Q: Did Tolkien’s Legendarium Have Anything to do with the Occult?
ANSWER: I received a short question (summarized in the title of this article) accompanied by many talking points comparing Tolkien’s fiction to ideas that are associated with many different concepts that have all been lumped together under the broadly, vaguely defined word “occult”.
Rather than go through the list point by point, let me approach this in a different way. First, let me establish what definition I will use for “occult”, as this word has many similar meanings and uses. If there is “magic” or “myth” or “faith” involved with a belief or practice, I’ll include that under “occult”. That would include all religions and mysticism because, frankly, if you dig deep enough you can tie everything together through some complicated arguments. I don’t want to dwell on what is or is not “occult”.
Second, let me reiterate how I define Tolkien’s legendarium, which is different from what you’ll find on most Websites. Tolkien’s personally defined legendarium changed throughout his life and I usually just define “Tolkien’s legendarium” as that body of stories he felt he wanted to tell, that were in some ways interconnected, but which he never fully realized as he thought they should be told. He started out with a mythology for England (The Book of Lost Tales) that, in his son Christopher’s words, “fell away” as the core fictional plot elements and characterizations evolved into new mythologies, and merged with other mythologies, from which he ultimately derived all the basic elements of his Middle-earth (as portrayed in The Hobbit, 2nd Edition onward).
But that legendarium continued to change after the 1950s and by the 1970s he was envisioning changes that would have greatly transformed his myths. Many readers say they are glad he never completed that transformation.
All of these things, from The Book of Lost Tales up to the various Middle-earth essays and notes he compiled through the mid- to late 1960s were influenced by Tolkien’s personal beliefs, his literary preferences, his linguistic and philosophical backgrounds, real and imagined history, and even the occasional personal friend or family member. A writer of fiction blends personal experience with imagination.
Occultic things including mythologies and folk tales from Europe and Asia most certainly influenced Tolkien’s story-telling. He wanted to recast many old motifs in new styles. In July 2001 I wrote an article, “Tolkien’s Time Machine: When Literary Worlds Collide”, in which I put it this way:
The Lord of the Rings may be Tolkien’s attempt to define the modern English heroic romance as it might have evolved from an uninterrupted Anglo-Saxon literary tradition. Such a tradition could not have helped avoid importing influences from abroad. Anglo-Saxon authors would eventually have been introduced and reintroduced to the classics as the centuries unfolded. As Tolkien devised alternative plural forms for words such as “dwarf” (“dwarrows” and “dwarves” instead of the traditional “dwarfs”), so he may have sought to devise an alternative model for English literature. Eschewing the ‘novel’, he brought the heroic romance forward and gave it the framework that a rich literary tradition would have to provide. He could pick and choose from the best traditions that western literature has to offer. Why not? Anglo-Saxon authors throughout the past 1,000 years would not have ignored so many important steps in the evolution. Especially not when England became the dominant power in the world, and the English provoked their thought with ideas from around the globe.
He infused his Middle-earth with Catholic ideas, which have influenced and (according to some) been influenced by traditions that are commonly associated with the occult. You cannot get away from such comparisons, but The Lord of the Rings and other Tolkien works are not direct derivatives of occultic ideas. These are not occult-based fantasy tales, not in the sense that some modern fantasy writers base their ideas on their personal occultic practices and beliefs.
One cannot escape the broad canvas of the occult for it encompasses everything that seems magical and mysterious. You can certainly draw comparisons between things you deem to be occultic and individual points of Tolkien’s stories, but there you will tread in the waters of what he deemed applicability because his fiction is firmly rooted in ancient ideas that evolved along several paths to take several classical, medieval, and modern forms.
It is acceptable to say there are similarities between Tolkien’s Middle-earth and various mystical and mythological traditions because Tolkien drew upon common memes and some uncommon sources for inspiration. He wanted Middle-earth to look and feel both “magical” and familiar, so how else could he do that except to strip away modern veneers from old ideas that ultimately led to or influenced occultic ideas? His Judeo-Christian themes are firmly rooted in a literary and Biblical tradition that has inspired and spawned some detailed mystical off-shoots.
In other words, the short answer to a long question is, “yes, there is a connection between Middle-earth and the occult”, but I would describe that connection as clinical, technical, and mechanical. The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and The Lord of the Rings are not emblematic for occultist motifs; they simply reuse ideas that (in some forms) evolved into what we call the occult today. Tolkien’s fiction draws upon occultic ideas in a sensible “this works so let us use it” fashion, not as a basis for a manifesto in proposing ideas outside the mainstream of Catholic belief.
He originally created a retro-engineered pagan mythology (without any religious traditions) in his “mythology for England” but over the years as he revised the stories they became a retro-engineered Elven mythology that was inspired by Judeo-Christian teachings. And into that Elven mythology crept other things, such as the Atlantis legend (Numenor) and Hobbits, that really are not occultic at all.
See also
How Much Was Tolkien Influenced by Irish Mythology?
Why Did Magic Leave Middle-earth?
How Does Magic Differ between Harry Potter’s World and Middle-earth?
Are There Two Kinds of Magic in Middle-earth?
Have you read our other Tolkien and Middle-earth Questions and Answers articles?
Can Tolkien’s works be used as the basis of occult/occultist beliefs? Of course. As soon as we cross the line from “It’s just a story,” to “What if this is real,” there we are.
I’d take issue with the use of terms like “legendarium” and “mythology.” It’s not that Tolkien’s works don’t fit the description; they do. We know Middle-earth is a fictional world, and we can’t help but analyze it as such. It’s just another in a long line of myths; some unabashedly fictional, others claiming to be Truth.
However, whenever one dwells within an imaginary world, the only “occult” is that which the author creates within the story. There are certainly plenty of paraphysical goings on in Tolkien’s world, from visions and dreams to wights, rings, and wraiths, prophesy and “foresight” to divine interventions. Though these would be considered, “paranormal” in our own world, are they paranormal within the context of the stories?
I find Wikipedia’s definition of “occult” apt to my purposes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occult. “…In common English usage, occult refers to ‘knowledge of the paranormal’, as opposed to ‘knowledge of the measurable’, usually referred to as science..” and this passage in particular, “…but for most practicing occultists it is simply the study of a deeper spiritual reality that extends beyond pure reason and the physical sciences.”
In Tolkien’s universe there is no difference between spiritual reality, pure reason, or the physical sciences. There are no alternate/competing descriptions of how that world came to be, or how it works. The “creation myth” is reality, treated as an accepted fact by all who dwell within that world, both good and evil. In that context, if there is a “power,” it is normal.
I think this is one of the reasons both writers and readers escape to the worlds of fantasy and science fiction. There need be no science to challenge the spiritual, or no spirituality to challenge science. That’s a nice, escapist fantasy in and of itself.
Is there plenty in Tolkien’s creation that resembles the occult of our own world? Certainly, but it’s another thing to connect resemblance to intent. We have Tolkien’s denials of allegorical intent as a guide in this matter. Though we don’t have the author’s direct word, I have little doubt that, if asked, he would have issued similar denials, simply substituting “occult” for “allegory.”