Where has Tolkien been?

Everyone who knows me knows that I am a Tolkien fan. If you come to my blog often, you also know it has been a while since I've posted anything about him or his works. So if you've been waiting for your Tolkien fix, wait no longer. Actually, this post was written by Matt Sims, a former student of mine (a long, long time ago!). So take a read and visit his blog if you have a few minutes.

Fleming Rutledge, The Battle for Middle-earth: Tolkien's Divine Design in The Lord of the Rings

I just finished reading this book and I highly recommend it to any Tolkien lover. The book examines what Rutledge calls the "deep narrative." He writes his book with the flow of Tolkien's narrative.

Rutledge says, "In particular, I believe Tolkien has given us a rare glimpse of what human freedom within God's Divine Plan really means" (The Batatle for Middle-earth p. 5). This statement exemplifies the thrust of this book.

Rutledge focuses on the implicit Providence in Middle-earth. Tolkien did not want Middle-earth to be a Christian world, per se. Think of Shakespeare's King Lear and its distictly pre-Christian setting yet Christian themes.

Tolkien masterfully weaves the hand of God into The Lord of the Rings by his use of the passive tense and by the balance struck between characters realizing that there is a higher purpose at work. Rutledge examines different scenes which focus on this, such as Gandalf speech about Bilbo's pity or the council of Elrond.

For any Tolkien fan who is interested in having the many Biblical allusions revealed and discussed, this book does excellent job of just that.

Soli Deo Gloria