Thursday 14 February 2008

The Mythology I Believe in




If people ask me if I read the Bible, I admit- not all of it. The New Testament in full, yes. The old testament, about a third. The prophets do not interest me one bit.
But I don't take the old testament seriously- it's a cultural collection of historical myth. The bits that claim to be the history of the Jewish people, all well and good, but they are no more honest than Geoffrey of Monmouth's history of the Kings of Britain, which chronicles all the ancient Kings of Britain, descendants of Trojan colonists, right the way up to King Arthur, final destroyer of the Roman Empire.

I love historical myth and legend. I find it fascinating that the current King of Sweden is Carl XVI, because a 16th century Swedish pseudo historian invented three thousand years of non existant Swedish kings, including six called Carl.

Hindu myth is interesting, as is Greek myth, but Celtic and Norse, far more so. Their tales breathe fantasy, but it's fantasy you can believe in- it feels real. Their capricious Gods, their otherworldly yet worldly elves and fairies.

When we read them, we see with our ancestors' eyes, there is no clear line where the age of legends ends and becomes the age of history.

And then, there is that strange series of legend that has a unique orgin.

One man did it in a lifetime.

One man sat down and CREATED a whole mythology and legendary history of the world.

And just as the pinnacle of Greek myth is the Iliad, of Roman myth, is the Aeneid, just as Norse myth is encapsulated in the Eddas, his mythology had it's pinnacle.

The Lord of the Rings.

It is not just a book.
It is a theological contribution of a Catholic thinker.

It even has within it, a Messiah for our age.

The Messiah of a generation which needs no human figures to worship.
It can listen to the Messiah of a fictional text.

He is our Buddha, our Zoroaster, our Gilgamesh.

Gandalf the Grey.

You see, devout Christians ask what Jesus would say.

Yes, I acknowledge Jesus as the greatest philosopher whoever lived.
But not as great as the wizard from the pages of fiction- who's wisdom defeated the Sauron impulse, defeated Mordor.



Because I don't believe in the Devil. But I do believe the Sauron impulse exists- the wish for power, for power's sake.

That's what we're fighting. That's what the Lord of the Rings says- fight the power impulse- power is dangerous, it is so hard to use it without being corrupted by it.

It is the clearest statement of what the battle between Good and Evil is all about, that has ever been made.

It describes the human condition. What are we? We can't be Gandalfs- that's the point, he is the Christ figure, so who are we?

Are we Frodo?
Are we Gollum?
Are we Galadriel?
Are we Saruman?
Are we Eomer?
Are we Boromir?
Are we Arwen?
Are we Eowyn?

I think the character I can emote to, is Boromir. I so feel for Boromir, because I would have succumbed the way he did. He has fought so long in the frontlines against evil, his heart is driven only be the need for victory against evil, and he cannot see what it is he opens himself up to.

But in life we meet Sams and we meet Aragorns too. They keep us on the straight and narrow, and maybe us Boromirs get to die protecting two hobbits after all.
Bormoir dies redeemed.

What a powerful message. Gollum. Gollum saves the world. And remember Gandalf's words...
'Pity? It was pity stayed his hand. Deserves to die, I dare say he does. Many that die deserve life. can you give it them? No. So do not be so eager to deal out death to others. Maybe, in same way we cannot understand, Gollum has his part yet to play in this tale.'(This may not be word for word correct- it's from memory)

That's the message of the Lord of the Rings too.
Don't hate- vengeance is not yours to give.

Gandalf is against the death penalty.
So, to be honest, I do often wonder what the old Wizard would have said to me. It is Gandalf who is the key sage in my worldview.



I am not really ashamed to say, I'm an LOTR nut. It IS a myth for our times, set three thousand years after the downfall of Atlantis, in the world before the Great Flood, but long after the explusion of Adam from Eden. It is the history of that age the Bible just spans in a few generations, but in this new mythology of pre-history, becomes the age of legend.

And how much BETTER a creation myth is the Silmarillion's 'Eru, the One, that is Illuvatar, said 'Ea', let it be, and the World was.', than any before or since.

It is the finest creation of all mythology and legend in human history.

It is out of all of them, the one most worthy of having serious adherants in the twenty first century.

It is the one that best describes the human condition.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't believe that whole series is about jewelry. All that drama over a ring. ;D

Have a cheeky day of love and I hope love is not a myth to you, but a celebration of joy.

Anonymous said...

you are surely not alone being a dedicated follower of the LOTR - its beyond being worshipped by mere mortals.

But just an advise - you do realize that the phrase:

"one ring to rule them all one ring to find them one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them"

... isn't about wedding rings right? Just checking, my commiteophobiac friend ;)

Anonymous said...

Like you I believe that Lord of the rings is an excellent example of a myth for our time. But the characters are archetypal and we find them in many myths and legends. Gollem is the trickster, and Gandolph the Sage. I believe we can learn much from the heroes and villains of Tolkien's wonderful stories, as you have said it is the age old struggle of good and evil.

If you enjoy celtic myths an legends why not visit us at
www.celticmythpodshow.com , We have just started to tell the stories of the Tuatha De Dannan. You can download and listen to them on your mp3 player, or listen to them on the site, and its all free. Please feel free to email us or post on our forums with any comments, ideas or observations. I look forward to reading your future posts ;0)

Anonymous said...

Like you I believe that Lord of the rings is an excellent example of a myth for our time. But the characters are archetypal and we find them in many myths and legends. Gollem is the trickster, and Gandolph the Sage. I believe we can learn much from the heroes and villains of Tolkien's wonderful stories, as you have said it is the age old struggle of good and evil.

If you enjoy celtic myths an legends why not visit us at
www.celticmythpodshow.com , We have just started to tell the stories of the Tuatha De Dannan. You can download and listen to them on your mp3 player, or listen to them on the site, and its all free. Please feel free to email us or post on our forums with any comments, ideas or observations. I look forward to reading your future blogs ;0)

Anonymous said...

I always wanted to be an Ent... then you never fail to 'get wood'! Ha ha ha ha ! See what I did there?

Anonymous said...

Alexys- It's about the power of synbols.
The Silmarils are what is left of the light of the two trees, created from the light of creation, the sprit of Eru that survives in the tainted world.
They cannot be touched by evil- they will burn the hands of a tainted being.
They are the symbol of truth in the world Melkor seekd to annihilate, and his wearing of them in his Crown is the ultimate sign of an earthly victory of Good over vil.

The Silmarillion is about the first union of the races of Middle Earth to win back their world for Good.

The Lord of the Rings, set in later days, is about the resurgence of a power ultimately directed by the taint Melkor left on the world.

Crashie- It's interesting to study the wider mythos, in a lot of his other writings, he is more explicit. It is clear that LOTR is set in 6,000 BC. The LOTR map slots nicely onto a map of Europe. It can be sen that if you draw a line running from Britanny to Norway, curving round the British isles, and then imagine Spain is submerged, and the Eastern Meditrarreanean raised, you know are looking at Middle Earth.

The Shire is England, even to the degre the boundary between the four farthings matches the Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire boundaries, putting Hobbiton in the country of his childhood- Yardley, where there was even a miller that that as a child, Tolkien called Sandyman.

Well, it's possible best just to avoid rings, just to be on the safe side.:)

Though in fact, I actually do wear a ring. It's a claddagh ring, in fact.

Ruth- I think the Gaelic of Ireland ranks with Greek mythology in terms composition, and is also far more chronoglocially balanced.
Greem myth is full of inconsistencies which do not pan out. Not all those on the Argo can actually have been contemporary, if you look at other greek legends.

Interestringly, the Danaan were later rationalised as Danians- Greeks.

Mutley- Yes, that would be an advantage I guess.
But I don't think they really get very excited very often.

Anonymous said...

So you are saying I should read these books. Would seeing the films do? Just kidding. I haven't even seen them, but I can borrow both DVDs and books from my son who is a big fan too. I just don't do fantasy as a rule.

I don't believe in the devil either.