The Hobbit, And The Lord Of The Rings

Thesis: John Ronald Reule Tolkien’s life experiences influenced his writing, beginning as a student, then a soldier, lexigrapher, professor, and then a writer to his own children; Tolkien’s life created the place known to most as Middle-Earth.

“There are those who say fate is something beyond our command. That destiny is not our own, but I know better. Our fate lives within us, you just have to be brave enough to see it.” Princess Merida states this in Brave. She goes on a journey to seal her fate, similar to Odysseus. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Merida’s statement is proven false. In The Odyssey, the omnipotent power of the gods is absolute over the mortals. The will of the gods controls suffering, actions, and ultimate fate.

     There are many similarities between the hero of the poem Beowulf and the heroes of the two Icelandic sagas, The Saga of The Volsungs and The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki. The former saga is an Icelandic saga representing oral traditions dating back to the fourth and fifth centuries, when Attila the Hun was fighting on the northern fringes of the Roman Empire; the latter is an Icelandic saga representing 1000 years of oral traditions prior to the 1300’s when it was written.

Fate intervenes, saves Beowulf's life, and helps him kill monsters many times. Beowulf believes fate saved him in his battle with the sea monsters saying “A monster seized me drew me swiftly towards the bottom... fate let me find its heart with my sword” (Beowulf 286). Since the monsters are evil and Beowulf is good, fate saved him and let him live on. Beowulf himself believes that it is fate that the monsters he kills die at his hands. “I swam in the blackness of night, hunting monsters... and killing them one by one, the death they have earned, the fate they had earned” (Beowulf 155). Since Beowulf is so successful as a warrior he believes he owes all his achievements to fate.

The theme of Fate vs. Free Will arises in many literary texts. Within J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, the main character Frodo has the titular ring thrusted upon him, setting him on a dangerous journey against his will. A similar occurrence happens within the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Translated by the same J.R.R. Tolkien), where Gawain takes on the task of chopping off the Green Knight’s head because no one else offers themself up to take King Arthur’s place, which leads him to go on a journey 365 days later in order to retain his reputation. Both of these characters set off on life-staking journeys only because another person gives them the task against their will. Also because of their male gender, another thing that was beyond their free will, these two characters are easily allowed to go on their adventures in the first place. Even though both Gawain and Frodo are fated to go on their journeys, they do not follow the expectation that a hero must be masculine in order to be successful, and wind up fulfilling their quests by the end of their tales.

This theme is related to that of when Jesus calls you to do a job are you willing to leave everything behind to accomplish it, even if it means sacrificing your house, possessions, your own life, or even your child ’s. To a degree, one’s reading of The Lord of the Rings, is deepened by a knowledge of The Silmarillion, not just on the level of setting or context, but in terms of literary theme, symbol, and characterization. In terms of symbolism, without reading The Silmarillion beforehand, one would not truly understand the severity of certain character’s explanations.

Many people believe that fate has planned out their lives and despite efforts on their part what was meant to happen, will eventually happen. This belief has been handed down over the centuries from some of the first civilizations, such as the Greeks. However, not all Greek citizens wanted destiny to take control of their lives. Some decided to choose freewill over the will of the gods. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles writes a cautionary tale meant to warn the doubters in Greek society that regardless of their beliefs in gods and prophecies, it is necessary to heed their warnings. Oedipus, Jocasta, and Laius are Sophocles’ characters that prove that escaping one’s fate is not possible, as each of their predicted fates is realized despite extensive efforts to thwart them.

Fate or free will is evident in the poem The Iliad. In the Iliad, there are endless struggle between the ideas of fate against free will, throughout the whole poem. More specifically, in Books 6 and 22, it shows

How can an author write a story which appeals to a present day audience? Richard H. Tyre published an article in 1978 that gives an answer to this very question. Tyre explains how most kids today choose to read books like the Harry Potter series, The Lord of the Rings series, and even The Wizard of Oz. An existing theory that Tyre came up with explains that each of these books, along with many others, have one thing in common: 6 plot elements. Not only do these stories contain the same 6 elements but those elements are in the same order! Tyre states that “(1) those who hunt for treasure, (2) must go alone, (3) at night, (4) and when they find it, (5) they must leave some of their blood behind, (6) and the treasure is never what they expected.” (Tyre 2). J.R.R. Tolkien is the author of The Hobbit. The Hobbit revolves around one hobbit in particular named Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo embarks on a journey with 14 others to recover a treasure that is guarded by a dragon. Along the way Bilbo faces many challenges that range from running into huge trolls, to taking part in fierce battles. Due to it’s main character hunting for treasure, facing most of the dangers alone, battling during the wee hours of the night, eventually finding the treasure, after sweating/crying/and enduring injuries, just to have the treasure revealed to him as not what he expected, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is undoubtedly a perfect example of Tyre’s 6 plot elements.

    Fate seems to defy humanity at every turn.  A man may have his life planned out to the last second, but then some random force intervenes and he dies the second after he has completed his life plan.  Some believe in fate, believing that our lives are predetermined from the moment we are born.  Other people believe that everything is random, the result of some god rolling the dice in a universal poker game.  Still other people believe that each and every person is in total control of his or her destiny, every step of the way.  Who is to say which viewpoint is false?  Every culture has a unique perception of the role of fate in our lives, and no group has the "right answer," simply a

Sometimes it is incredibly difficult to tell who is the ‘good guy’ in a story. A hero never begins as the perfect man.. There are stories where the adventurer is a thief or a murderer. However, there are also tales about an average man realizing that he is lacking something or recognizing that it is time to leave the nest. In The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Bilbo Baggins is nothing extraordinary. He is, like most other hobbits, fearful of the unknown. But, with the prodding of Gandalf; Bilbo leaves the Shire and finds his courage. The first definition of a hero in the Merriam Webster dictionary is, “A mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability.” According to this explanation, Mr. Baggins is not a hero. However, Odysseus, the hero in the epic The Odyssey by Homer, fits the definition to a t.

The Iliad, written by Homer, is an ancient Greek epic that tells of an omnipotent and omniscient hierarchy of Greek gods and their intermingling in human affairs, as perceived by Greek culture. Zeus, who was the most powerful of the gods, demonstrated that he - and he alone - was not only the foremost adjudicator of the mortals, but also the only true judge in the courts of fate. Strongly suggested by the story, this leaves the reader with an obscure sense of fate. In the twenty-first century, the amount of people who believe in fate as a force varies according to personal belief. However, this certain belief in fate happened to be relevant

Once upon a time, before more mainstream genre-defining fantasy works such as The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, before there even existed an actual fantasy genre at all, Lord Dunsany masterfully crafted the fantastical The King of Elfland’s Daughter, an opulent tapestry of a tale of what could happen in a typical fairy tale following the “happily ever after.” Writing in the early years of the twentieth century, Lord Dunsany was a pioneer in the fantasy genre. He very much belonged to an earlier, perhaps more enlightened age, when fantasy writers were known for the beauty of their prose as much as the fantastical nature of their stories. In her essay “From Elfland to Poughkeepsie,” Ursula K. Le Guin, author and fanatic of fantasy

The central theme of this book is based upon a variety of olden day mythology, such as Greek and Norse. The author J.R.R. Tolkien analyzed these tales and withdrew plots and characters, and reformed them into

Thorin II Oakinshield is the heir to the dwarven throne in the east, under the Lonely Mountain near the ruins of Dale. His family and people are driven out by a great and terrible dragon named Smaug. After this catastrophe he and the remainder of his people wander middle earth looking for work and settling where they can. Thorin leads them for some time before meeting with a Wizard by the name of Gandalf, who convinces Thorin and his company of dwarves that they should invest in a burglar and go retake their homes. Thorin and Company meet Gandalf at the home of a hobbit by the name of Bilbo Baggins and recruit him for their escapade thus beginning the quest.