Frodo = New Testament, Earendil = Old? (spoilers/very long)

Cafe Society
1

I’ve long thought that parallels can be drawn between Tolkien’s 2 primary redeemers and modern Christian perspectives on Old/New Testament iconography. Interested to hear what others think.

To my mind, Earendil and Elwing fit well with a Covenant of Law (as between YHWH and His chosen people), whereas Frodo meshes nicely with a Covenant of the Heart (as between God-the-Father and those who do His will,as expressed by Jesus in his “new law” statements). This is not to say that Earendil=Abraham-or-Moses and Frodo=Jesus. Also, don’t put too much stock in this thread’s title – I had to get the point across in few words.

Admittedly, this characterization comes from a blatantly 20th century Christian perspective, even cliche. It doesn’t necessarily follow the reality of Jewish history or theology, I should point out.

So, on with the show…

Of all those who attempted to reach and appeal to the Valar, why were Elwing and Earendil allowed to succeed? I think it has a lot to do with blood. Considering them as a unified pair, we can get a picture of their combined heritage by looking at the bloodline of their children, Elrond and Elros.

Using JRR’s text and Christopher’s charts as a guide, their lineage is distributed thusly:

9/16 Quendi
3/8 Edain
1/16 Maiar

More specifically:

Quendi:

5/16 Teleri (via Thingol {-> Luthien -> Dior} + Nimloth*)
1/4 Noldor (via Idril)

Edain:

1/4 House of Beor (via Beren {maternal} + Rian {paternal})
1/16 House of Marach (via Galdor -> Huor)
1/16 House of Haladin (via Hareth -> Huor)

Maiar: (via Melian)

Because of this lineage Earendil/Elwing (again, considered as a unit) are in a unique position to petition the Valar on behalf of the peoples of Middle Earth.

They have no blood of Feanor, who intentionally sinned against the Valar, nor of Finarfen, who was blameless. They are descended from Fingolfin who was compelled to assist in the kinslaying by virtue of his rash oath to Feanor, which was made out of a love for his brother and a desire to maintain peace. They are not clear of the curse, but do not descended from its root cause.

They represent all of the houses of the Elf-friends, and are directly descended from the only mortal to return from Mandos.

They have a blood link with the Ainur.

It is their blood, not just their hearts, which is in the right place. No one else could take up this grace. They are “chosen” because of their ancestry. (Of course, bearing a silmaril doesn’t hurt their chances any. :wink: )

Frodo, on the other hand, is a hobbit, a race not foreseen by any of the Ainur, and which was even unknown to Treebeard by the time of the War of the Ring. Like the Eagles and Ents, they are proof that God does as He pleases, chooses whom He pleases, and is not required to abide by any preconceived notions we have of Him, or to reveal His intentions even to the angels.

Frodo has no connection to this conflict at all. Yet he is chosen as the vehicle of redemption, because of the content of his character, not his heritage. (While it is true that Matthew takes great pains to establish the lineage of Jesus, the grace introduced to the World by Jesus’s life and death is offered to all who accept it.)

Wish I could have been more succinct. Listening now…

*I am not sure of Nimloth’s heritage, but I assume there is Moriquendi blood there, which makes E/E representative of both Elves of Light and Elves of Darkness.

2

Here’s a little data on Nimloth’s ancestry drawn from multiple sources in HOMES:
http://www.annalsofarda.dk/annals-of-arda/Elves-index-tables/Elves.htm. It’s hard to call it Canon though, as JRRT kept changing things later, including making Celeborn a Teleri from Alqualondë.

It’s pretty safe to assume Nimloth’s ancestry is all Moriquendi. Of all the elves of Doriath, only Thingol was Calaquendi (he beheld the light of the Two Trees with his own eyes, when he and Finwë and Ingwë visited Valinor with Oromë). I think the ancestry you cite lacked only the Avari, who refused the journey to begin with. Oh, and the Danians and others who wandered off during the great trek.

As for the rest of your post, it’s very interesting, but Xtian theology is not my strong suit. Hopefully Polycarp will stop in!

I’d love to see your new tables! I bet they’d look especially nice with a pair of Lamps of the Noldor.

3

Thanks for the link, Qadgop. Quite useful.

Glad to hear you say it, b/c that was actually my assumption. The marriage to Dior pretty much precludes any blood ties with Elwe who had been to the West. But being an assumption…

Precisely. They had no stake in the Doom of the North. They needed no representation for its pardon.

:smiley: But alas, they shall be a little time in coming. As I mentioned elsewhere, Numenorian lineage is not my strong suit. (You can probably now gather where my main interests lie.)

4

Pervie Eldar fancier? :eek:

Yeah, “Annals of Arda” is a great source, and contains a lot of the really obscure stuff that the “Encyclopedia of Arda” doesn’t have. They have the forgotten Vala in them, like Omar-Amillo, Meássë, and others.

Years ago I dumped JRRT’s genealogies into my old ROOTS3 DOS pedigree program. Sadly, I can’t get the damn thing to run anymore, so I must really get them re-entered into a more modern program. Some program where I can adjust the dates to reflect the Years of the Trees, for one thing! :smiley:

Have you read HOMES?

5

I’m a grazer. I pick them up as needed. Never sat down and attempted to read any of the volumes cover-to-cover.

6

Well, there are plenty of biblical referents in LOTR, but IMHO this one doesn’t fly. (Someone else here once tried to run the argument that Jews=Dwarves, and that didn’t work either, I don’t think.)

The problem is that the OT doesn’t have a redeemer (to match Earendil) except for God the Father (=Eru). Also, Elvish religion was notably lacking in laws, temples, rituals, etc. IIRC, the only “religion” we know of was high festival in Valinor. It would not work to say that the elves were the people of the law. So, while the NT parallels can be plausibly argued (I would object though that Frodo is flawed and cannot therefore be equivalented to Christ, and that I think JRRT may have thought this nearly blasphemous), I think the OT parallels are just not there. (I suppose Earendil could be someone like Enoch or Ezekiel (fiery chariot to God–without dying–never returns), but that’s stretching it.)

ME is in theory our world, all pre- recorded history. The covenant with the Jews and the completion/explosion of the OT law by NT events (depending on your viewpoint) is all still to happen in the future. Men are said to have had a mysterious fall pre-meeting with elves that men consistently refuse to discuss, which I think is a placeholder for the Fall in the garden–that is the only OT event which really needs to preceed LOTR. (We can argue about whether the flood=the drowning of Numnor or one of the other events that changed the shape of the world, and whether the 2 trees are also prefiguring the garden.)

The only likely allegorical figure (in JRRT’s sense of the word and with apologies to him) is Melkor=Satan. OTOH, moral themes which are also biblically addressed abound: mercy/redemption, stewardship & subcreatorship (story of the talents), condemnation of despair, pride and greed, loyalty to one’s spouse, the ability of God to act in the world only if humans act, temptation, etc.

Anyway, lots of analogies in there, but I don’t think the OT/NT split really does it for me.

7

Thanks, Humble. I’m not sure you carefully read my post, though.

I’m not saying that there is a redeemer in the OT, but rather that JRRT’s use of redeemer figures seems to align with certain “modern Christian perspectives” on Biblical iconograpy. It’s clear that Frodo != Jesus, and even casual readers will note that religion is strikingly absent from Middle Earth culture. I also do not find direct allegory in JRRT’s works, so you and I are certainly in agreement there. (Btw, I don’t buy the Dwarves = Jews argument either, even loosely.)

I don’t mean to suggest otherwise (and don’t believe I actually did in the OP).

I don’t even mean to suggest that the early tales (rel. Arda time, not writing/publication date) are analolgous to OT and newer tales to NT.

Clearly, JRRT uses redeemer figures prominently in his 2 great cycles – the War of the Jewels and the War of the Ring. All of his work has an underlying Christian perspective, even as he adapts pagan myths.

The issue I want to explore is whether Tolkien may be playing with the notion that the human relationship to God has undergone a significant shift, consistent with modern Christian theology.

Earendil/Elwing are much like Moses-in-the-Tabernacle (again, not claiming any direct allegory). They leave the mundane world and are allowed special privilege to stand in the presence of the Divine. Frodo is a different figure altogether. He represents the New Covenant, or so it seems to me.

I hope that clears up any confusion in my OP.

8

I did misunderstand–let’s try this revised response.

The biblical tradition says that Adam talked directly with God. After that, some of the patriarchs continued to meet him, but cloaked as a burning bush, pillar of fire, disembodied voice, etc. At some point, God’s direct contact with non-priests became feared and Moses (and the priests) became the people’s representative just as the people also insisted on having a king as their political representative. Then the veil of the temple was rent in twain and Christ as personal savior supposedly again invites direct relationship with God.

In ME, it is unclear to me that anyone other than Manwe has direct contact with Illuvatar (while in the world–the Valar all knew him directly outside it)–can we analogize the Valar to God, or do they fit better as angels? Anyway, vast numbers of elves (including some alive in LOTR) have had direct contact with Manwe et al. (Someone help me out on whether men actually met Orome et al.–men certainly met some of the Maiar directly.) Then, as the Valar withdraw into the West, followed gradually by the elves, men do get less and less direct contact with higher beings (lumping elves in there too). I’m not sure though how Frodo reverses the trend–he doesn’t see or hear directly from God* until after he too goes into the West–not relevant to the rest of men–he is like a Moses who gets a special dispensation when the rest of us don’t. Maybe you could expand on your analogy with specifics so I can try to follow where you are going with it.

*Is this the crux? Do you read “the grace he is given” as being a direct contact with Eru? If so, how does it relate to other men?

9

Yeah, getting much closer. Although I’m somewhat less concerned with the actual progression of OT theology and more concerned with whether specific characters in JRRT’s work can be viewed as representative of the Christian perspective on the fundamental shift in the nature of God’s covenant with humankind brought about by the life-and-death of Christ.

I don’t think Frodo has any direct contact with Eru. In fact, there’s no indication that he even has any conception of Eru’s existence, although he doubtless has learned much Elf-lore from Bilbo (starting from a relatively young age), which certainly included tales of the Undying Lands and perhaps even some of what is recorded in the Ainulindale.

The true crux here is a shift in Covenant theology, from a Covenant of Law between God and His chosen people, to a Covenant of the Heart between God-the-Father and those who accept His grace and perform His will, no matter who they may be, and irrespective of whether they even comprehend that they are doing His will (see Matthew 7:21). Again, this is a modern Christian perspective.

I find JRRT’s choice of redeemer figures in the 2 war cycles to be emblematic of this shift. Your question about “how does it relate to other [people]” is very much to the point. Elwing/Earendil succeed in their petition not only because they are true of heart and true in their cause, but (I believe – and this is really the point of the OP) because their blood gives them the right to make such a petition. Others also seek the Utter West, but they are not allowed entry. E/E are representative of those who are involved in a sort of pact, although in this case it’s a curse, with the angels (I do view the Valar and Maiar more as archangels and angels than gods). They are chosen people by virtue of what has gone before, of previous oaths taken and broken. No Ent, Eagle, or Dwarf could have done what they did, even had his/her heart been as true, even had s/he possessed a silmaril.

As I said in the OP, this is a question I’ve been mulling over for more than a decade, ever since by chance I noticed the striking nature of Elrond and Elros’s lineage as it relates to the Doom of the North, while making annotations to Christopher’s genealogies in the appendices to The Silmarillion. So far, I haven’t found anyone who much cares to discuss it, and I’m hoping I can drum up some interest here.

My caution when considering all this is that we should not attempt to look for other extrapolations from and parallels with the Bible. There is no Jesus figure in JRRT’s world, for example, which appears and ushers in this shift.

As for Frodo… as a hobbit, he represents the complete free will of God, beyond any covenants of law. Hobbits, after all, were not foreseen by any of the Ainur when they were granted the vision before the incarnation of Ea. He is essentially representative of God’s ability to grant grace to anyone at all, Jew or Gentile, as He sees fit.

10

I think it’s in HOMES 12 (Peoples of ME) or perhaps the earlier Morgoth’s Ring, that JRRT writes a bit about the fall of man, tempted by Morgoth. Prior to this fall, each man and woman had access to Eru via that “quiet voice inside”. But Morgoth was flashier, and the quiet voice was stilled. The Edain were represented as deeply ruing this development, setting out into the West to see if they could not find some sort of redemption.

Sorry for the interruption. Please continue, the discussion is fascinating!

11

Thanks, QtM. And this seems to me on-topic, not an interruption.

So I’ll provide an interruption myself. :wink:

I know this stuff is arcane, and I don’t expect to run into folks every day who care about it, but it really saddens me to meet people on a regular basis who believe LotR to be demonic.

Some ministries hold this same position. Like Eric Barger:

Some even see it as a sign the apocalypse:

What an insult, what a loss! Forgive them, they know not what they say. Such a shame, though, for such a great Christian mind to be shunned by so many Christians.

12

Paraphrasing: “But I admit we are not yet loud enough! The melodies and silences of heaven will be shouted down in the end!” That’s CSLewis in The Screwtape Letters, a book dedicated to JRRT.

WRT people who think LOTR is unchristian: it is either Catholic-bashing or, if we give them credit for more sophistication, it is Alcuin’s age-old lecture of “What has Ingeld to do with Christ?” to the Lindisfarne monks who he thought were reading too much pagan literature. For every Alcuin though there was a Christian writer who chose not to condemn pagan lit but to steal it (or read give it homage) for a Christian-acceptable purpose.

Maybe this is why I am still confused. If you focus on the “shift,” then it does matter to be able to find an earlier period where the “Covenant of the Heart” did not exist. I don’t think this is the case, and I don’t think that the grace Frodo got was unique or a shift. Illuvatar surprised the Ainur in the music with many unforeseen things–I read this as things that would not have come about naturally in the world except for his direct will. Beren had it. Bard had a kind of grace when he shot Smaug. Bilbo had it when he found the ring. Yes, one of the great themes is Frodo’s obedience beyond hope and suffering, but I would not say that earlier men were not also granted such grace when needed–the possibility of such grace seems to me to be present from the very First Age, and Frodo does not seem unique in this regard. That Earendil as representative of men and elves got his petition heard can also be read as “grace,” all that geneology stuff notwithstanding, but whether that was grace or destiny of blood does not mean that grace wasn’t also otherwise grantable at that time if conditions were right.

I’m afraid you won’t be able to stop me from trying, since I think that echoes of known biblical themes/phrases can really inform an analysis of lit that deals with similar themes/language. I will try hard to be cautious though–y’all call me on it if I get silly.

13

Thank you, HS! Very good points. Lots to think about.

And I agree, many other Biblical themes are echoed in JRRT’s work. My caution, I suppose, was against attempting to judge the possibility of an old/new covenant dichotomy b/t Earendil and Frodo according to presence or absence of supporting themes (e.g., “If there’s a shift, where’s the Christ?”), and against extrapolating from the possibility of an OT/NT dichotomy between his principal redeemers that there must also necessarily be an OT/NT dichotomy evident when comparing the old and new tales as a whole.

I also agree that the theme of grace, and God’s ability to grant it as He pleases, is present throughout the works. (I am reminded more of Tuor than of Beren, here.)

It’s still tantalizing to me, however, to imagine that JRRT was exploring “old covenant” themes when fashioning the Elwing/Earendil myths. It is of course possible that it is mere coincidence that E/E’s genealogy lines up so well with the myths concering the kinslaying at Alquolonde, the Doom of Mandos, and the oaths of the 3 houses of the Edain. But Tolkien had an amazing ability to see emerging patterns and tweak them for later purposes as his work developed. The fit is just so nice, I have a hard time believing the professor didn’t tailor Elrond’s and Elros’s lineage so that it contained these key genealogical elements.

When he gets to Frodo, no such concerns are evident at all. Indeed, they’re not even possible. He seems to be playing an entirely different game there.

So much to think about! This is why Tolkien is such a joy, and such a genius. The richness of his imagination, the scope of it, is like a playground for the mind.

Btw, I don’t think the anti-Tolkien Christians I meet are objecting because they’re anti-Catholic. I doubt very seriously that 99% of them could tell you anything about JRR’s religious affiliation. They’ve just been taught that demons are real, and that anything smacking of occult or pagan symbolism is a doorway to seduction by Satan, so they’re blinded to the message behind his work. Keep in mind that Eden Alley is deep in the Southern Bible Belt. Growing up, I knew exactly one Catholic family. They had to drive into the nearest big city to find a church. Chicago is undoubtedly very different.