Eucatastrophe and Evangelium: The Christian Vision of the Heroic in The Lord of the Rings

Abstract

The thesis explores the concept of heroism in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, specifically focusing on the characters Frodo, Aragorn, Gandalf, and Sam from the Fellowship of the Ring. The analysis is conducted in relation to the Christian belief expressed in the Gospels, which states that the greatest act of love is sacrificing one’s life for others. Tolkien’s high fantasy novel contains a eucatastrophic tale that highlights the themes of death, resurrection, and true immortality, having numerous parallels to the accounts of Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection in the Gospels. The thesis consists of an introduction, two main chapters, and a conclusion. The introduction gives background information on the epic fantasy tale of The Lord of the Rings,provides information on Tolkien’s worldview and highlights the Christian nature of themoral qualities of the tale’s heroes. The introduction also includes the aim of the thesis. The first main chapter is a literature review that provides an overview of the protagonists Frodo, Aragorn, Gandalf, and Sam as the archetypal figures of Christian heroism in The Lord of the Rings, as discussed in literary criticism, and death and immortality as the main themes, along with eucatastrophe that acts as a resolution for the tale. The second main chapter analyses the theological virtues of faith, hope and love as the compelling forces of the protagonists in The Lord of the Rings. The chapter is divided into two subchapters that focus on the theological virtues and their transformative effect on the protagonists, respectively. The conclusion summarises the main findings of the thesis.