hundreds, of other works you are somewhat mistaken. Frankly, I'd say Blyton hts all of those notes at some point, in her own way. And who cares about the scale? You saying Tolkien becomes irrelevant once we get off Earth? It's the underlying message that is important, not the scale.

I would also say that actually LOTR says very little about how people become evil. Several of the most important bad guys were turned evil by a magical object, hmm?

Alfheim: Irregardless of influences, Tolkien did invent his Elvish languages "from scratch," sketching out an entire faux linguistic-history.

And I think you're reading far too heavily into the prevalence of Tolkien's work: It is a piece of fiction, a story of morals and the success of good over evil. I agree that it was certainly designed to be a mold of Northern Germanic and Christian religious-themes. But comparison with the Bible, or any other Holy Scripture? Is that anything other than blasphemy?

EDIT: His name is spelt Tolkien, by the way.

It's possible to read a lot more than necessary into alot of different works, even if there were all these connotations in LOTR and the Hobbit they are what you make them, people will all have different opinions of the book. It seems to me that there are no right or wrong things to read into the books. If you have been personally enlightened by them then that's all that matters.