The Spiritual Dimension of J. R. R.

Tolkiens Mythopoeic Theory

Extract

Micha Matusiak English Studies Institute, Department of British Literature, BA Thesis 2011 The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland

The Spiritual Dimension of J. R. R. Tolkiens Mythopoeic Theory by Micha Matusiak

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abbreviations

Introduction Chapter I: The Philosophical Disenchantment Chapter II: Comparative Philology Chapter III: Philological Philosophy Let there be Dragons Chapter IV: Myth Becomes Truth 1. A Theological Vision of History 2. A Biographical Sketch 3. The Significant Facts 4. A Theology of Language 5. A Sense of Gift 6. A Theology of Story 7. Marriage of Heaven and Earth Conclusion

5 8 15 22 27 27 29 31 32 36 38 42 46

Works Consulted and Cited Summary in Polish

48 51

The Spiritual Dimension of J. R. R. Tolkiens Mythopoeic Theory by Micha Matusiak

Extract

In order to present the impact that Tolkiens Faith had on his myth -making theory, this work focused on all three dimensions discerned by the Tolkieniana. The first chapter began with presenting some of the philosophical concepts to be capable of explaining this phenomenon. However, these yielded mere clues and were discerned as the system of reference made by Tolkiens profession philology. Through the philological study and its techniques, seemingly solving the riddle of Tolkiens unconscious creativity, a deep, unspecified plane has began to come into view. Nevertheless, it was only by the combination of linguistic tools and understanding of the nature of language proposed by Barfields philosophy of semantic unity that Tolkiens thought became explicable. For some critics this somewhat simplistic vision of Middle-Earth and its origins was sufficient enough. Yet there still remained a third, vast in its implications dimension, for The Road Goes Ever On . This third possibility is free for those who like the ancient pagans want to search for truth with all their perceptive powers. Tolkien and Lewis believed that to enter this magical dimension, one had to embrace the truth of their Faith (Duriez 204-205). Therefore, from the most formative years of Tolkiens childhood his imagination has been rekindled, by taking into account his Faith, which showed simultaneously the process of baptizing of his imagination. Tolkiens passions, towards the Word of God and the romance, did not mutually exclude one another, rather they combined in the mind of the romantic

The Spiritual Dimension of J. R. R. Tolkiens Mythopoeic Theory by Micha Matusiak

theologian, due to the nature of Christian Faith. Thus, we have discerned Tolkiens theology of language, as corresponding to his philological faculty. It is noteworthy that it was Tolkiens p assion to Farie that awoke his taste for languages. Consequently, the theology of language, side -by-side with the theological vision of human history, was successfully applied to the original sub-creation doctrine, resulting in the theology of story. Nonetheless, the sub-creation doctrine could have been left an empty declaration if it had not been for LOTR, which was called a theological thriller. In result, at the deepest levels of Tolkiens thought, instead of philosophy and its demagification we found theology, which ultimately brought to life Middle-Earths mythology. For, instead of myth as a misconception, we have uncovered the True Myth Christ Himself. It is only now, after presenting the profundity of the whole process of Mythopoeia, that one can understand how greatly it differs from its common definition as myth -making (Coleman 728). Not to mention the demonstrated demythologizing and depreciation of the Mythopoeias spiritual kernel, done by some of the critics, like Garbowski, Szyjewski or Oziewicz. No wonder Tolkien stated that his vision [was] written in [his] life-blood, such as that [was], thick or thin; and [he could] no other (Letters no. 109). Simultaneously recognizing that the beautiful image of the Blessed Lady, which some readers discern in his Secondary World, is totally different from the [evil] in this Fallen Kingdom of Arda, where the servants of Morgoth are worshipped (Letters no. 332). Ultimately one may say that this is the manner in which, and the reason why, for many of his readers he became a myth himself when he died in 1973 (Gulisano Tolkien 221).