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GRACE IN The THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of The Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed”(Mt. 26:74). Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis 2:7 when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3). Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation: “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
GRACE IN TOKIEN’S THE RETURN OF THE KING
First, let us establish some necessary background. J.R.R Tolkien (1892-1972), was a philologist (language specialist) and professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at Cambridge University. A devout Catholic, he conceived The Lord of the Rings during World War Two. The epic consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two towers, and The Return of the King. The focus of the three-part novel is the hobbit Frodo’s quest to the kingdom of Mordor to destroy the Ring now a threat to goodness in Middle-Earth.
As I have mentioned in an earlier publication “The Hand of God” Sept.15 2025, a very prominent Tolkien scholar, Holly Ordway, has said of Lord of the Rings a stream of faith flows through the trilogy. He weaves two strands together: first, the quest to the destroy the ring in the hands of the enemy, and second the faith that empowers the major characters like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. But only in The Return of the King does Tolkien weave the two strands to an astonishing Christian conclusion.
The interweaving of the narrative with allusions (indirect literary references) to the Christian story is more direct than the first two novels. For example, at the end of Chapter 4 “The Siege of Condor” we read the following: “Gandalf [ the wizard] did not move. And at that very moment away behind in some courtyard in the City a cock crowed.” (p.829).
John 18; 27 Peter’s denial of Jesus comes to mind: … “and at that moment the cock crowed.” Tolkien is alluding to Jesus’ Crucifixion. Peter, unlike Judas, repented. Similarly, in the Gandalf scene the tone shifts through the positive image for the crows: “Shrill and clear he crowed…welcoming only the dawn” (p.829)
Because he is drawing closer to the Eucatastrophe, the happy ending. Tolkien is unveiling the most dramatic events of the Christian story. One such event is the healing of Faramir whose name in this fictional world signifies “sufficient jewel.” Aragorn took two leaves, “breathed on them … mixed them to create a healing fragrance.”
After Faramir breathed the aroma he “stirred…opened his eyes, and… looked upon Aragorn….” The scene recollects in Genesis when “the Lord God formed man from the dust…and breathed on him” (p.867). The allusion is to Jesus, the Mighty Healer only this time the healer is Aragorn signifying “noble valour.”
The battles between the hobbits and the Dark Lord wage on until we come to a very significant chapter in this epic struggle between good and evil: “Mount Doom.”
As Sam and Frodo ascend the mountain, Frodo has a Getsemani experience: “He knew all the arguments of despair but would not listen to them. His will was set and only death would break it.” The language evokes Jesus’ passion in Getsemani: “Then he [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles] ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and stay awake with me…. (Lk. 14:34). But Jesus realizes his death is the Father’s will for salvation. Similarly, Frodo is a salvific figure as we will see in The Eucatastrophe, the happy ending.
Before a deep crevasse Gollum (Old Norse for gold) lunged at Frodo, but “stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink [holding the Ring] and then with a shriek he fell” into the abyss (p.947) like Lucifer and the rebellious angels.
Tolkien calls the above scene when Gollum and the ring topple to destruction the Eucatastrophe. The prefix eu is the same in Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving or joy. Tolkien also said the Eucatastrophe is a “turn” which is more than a modern fiction climax but a moment of “sudden and miraculous grace” (“On Fairy Stories,” Notes). The positive shift in the tone of the events echoes Jesus’ salvation of humanity.
Witness Tolkien’s language after Gandalf pronounces: “Stand and wait, men of the west. This is the hour of doom” (p.950) Similarly, the post crucifixion has a similar ring in Matthew’s gospel: At the death of Jesus “[t]he earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27:51).
But Tolkien is not describing the Apocalypse. Far from it, for the landscape once covered with bodies from the battles now evokes a paradise that Sam feels as he jumps out of bed: “Then as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring, and the sun will shine the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laugher welled up…. (p.953).
Finally, we come to King Aragorn’s crowning, an event that has been foreshadowed with waiting for the king. First, Faramir once healed becomes Steward. The Warden of the City says of Faramir: “But the Lord Faramir is by right Steward of the city.” In comparison, Mark predicts through Isaiah another right steward: “Prepare the way of the lord, make his paths straight” (1:3) Textually this verse is a call to metanoia but in it is also a waiting for the Messiah. The allusion, involving Faramir, his love Eowyn, and Gandalf is also about waiting (Advent) for the King.
All events become joyful: Faramir and Eowyn fall in love. Gandalf crowns the long expectant king, Aragorn. The language of crowning especially what Aragorn feels has a touch of the eternal. Aragorn stands in silence…. “For it seemed to them (Gandalf and Farimir) that he [Aragorn] had been revealed to them the first time…wisdom sat on his brow (the boy Jesus in the temple) …and a light was about him….”
Thus, Faramir can now exclaim without hesitation “Behold the king,” (p.969), an epiphany reminiscent of the three Wise Men recognizing that the Christ-child is the savior.
Grace now flows abundantly as the hobbits return to their shire where Frodo leaves aboard ship where “he smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that come over the water.” The ending is not sad, but grace-filled so the tale, as Tolkien has written (“On Fairy Stories”), will never end; it will always have readers.
In sum, Tolkien in The Return of the King unveils a narrative interwoven with allusions to the Christian story. For this reason, the grace-filled Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time.
Bernard Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca
REFERENCES
The Holy Bible NRSV Catholic Edition Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1993
Family Education.com 151lord-of-the-rings-names
Ordway, Holly Tolkien’s Faith a Spiritual Biography Washington: Word of Fire 2023
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy Tales” http:// coolcalvary. com > uploads PDF
Tolkien, J.R.R The Return of the King (London: Harper and Collins),1966
With a B..A and an M. A, in English, Bernard, a retired teacher has been publishing short stories and religious articles since the early nineties in magazines and online. He favors articles on prayer and scripture.
