Celebrating Middle-Earth: The Lord of the Rings As a Defense of Western Civilization (Paperback)

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Product Description

Celebrating Middle-earth is based on a series of speeches given at the "Celebrating Middle-earth" conference held at Seattle Pacific University in November of 2001. Six gifted Tolkien scholars describe the literary, moral, political and religious background to Tolkien's great epic. Here's a sample of what each said:

1. "The Lord of the Rings as a Defense of Western Civilization" by John West.

"In an age when writers and artists routinely scorned the wisdom of the past. . . . Tolkien's epic arrived like a bracing mountain wind, for it introduced modern readers to forms of literature that are unafraid to explore truth as well as ambiguity, beauty as well as ugliness, good as well as evil, and heroism as well as cowardice."

2. "Wartime Wisdom: Ten Uncommon Insights about Evil in The Lord of the Rings" by Peter Kreeft.

"This is our story. It is a mirror. We are fascinated by it most deeply because of its truth. . . . It is eternal truth made flesh. Only a great myth can do that astonishing feat, can translate the eternal truth of good and evil into the radically other medium of a temporal story. It makes the abstract concrete, the invisible visible, the Word flesh."

3. "The Literary Backgrounds of The Lord of the Rings" by Janet Leslie Blumberg.

"When you think of the legacy of what Tolkien had absorbed from Anglo-Saxon literature, then think of a dark and fatalistic world view that does not fear darkness or run away from the battle. Even in defeat, what matters is mod --inward goodness--that gleams out more strongly when we are being overwhelmed and defeated."

4. "True Myth: The Catholicism of The Lord of the Rings" by Joseph Pearce.

"Tolkien argued that, far from being lies, myths were the best way of conveying truths which would otherwise be inexpressible. We have come from God and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, reflect a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal truth that is with God."

5. "Theology and Morality in The Lord of the Rings" by Kerry L. Dearborn.

"Tolkien's was a prophetic ministry, for he awakens the reader to the elf-lands, and woodlands, trees and beings that remind us that we are not in control, and that there is more to life than what we sleepily regard."

6. "The Lord of the Rings and the Meaning of Life" by Phillip Goggans.

"Middle-earth, with all its wizardry and monsters, is a truer picture of the real world than the worlds fantasized by existentialists and metaphysical naturalists."

About the Author

1. John G. West, Jr. is Associate Professor of Political Science at Seattle Pacific University and a Senior Fellow at the Seattle-based Discovery Institute. His publications include The Politics of Revelation and Reason, The C.S. LewisIUdia, The Encyclopedia of Religion in American Politics, and The Theology of Welfare.

2. Peter Kreeft is Professor of Philosophy at Boston College and author of more than twenty-five books, including Back to Virtue, Between Heaven and Hell, Love is Stronger than Death, C.S. Lewis for the Third Millennium, and Heaven: The Heart's Deepest Longing.

3. Janet Leslie Blumberg is Professor of English (Emeritus) at Seattle Pacific University. Her scholarship has focused on Medieval and Renaissance literature.

4. Joseph Pearce is Writer-in-Residence at Ave Maria College in Michigan and co-editor of the St. Austin Review. He is author of such books as Tolkien, Man and Myth: A Literary Life, Solzhenitsyn: A Soul in Exile, Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G.K. Chesterton, and Literary Converts.

5. Kerry L. Dearborn is Associate Professor of Theology at Seattle Pacific University. She has special interests in the writings of George MacDonald and the Christian imagination.

6. Phillip Goggans is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Seattle Pacific University. His main scholarly interests are ancient philosophy and natural law theory.

Product Details

• Paperback: 107 pages
• Publisher: Inkling Books; 1st edition (June 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587420120
• ISBN-13: 978-1587420122
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,307,637 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New Insights, May 26, 2003

By	Carol A. Aronoff "Frodo lover" (Tucson, AZ (USA)) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

While all six essays in this slender volume will prove of interest to the reader seeking more background on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic story, I found the essay by Janet Blumberg, "The Literary Background of The Lord of the Rings" especially valuable. Prof. Blumberg not only explains the influences of Anglo-Saxon literature such as "Beowulf" and High Medieval literature such as "Sir Gawain and the Green knight" on elements in LOTR, but also offers a credible explanation for one of the most remarked about elements in the books: the absence of any overt religious practice or worship. This essay alone makes this slender volume a valuable addition to the library of any Tolkien fan.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars kindred spirits, July 19, 2004

By A Customer

Some may "grit their teeth" (as one disgruntled reviewer said below) through these essays, but readers more in tune with Tolkien's own philosophy will be pleased to find these kindred spirits.

Virtually every political and cultural movement of the past forty years, from free-spirited hippies in the '60s, to strident environmentalists in the '70s, to Christian fundamentalists in the new millennium. has tried to co-opt Tolkien's books as emblematic of their particular concerns. It is a testament to the richness of his work that people from such disparate viewpoints see therein a reflection of their beliefs.

Those from the left side of the political spectrum sometimes seem to want to wish away the truth, but the fact is, Tolkien was a Catholic conservative, in virtually every sense of the word. He attended Mass almost daily; he was a staunch member of the Conservative Party and an anti-Communist; and he abhorred Big Government almost more than anything else.

Of course, this doesn't mean that these works cannot be enjoyed by those who disagree with these views. But surely there is room in this world for books written about Tolkien and his work by those who sympathize with his views -- which describes this particular slim volume -- just as there is room for those who don't.

If you're looking for something critical of Tolkien's core beliefs, this isn't the book for you. But if you're simpatico, or just curious and open-minded (quel surprise!) about what truly made him tick, give this collection a try. Peter Kreeft's essay alone is worth the modest price.

Tolkien may have been conservative to the core, but he was by no means a racist (he famously said in his valedictory speech at Oxford, "I have the hatred of apartheid in my bones" -- many years before that view became fashionable). He surely didn't see the defense of Western civilization as synonymous with racism, as, sadly, too many fashionably relativistic "multi-culturalists" now claim. He didn't love war, but he understood well the folly of burying one's head in the sand. (See the encounter between Gandalf and the Saruman-enchanted Theoden in "The Two Towers" for a startling parallel to contemporary debate.)

If you're an unbending pacifistic atheist, you may not like what you read here. But then, Tolkien probably wouldn't cotton to your point of view either. I'm not saying this to be critical of my friends on the left. But learn more about the man himself, and you will have to agree. This book is a good place to start.

19 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A decent little book--but be aware..., September 18, 2003

By	Brooks Onley (Pocomoke City, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

To keep this review short and sweet, I'll get right to the point: the sub-title of this book should, in my opinion, read "The Lord of the Rings as a Defense of Christianity." Not that defending Christianity is necessarily a bad thing; but I, for one, was led to believe (both by title and by the [non-user] reviews given on this site) that this was an explication of the pro-Western views (whether of culture, or religion, or morals, or war, etc., etc.) embedded within Tolkein's texts. Instead, a substantial portion of the book was dedicated to a rather pedantic style of critique wherein lines of quoted material were trotted out and then favorably compared to Christian idea(l)s, preceded or followed closely by the particular author's hearty agreement with said material, and possibly supported by their own personal brand of apologetics.

However, I should hasten to add: all of this is not to say that "Celebrating Middle-Earth" is not informative or otherwise valuable to the Christian philosopher or apologist, or even to the non-theist Tolkien fan...because it is. Though not a Christian in the traditional sense, I have nevertheless learned a good deal here about the motifs behind the story and the mind-set behind the man, and have enjoyed doing so. But, again, as I've implied: if your preference is for a purer form of literary critique, or for a slightly more "neutral" analysis of Tolkien's themes, then look elsewhere.