Student Essay on The Notion of God in the Lord of the Rings

Explores biblical references in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Discusses the novel's apocalyptic themes. Compares the novel with the Book of Daniel and Revelations.

The classic works of apocalyptic literature, such as the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation are inherently religious and centered around God. As a result, most later apocalyptic literature is also religiously centered, with God as the instrumental entity (Shaffer 142). Those who have read J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings remember most vividly the final great battle where evil is overcome in the apocalyptic ending of an age. Tolkien's bit of apocalyptic literature in The Lord of the Rings seems different from traditional religious notions of an apocalypse because the entire epic fantasy seems devoid of religion and any notion of God. Through recognition of the aural imagery in The Lord of the Rings and comparison with that of the most famous apocalyptic work, the Book of Revelation, Tolkien's apocalypse does show.....