Rest and Reemergence: Rivendell As a Sanctuary

As Bilbo Baggins and company arrive in Rivendell in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the reader is met with an almost heavenly description of Elrond’s sanctuary. “His house was perfect, whether […]

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Peak Middle-earth: Why Mount Doom is not the Climax of The Lord of the Rings

Peter Jackson’s film version of Tolkien’s The Return of the King was a huge commercial and critical success, winning all eleven Academy Awards for which it was nominated. However, it […]

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Gandalf, The Prophetic Mentor

Near the beginning of the Third Age of Middle-earth, the Valar commissioned the Istari as representatives from the Maiar to resist Sauron’s rise. Of the five chosen, only Olórin, better […]

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The Heroism of the Ordinary in The Lord of the Rings

G.K. Chesterton defended the value of fairy tales as he wrote Orthodoxy. Specifically, he wrote, “Fairyland is nothing but the sunny country of common sense. It is not earth that […]

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The Lord of the Rings and Consolation Concerning Death

Along with the fear of heights and of public speaking, thanatophobia — the fear of death — usually makes most Top Ten Fears lists. Given the grim statistic that one […]

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