ANSWER: The exact question I received was more complicated than the title of this article suggests. Here is most what I received:
What do Hobbits believe happens to them when they die? For that matter, the humans of Gondor? Durin’s Folk?
I’m not talking about the actual detailed mythology, as laid out explicitly as “History” in The Silmarillion. I’m talking about, what do the actual peoples of Middle-earth believe in terms of “Religion”? How did the world coming into being? What happens after death? What tenets govern their morals/beliefs/conduct?
A neolithic burial mound. J.R.R. Tolkien may have envisioned Middle-earth’s theology and religions being comparable to those of the cultures that created such memorials.
As The Hobbit & LOTR books stand, religion is a glaring omission to be sure. The only ones really shown to be knowledgeable about the actual cosmology of Middle-earth (as given in the Simarillion) are the Elves. IMHO any sentient race would develop their own religious belief system. Which is often totally separate from actual history.
These are the kinds of questions that quickly reduce to “well, J.R.R. Tolkien didn’t have much to say about that.” But since you explicitly asked about Hobbits I can, actually, point to two passages that may reflect “Hobbitish” theology, such as it is. I’m not sure many people will be convinced by my reasoning, though. I have, in fact, raised these points in the past and as best I can recall people were underwhelmed. First, let’s lay a little groundwork.
Religion is not a plot point or issue in either The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings.
I think it’s fair to say that The Silmarillion provides a lot of information that normally falls into the category of religious works. That is, “Ainulindale” and “Valaquenta” cover the history and characters of Iluvatar, the Ainur, and the Valar and some of the Maiar. “Valaquenta” is an extended dramatis personae in my opinion. It represents what I think Tolkien imagined would have been a necessary preface by Bilbo. Of course, it’s also based on a pre-LoTR text (“Quenta Noldorinwa”, Circa 1930).
There is nothing quite like “Valaquenta” in The Bible, to which The Silmarillion is often compared. In fact, I have read translations of many mythic cycles from around the world and I have only found similar texts in the prologues, preambles, and other narrative frameworks provided by the scholars or translators of the myths. Tolkien himself broke “Valaquenta” out of the main narrative sometime in the late 1950s. I believe he came to the conclusion that “Valaquenta” had to be a standalone work because it was not a true historical text. It serves a purpose in modern literature but not in historical creation myth style.
So most of what constitutes anything like a theological discussion in The Silmarillion is confined to “Ainulindale”, and this can be seen as an elvish myth. The historical accuracy of the myth within the context of the fictional history is not important. “Ainulindale” is an elvish creation myth.
There are some theological overtures in the stories of Tuor and Eärendil; essentially any passage that discusses the interventions, decisions, or activities of the Valar and Maiar (the angels). It could be argued that everything dealing with Melkor (Morgoth) was theological, but because he was acting in his own stead and his actions are told from the viewpoint of the elves – who did not worship him in any way – I don’t see his role in the elvish histories as mystical, theological, angelic, etc.
J.R.R. Tolkien did say The Lord of the Rings is a Catholic work.
But he did not say that the Hobbits, Elves, Numenoreans, Dwarves, or other peoples were themselves Christians. These are pre-Judeo-Christian peoples. By his own estimation, J.R.R. Tolkien said The Lord of the Rings takes place about 6,000 years prior to the 1940s, 1950s. That means even Abraham had not yet been born. The world depicted by The Lord of the Rings intentionally has very little religion or myth-making in it. The author appears to be implying that not enough time had yet passed for the “historical facts” to have become fully mythologized.
Hence, the very light theological background to the stories is limited to the simplest of Judeo-Christian concepts. I think we can summarize those concepts in five points:
There is a God
God created angels to serve him
God created the Earth and all its living creatures
Some of the angels “fell” and became God’s enemies
God has a plan for this world
All five points are consistent with the teachings of Judaism and Christianity. They are not attempts to represent either Judaism or Christianity. These theological points are meant to comprise a pre-Judaic theology, nothing more.
The one probable reference to theology or religion in The Hobbit.
The narrator of The Hobbit is the one who casually mentions “the Authorities” without explaining who they are or what their role is in the greater world. This is, to my mind, the only grudging reference to any sort of higher power in The Hobbit. Of course, based on subsequently published texts (including Tolkien’s own letters), commentators have connected these mysterious “Authorities” with the Valar (who are described as the Guardians of the World in The Lord of the Rings).
But wait .. what exactly do we mean by “religion”?
An organized religion is a system of worship or veneration of some special being or beings, usually “higher powers” but sometimes animal spirits and/or ancestors.
You’re not going to find many examples of worship in Tolkien’s fiction. There is none in The Hobbit and not everyone agrees how much worship is used or described in The Lord of the Rings. There is some veneration, in my opinion, but most of what would have passed for indications of religious activity was only mentioned or publish in The Road Goes Ever On,The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth. Of these books, only one was ever published by J.R.R. Tolkien within his lifetime.
I don’t think you can get around the fact that most of the evidence we have for “religion” in Middle-earth is retconned from private or unfinished texts. The author’s views are by no means in their final form.
The elves sing hymns to, venerate, and call upon the Valar.
It’s worth noting that the elves only distinguish the Valar in this manner. At no point does anyone pray to any of the Maiar (including Gandalf and Saruman). The Valar act as intermediaries in the world between Iluvatar and all his children.
The songs mentioning Elbereth in The Lord of the Rings are hymns, according to Tolkien’s narrative in The Road Goes Ever On. It is notable that the hymns only mention Elbereth, not Iluvatar. But that doesn’t mean the elves would not have mentioned Iluvatar in some manner. Clearly they had a creation myth about him. But elvish theological priorities appear to establish the Valar as the “go to” intermediaries.
If you look beyond these “LoTR-canonical” references you have Christopher Tolkien’s extrapolated invocations of the Valar in The Silmarillion. The Noldor pray for release from their suffering in Middle-earth but that won’t happen until the Prophecy is fulfilled by Eärendil.
The Numenoreans venerate both Iluvatar and the Valar.
We learn about the special “first fruits” ceremony in “Akallabeth” (published in The SIlmarillion) and in Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth. And in “Aldarion and Erendis” we learn about the specially consecrated boughs of Oiolairë that the wives of ship-captains used to bless their vessels, incurring the protection of the Valar. And Tolkien explained that Numenorean kings, even down to Aragorn (Elessar Telcontar) were priest-kings among and for their peoples.
However, in The Lord of the Rings we only have oblique references to “holy” things. There are “The Hallows”, the street were Gondorian nobles are laid to rest. And there is also the Halifirien, the “holy mountain”. Although the name is given in Old English we learn in Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth that it refers to Elendil’s tomb.
When Gandalf crowned Aragorn he invoked the Valar in his blessing.
The Hobbits make one reference to God in The Lord of the Rings.
When Gandalf catches Sam eavesdropping on his conversation with Frodo, Sam says “‘Lor bless you, Mr. Gandalf, sir!” Some people say this doesn’t mean anything. It’s a common enough English expression that it could represent Tolkien’s narrative “slip of the tongue”. In other words, it could only be a lapse in Tolkien’s carefully constructed idiom, something like the narrative mention of one of Gandalf’s fireworks sounding like an express train. The express train does not fit into Middle-earth but is an authorial comment. Since The Lord of the Rings is simply adapted from a putative Red Book of Westmarch, the author’s inclusion of the phrase “‘Lor bless you” does not necessarily mean it is what Sam actually said.
So you’ll have to decide for yourself if you accept Sam’s statement as representative of a knowledge among Shire hobbits about Iluvatar.
The Dwarves have their own creation story.
Everyone knows how Aule made the Dwarves. The tale is immortalized in The Silmarillion and is therefore treated as canon. We don’t really know anything else about what might contribute to Dwarven theology. They would seem to be aware of Iluvatar through their own creation myth, at least as recorded by the Eldar.
Sauron establishes a Morgoth-cult in the Second Age.
We only learn of this cult through post-LoTR publications such as The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, and Morgoth’s Ring. It would seem that the cult survived into the Third Age and may have served as the basis for some or all of Black Numenorean culture, but that is speculative. Tolkien mentioned at one point that Sauron claimed to be Morgoth in the Third Age. If evil creatures were still worshiping Morging at that time then Sauron was deceiving them into worshiping him.
There is no real evidence of theology among the Rohirrim.
This topic has generated much discussion and speculation among fans, including scholars. On the one hand we see nothing of hymns or veneration of the Valar among the Rohirrim. On the other hand they have elaborate funerary customs, words for holy places like Halifirien, and they are closely allied with Gondor. The Royal House of Rohan even intermarries with Gondorian nobility. How could they not know about Dunadan and possibly Elvish theologies?
In Conclusion …
I will not dig into The Book of Lost Tales and other pre-LoTR sources beyond what I have referenced above. Too many people treat those works as if they are part of Tolkien’s Middle-earth when they represent a prior phase of his fiction. They are connected to Middle-earth in the same ancestral way your great-great-grandparents are connected to you.
Even so, we can find evidence of theological activity among Tolkien’s fictional cultures. They worship and venerate higher powers, acknowledge that death is only a passing of the spirit to another state, and create mythologies that encapsulate and explain their views of the universe and how it works.
I don’t think Tolkien meant for his examples of religious activity to constitute the whole of that activity within Middle-earth, but he did write that these belief systems were pre-Judaic and thus were not as sophisticated as Biblical theology. I think it’s safe to say that he envisioned an elaborate religious system among Sauron’s followers, to the extent that they treated him as a god. And I think it’s also safe to say that Tolkien meant for more primitive men to be less aware of the true nature of the Valar, while still knowing they existed and interacted with the world. Hence, he implies that those lesser “wild” men were most likely the creators of the pagan myths and religions that eventually came to dominate the world long after Aragorn’s reign had ended.
First, where does The Hobbit mention “Authorities”? I can’t remember any such mention, but then it’s been a while since I’ve read it.
Second, even if Sam is referencing Illuvatar by “Lor bless you,” I don’t think you can take it to mean any hobbit would so casually use Illuvatar’s name in blessings. Remember that Sam was close to Bilbo, who actually taught him to read; I could see Bilbo also teaching him theology.
Third, Tolkien mentions in “Laws and Customs of the Eldar” that the Elves invoke Illuvatar in the marriage ceremony, and nowhere else. Among men, only the King of Numenor – and later the King of Gondor, and the Steward in his absence – had the right to invoke Him in oaths, and then only at the most solemn. So, the one mention of Illuvatar’s name we have in the Third Age is in the Oath of Cirion to Eorl. I wouldn’t expect there to be any hymns to Him, or at least none outside the distant lore of Numenor.
The Authorities are mentioned in “Riddles in the Dark”. The narrator comments on the fairness of Bilbo’s final question, “What have I got in my pockets?”
“IMHO any sentient race would develop their own religious belief system. Which is often totally separate from actual history.”
This is a supposition taken from a statistical sample of one. Can we make any assumptions about the sociological evolution of extraterrestrial sentient races? However, we can make some assumptions about Tolkien’s fantasy world, a world that we ought to take on its own terms, just as we would any real extraterrestrial world.
Tolkien’s world is one where there is no doubt or contention over the world’s creation; and that creation is clearly accepted as history, not myth. No-one is called upon to take a blind leap of faith in the face of competing beliefs or scientific evidence. The followers of Morgoth and Sauron hate the Valar, they do not deny their existence. We see no mention of Easterners or Southrons pledging their allegiance to false deities; they are still committing themselves to the Ainur, albeit the wrong ones.
The closest we come to religious ritual in LotR is an unostentatious moment of standing silence in a cavern behind the falls of Henneth Annûn;
“‘So we always do,’ (Faramir) said, as they sat down: ‘we look towards Númenor that was, and beyond to Elvenhome that is, and to that which is beyond Elvenhome and will ever be…'”
Frodo may have felt “strangely rustic and untutored,” but he had no doubts about the rightness of the practice, or questions about what/who they were honoring.
There is no need to raise temples or cathedrals to Ilúvatar – there’s no power struggle between church and secular authority, or among competing churches. Defense against satanic powers depends on strength of will and imposing battlements (or the mists of the Girdle of Melian), not houses of worship.
From a 21st Century perspective, Tolkien’s Middle-earth seems to be secular; nearly devoid of what we’d consider to be religious trappings or hierarchy. Yet if you live in a culture isolated from outside influences, what we consider to be religious practice simply becomes part of the way things are. Religion only becomes ostentatious in the face of doubt and/or competition.
Religion as we know it is often absent from fantasy worlds. That absence may express a yearning for the simplicity of true, universally-accepted knowledge, rather than messy, contradictory, and often contentious belief. (Or it may just detract from efficient storytelling – sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.) Some authors, including Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, approach this as religious advocates; ‘What if there’s no debate about the existence of god or how the world relates to that god?’ Science fiction authors tend to fantasize about a world where scientific knowledge does not have to contend with non-scientific dogma. All any fantasy author asks is our willing suspension of disbelief.
How I Use ‘Mythologization’ Explained Many an ancient philosopher (who passed for the scientists of the time) accepted as fact that the world and all that was around it had been created by a god or gods. Myths do not stand in place of facts or against facts. Myths, in the classic sense, are just stories that attempt to explain things. Every scientific theory put forth today is a myth. Even the laws of thermodynamics are myths. Acknowledging them as such doesn’t in any way diminish their value to our understanding of the universe.
Mythologization (or mythologisation) is a natural process of human thought. We don’t fully understand why we do it. It just happens and not consciously. So while the Elves and the Dunedain accepted as established fact that Iluvatar had created the cosmos (on the testimony of the Ainur who witnessed that creation), it is still appropriate for us to say that they mythologized that information by putting it into a story form.
I think, based on his few discussions of “religion” in Middle-earth, that Tolkien meant for it to stand as a literary experiment in primitive mythologization. He had originally created his own “mythology for England” (The Book of Lost Tales) and he brought forward many of the themes. But instead of presenting those ideas as his own myths he transformed them into the myths of his fictional cultures. I believe Middle-earth should be viewed as having or holding religious views but not “great religions” with fully developed priesthoods and large bodies of laws and myths. The books are set in a time when the basis for the myths was still being created. The “story” was still in its rawest state, still unfolding and not yet vaguely remembered or recast for political purposes.
“Even the laws of thermodynamics are myths.” No, explanations of the laws of thermodynamics are myths – narratives for the layperson. The practical application of those laws is a day-to-day physical manipulation of matter and energy that can be repeated with reliable, predictable results. The science underlying those explanations comes from measurement and objective observation, not storytelling.
Scientific method was devised (by philosophers) in order to distill fact from speculation, to have sure knowledge of the physical world. A scientific theory can only rise to the level of law through a long process of proof and observation. To say that all scientific theories are myths, however accurate that may be linguistically, leads to the kind of false equivalency that undermines the entire premise of scientific method. “It’s all just stories, so my story is just as good as any other.”
In the case of these discussions, the only facts we have are Tolkien’s words. Absent that hard evidence, we can’t prove there were formal religions in Tolkien’s Middle-earth, we can only speculate. That’s the very point of many of your posts.
So, here’s my speculation: People have a tendency to describe the differences between people and places, while similarities are taken for granted. It’s normal for a travel writer, journal-ist, or historian to address the context and interests of his readership. So, if the practice of religion was a significant part of Shire life, we might expect to find mention of foreign religious practice in The Red Book of Westmarch. Even if those differences are purely architectural (relative grandeur or modesty of a house of worship), they’re likely to find their way into the story. Yet there are none.
I agree with you that Tolkien was conducting a “literary experiment in primitive mythologization.” What I take away from that experiment is that religion as we know it, with its myriad, contradictory mythologies and divergent practices, was absent from Middle-earth. To me, it seems to express a longing for a world where ones faith and world view is not under constant assault by conflicting beliefs.
As a non-Christian (a Deist, in fact), my own personal bias is that many of The Peoples of Middle-Earth had a Deistic view of the world. At least those peoples who were not under the dominion of Sauron and/or Morgoth-cultists. Of course, that’s probably not what Professor Tolkien thought, but that is what makes his works so fantastic is their applicability and ability to reach people of myriad religious and philosophical backgrounds.
I guess it comes down partly to the idea that people like Aragorn were “virtuous pagans” in that they didn’t believe in Divine Retribution and/or Salvation for any but the Valar and Maiar because they were God’s Children and were born with imperfect knowledge. In other words, Eru would not have punished those Men, Elves and Dwarfs who were wicked (even having Free Will and the ability to choose right from wrong) because they lacked agency in that regard. The Valar and Maiar, on the other hand, having existed with Eru BEFORE Eä’s creation, know full well from literally having “touched the face of God”. The punishment for Morgoth, Sauron, Ungoliant, the Balrogs etc was either permanent dissolution upon death (which would be a mercy compared to eternal torment).
What is the relevance of Abraham and any manufactured timeline?
I don’t see how Genesis could be compatible with the Silmarillion. Genesis people were living for like 900 years and can be traced back to just two or three humans
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A question, an idea, and another reference:
First, where does The Hobbit mention “Authorities”? I can’t remember any such mention, but then it’s been a while since I’ve read it.
Second, even if Sam is referencing Illuvatar by “Lor bless you,” I don’t think you can take it to mean any hobbit would so casually use Illuvatar’s name in blessings. Remember that Sam was close to Bilbo, who actually taught him to read; I could see Bilbo also teaching him theology.
Third, Tolkien mentions in “Laws and Customs of the Eldar” that the Elves invoke Illuvatar in the marriage ceremony, and nowhere else. Among men, only the King of Numenor – and later the King of Gondor, and the Steward in his absence – had the right to invoke Him in oaths, and then only at the most solemn. So, the one mention of Illuvatar’s name we have in the Third Age is in the Oath of Cirion to Eorl. I wouldn’t expect there to be any hymns to Him, or at least none outside the distant lore of Numenor.
The Authorities are mentioned in “Riddles in the Dark”. The narrator comments on the fairness of Bilbo’s final question, “What have I got in my pockets?”
“IMHO any sentient race would develop their own religious belief system. Which is often totally separate from actual history.”
This is a supposition taken from a statistical sample of one. Can we make any assumptions about the sociological evolution of extraterrestrial sentient races? However, we can make some assumptions about Tolkien’s fantasy world, a world that we ought to take on its own terms, just as we would any real extraterrestrial world.
Tolkien’s world is one where there is no doubt or contention over the world’s creation; and that creation is clearly accepted as history, not myth. No-one is called upon to take a blind leap of faith in the face of competing beliefs or scientific evidence. The followers of Morgoth and Sauron hate the Valar, they do not deny their existence. We see no mention of Easterners or Southrons pledging their allegiance to false deities; they are still committing themselves to the Ainur, albeit the wrong ones.
The closest we come to religious ritual in LotR is an unostentatious moment of standing silence in a cavern behind the falls of Henneth Annûn;
“‘So we always do,’ (Faramir) said, as they sat down: ‘we look towards Númenor that was, and beyond to Elvenhome that is, and to that which is beyond Elvenhome and will ever be…'”
Frodo may have felt “strangely rustic and untutored,” but he had no doubts about the rightness of the practice, or questions about what/who they were honoring.
There is no need to raise temples or cathedrals to Ilúvatar – there’s no power struggle between church and secular authority, or among competing churches. Defense against satanic powers depends on strength of will and imposing battlements (or the mists of the Girdle of Melian), not houses of worship.
From a 21st Century perspective, Tolkien’s Middle-earth seems to be secular; nearly devoid of what we’d consider to be religious trappings or hierarchy. Yet if you live in a culture isolated from outside influences, what we consider to be religious practice simply becomes part of the way things are. Religion only becomes ostentatious in the face of doubt and/or competition.
Religion as we know it is often absent from fantasy worlds. That absence may express a yearning for the simplicity of true, universally-accepted knowledge, rather than messy, contradictory, and often contentious belief. (Or it may just detract from efficient storytelling – sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.) Some authors, including Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, approach this as religious advocates; ‘What if there’s no debate about the existence of god or how the world relates to that god?’ Science fiction authors tend to fantasize about a world where scientific knowledge does not have to contend with non-scientific dogma. All any fantasy author asks is our willing suspension of disbelief.
How I Use ‘Mythologization’ Explained Many an ancient philosopher (who passed for the scientists of the time) accepted as fact that the world and all that was around it had been created by a god or gods. Myths do not stand in place of facts or against facts. Myths, in the classic sense, are just stories that attempt to explain things. Every scientific theory put forth today is a myth. Even the laws of thermodynamics are myths. Acknowledging them as such doesn’t in any way diminish their value to our understanding of the universe.
Mythologization (or mythologisation) is a natural process of human thought. We don’t fully understand why we do it. It just happens and not consciously. So while the Elves and the Dunedain accepted as established fact that Iluvatar had created the cosmos (on the testimony of the Ainur who witnessed that creation), it is still appropriate for us to say that they mythologized that information by putting it into a story form.
I think, based on his few discussions of “religion” in Middle-earth, that Tolkien meant for it to stand as a literary experiment in primitive mythologization. He had originally created his own “mythology for England” (The Book of Lost Tales) and he brought forward many of the themes. But instead of presenting those ideas as his own myths he transformed them into the myths of his fictional cultures. I believe Middle-earth should be viewed as having or holding religious views but not “great religions” with fully developed priesthoods and large bodies of laws and myths. The books are set in a time when the basis for the myths was still being created. The “story” was still in its rawest state, still unfolding and not yet vaguely remembered or recast for political purposes.
“Even the laws of thermodynamics are myths.” No, explanations of the laws of thermodynamics are myths – narratives for the layperson. The practical application of those laws is a day-to-day physical manipulation of matter and energy that can be repeated with reliable, predictable results. The science underlying those explanations comes from measurement and objective observation, not storytelling.
Scientific method was devised (by philosophers) in order to distill fact from speculation, to have sure knowledge of the physical world. A scientific theory can only rise to the level of law through a long process of proof and observation. To say that all scientific theories are myths, however accurate that may be linguistically, leads to the kind of false equivalency that undermines the entire premise of scientific method. “It’s all just stories, so my story is just as good as any other.”
In the case of these discussions, the only facts we have are Tolkien’s words. Absent that hard evidence, we can’t prove there were formal religions in Tolkien’s Middle-earth, we can only speculate. That’s the very point of many of your posts.
So, here’s my speculation: People have a tendency to describe the differences between people and places, while similarities are taken for granted. It’s normal for a travel writer, journal-ist, or historian to address the context and interests of his readership. So, if the practice of religion was a significant part of Shire life, we might expect to find mention of foreign religious practice in The Red Book of Westmarch. Even if those differences are purely architectural (relative grandeur or modesty of a house of worship), they’re likely to find their way into the story. Yet there are none.
I agree with you that Tolkien was conducting a “literary experiment in primitive mythologization.” What I take away from that experiment is that religion as we know it, with its myriad, contradictory mythologies and divergent practices, was absent from Middle-earth. To me, it seems to express a longing for a world where ones faith and world view is not under constant assault by conflicting beliefs.
As a non-Christian (a Deist, in fact), my own personal bias is that many of The Peoples of Middle-Earth had a Deistic view of the world. At least those peoples who were not under the dominion of Sauron and/or Morgoth-cultists. Of course, that’s probably not what Professor Tolkien thought, but that is what makes his works so fantastic is their applicability and ability to reach people of myriad religious and philosophical backgrounds.
I guess it comes down partly to the idea that people like Aragorn were “virtuous pagans” in that they didn’t believe in Divine Retribution and/or Salvation for any but the Valar and Maiar because they were God’s Children and were born with imperfect knowledge. In other words, Eru would not have punished those Men, Elves and Dwarfs who were wicked (even having Free Will and the ability to choose right from wrong) because they lacked agency in that regard. The Valar and Maiar, on the other hand, having existed with Eru BEFORE Eä’s creation, know full well from literally having “touched the face of God”. The punishment for Morgoth, Sauron, Ungoliant, the Balrogs etc was either permanent dissolution upon death (which would be a mercy compared to eternal torment).
What is the relevance of Abraham and any manufactured timeline?
I don’t see how Genesis could be compatible with the Silmarillion. Genesis people were living for like 900 years and can be traced back to just two or three humans