The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy
Page 27
No Exit (Sartre), 127n. 5
Nob, 95
Noldor, the, 34, 75
nuclear weapons, 25, 26, 30, 31–32, 101, 157
Númenor, 56, 145, 206
Nussbaum, Martha, 193
Oakenshield, Thorin. See Thorin
Odin, 40
Odysseus, 179
Odyssey, The (Homer), 179, 201, 213
old age, and new technologies, 28
Old Forest, the, 155, 180, 181
Old Man Willow, 95, 156, 180
oliphaunts, 65
“On Fairy-stories” (Tolkien), 42, 59, 207–211, 213
On the Nature of Things (Lucretius), 129
One Ring of Power. See Ring, the One
orcs, 11, 17, 52, 57, 66, 70, 74, 79, 91, 95, 107–08, 145, 148, 154, 160, 176, 182, 193
Orc-cult, in Fourth Age, 148
Orthanc, 56, 95, 137, 141
Orwell, George, 31
Oxford English Dictionary, 38
palantír, 137, 141, 142, 143
Parth Galen, 54, 176, 188
Paths of the Dead, 152
Paul, St., 103
Pelennor Fields, 176
Perseus and the Gorgon (Greek tale), 208
Phaedrus (Plato), 194
Phial, Galadriel’s, 43, 84, 113, 144, 202
Phronemos, 113–14
Picasso, Pablo, 139
pilgrims, 200–01
Pimple. See Lotho
pipe-weed, 38, 55
Pippin, 115, 130, 137
captured by orcs, 11
cheerfulness of, 52
development of, 144–45, 196
escape from orcs, 52, 153
as Guard of the Citadel, 144
as librarian, 145
loyalty of, 53–54, 95, 115
recklessness of, 143–44
rescue from Barrow–wight, 95
rescue from Ringwraiths in Bree, 95
rescue from Old Man Willow, 95, 156, 180
and Treebeard, 153–54, 159, 180
Pittsburgh, 151
pity, 96, 97, 169, 186–87, 199, 215–16
and providence, 175–76
Plague, The (Camus), 77
Plato, 6–11, 13, 18, 19, 20, 128, 132, 201
Allegory of the Cave, 194
Apology, 28
Phaedrus, 194
Republic, 6–8, 19, 194
and Ring of Gyges, 6–9
Symposium, 203
theory of Forms, 194
Pleasantville (film), 195
pleasure, 50
popular culture, and philosophy, 2
postmodernism, 200
Pound, Ezra, 139
poverty, 22, 28
practical reason, 111–12
Prancing Pony, The, 15, 95
pride, 104, 116, 171, 173
providence, 167ff., 213
and chance, 168–69
and compassion, 175–76
and duty, 170, 174
and freedom, 170–72, 199
and joy, 176–77
Pursuit of Happiness, The (Myers), 50
Pythagoreanism, 131
Quakers, 51–52
Quendi, 74
Ragnarök, 213
Rahab, 39
Rambo, 137
recovery, in fairy tales, 43–44, 59, 209
Red Book of Westmarch, 145, 178
Reilly, Robert, 213
reincarnation, 129–131, 135–36
religion, in The Lord of the Rings, 88, 103, 204ff., 218
Renaissance, 76, 139
replicators, 27–28
Republic (Plato), 6–8, 19, 194
responsibility, 196
resurrection, 131, 211
Return of the King, The (Tolkien), 91, 147, 152
Riddermark, The, 95
riddle–game, the, 63
Ring, the One, 5ff., 125
and atomic bomb, 25
and Bombadil, 13–14, 58, 105
and Boromir, 10–11
destruction of, 17, 97, 167, 170, 215–16
and fetishism, 33ff.
and Frodo, 15–17, 100
and Galadriel, 11–13
and Gollum, 9–10, 65–66, 168–69
and modernism, 146
and morality, 5ff.
not completely evil, 101
powers of, 6n. 1, 28, 94, 110, 112
and ring of Gyges, 6–9
and Sam, 17–18, 105
and Saruman, 105
Rings of Power, 19, 20, 23ff., 34, 40, 87
The Nine, 16, 23, 104–05
powers of, 25, 87
The Seven, 23
The Three, 23, 75, 107
Ringwraiths, 15–16, 36, 41, 72–73, 95, 102, 112, 117, 125, 129, 137, 189
Rivendell, 33, 49, 56, 73–76, 81, 95, 125
robotics, 22, 31
Rogers, Kenny, 72, 83
Rohan, 158, 205, 217
Rohirrim, 158–59
role models, 113
Rome, 194, 195
rope, in The Lord of the Rings, 39
Rosie, 43, 65, 67, 177
Sackville–Bagginses (Lobelia, Otho, Lotho), 55, 195
Schacht, Richard, 90n. 8
Sam, 5, 13–14, 19, 55, 143, 145, 167, 169, 170, 177, 178, 186, 198, 214, 215, 216
battle with Shelob, 202
as chief hero of The Lord of the Rings, 97
contrasted with Gollum, 63ff.
determination of, 64, 173, 187, 202
faithfulness of, 64, 67, 95, 97, 115
and friendship, 65–66, 70–71
happiness of, 52, 64–71
humility of, 97, 105
as “Master Samwise,” 186, 188, 198
as mentor, 187–88
as pilgrim, 200–03
respect for learning, 144
and rope, 39
and temptation of the Ring, 17–18, 105
Sartre, Jean–Paul, 7, 127n. 5, 129, 201
Saruman, 42, 55, 61, 103, 105–06, 113–14, 116–17, 145, 153, 157, 161, 167, 181, 187, 190, 199, 205, 207, 213, 215, 216
death of, 175–76
and environmental destruction, 160, 183, 193
and modernism, 141–42
and providence, 175–76
and the Shire, 151,175–76
Satan, 103
satiety, as human failing, 58
Sauron, 5, 6, 16, 18, 21, 23, 24, 32, 34, 36, 57, 61, 65, 75, 87–89, 94, 101, 104–05, 107, 116, 123, 125, 137, 141–42, 144, 145, 157, 161, 167, 176, 181, 183, 187, 190, 205, 207, 213, 215, 216
Schlitz, Don, 72
science, 140, 156, 161, 172
seed-box (Galadriel’s), 40, 66
sentience,
in Buddhism, 181–82
in The Lord of the Rings, 180
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, 108
Shadowfax, 95
Sharkey. See Saruman
Shelob, 35, 68, 70, 71, 145, 173, 199, 202
Shintoism, 181
Shippey, Tom, 100
Shire, The, 38, 53, 65, 66, 72, 80, 138, 139, 144, 151, 175–76, 177, 184, 186, 195, 196, 200
Shirriffs, 53
Sickness Unto Death, The (Kierkegaard), 77
Sigurd, 40, 41
Silmarillion, The (Tolkien), 34, 37, 55n. 15, 74–75, 82–83, 88n. 3, 91, 206, 207, 214, 216
Silmarils, 214, 216
Simpsons, The (TV Series), 150
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (poem), 208, 211–12
skepticism, 195, 198
Slinker and Stinker, 9, 66
Smaug, 35, 61, 107
Sméagol. See Gollum
Socrates, 2, 128, 201
Somme, Battle of the, 214
South Park (TV series), 1
Spacks, Patricia, 204, 205
Springsteen, Bruce, 145
Star Trek (films and various television series), 27, 133
Star Wars (film), 100
Stewart, Martha, 193
Stimpson, Catharine R., 147
&nbs
p; Sting, 95
Stoors, 62
Strider. See Aragorn
subcreation, 209
Suzuki, D.T., 185
Symposium (Plato), 203
Taoism, 179, 180, 188–191
Taylor, Charles, 197
technology, 25ff. 49, 79, 81, 138, 139
Telperion, 218
Terminator, The (film), 79
terrorism, 108
Theis, Thomas, 26
Thelma and Louise (film), 194
Théoden, 83, 113, 205
Theseus, 201
“things,” in The Lord of the Rings, 37–38
Third Age, 55n. 15, 73, 153, 207
Thomas, Ned, 29
Thoreau, Henry David, 51
Thorin, 106–07
Thunderdome (film), 03
time, “geologic” vs. “green,” 151–52, 160
Tolkien, Christopher, 138, 210
Tolkien, Michael, 139
Tolkien, J.R.R.,
and Christian faith, 2, 37, 88, 104, 131, 134–35, 141, 185, 218
critics of, 146–47
and existentialism, 80–84
and fame, 192–93
intentions in writing The Lord of the Rings, 2, 21–22, 88, 94–95n. 18, 138, 140–41, 146, 212–13
and Kant, 172–73
and modernism, 138ff.
and Nietzsche, 94–95n. 18
and philosophy, 1–2
and tradition, 138ff.
and World War II, 72–73, 138, 151
Tom (troll), 89
Tom Bombadil. See Bombadil, Tom
Took, Peregrin. See Pippin
Torah, 204
transcendence, 45
Treebeard, 55, 58, 107–08, 142, 153–54, 159, 160, 180, 182
and “hill,” 44
trees, 59, 154, 158–59, 180–81
trolls, 89, 91, 107
Troubled Sleep (Sartre), 77
truth, and modernism, 147
Turner, Tina, 203
Two Towers, The (Tolkien), 153, 188, 198
Tyler, Liv, 82 n. 13
Übermensch (overman), 92–94
Undying Lands. See Aman
Union of Concerned Scientists, 32
United Nations, 31
Urang, Gunnar, 13, 215, 216
Uruk-hai, 153
utilitarianism, 118
vagina dentata, 35
Valhalla, 213
Valar, 24, 83, 156, 206, 207, 214
Valinor, 24, 57, 124n. 2
van Inwagen, Peter, 132
Vilya (elf ring), 23
Virgil, 179, 213–14
virtue, 9, 13, 18–20, 55–56, 110ff.
virtue ethics, 110ff.
Volsungs, 40
Walden Pond, 51
War of the Ring, 137, 145, 147, 153, 157, 160, 163
Waste Land, The (Eliot), 147
Weathertop, 15, 95, 125
Westwood, Vivienne, 192
White Council, 141
William (troll), 89
Williams, Charles, 2
Willow, Old Man. See Old Man
Willow
Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 63, 160
wizards (Istari), 96, 113, 130, 148, 181, 206, 207
wonder, 44, 58–59, 176
WorldCom, 193
World War I, 76, 138, 139, 141, 176
World War II, 73, 79, 80, 81n. 11, 138, 151
Wormtongue, 55, 113–14, 143, 207
wraiths. See Ringwraiths
Yavanna, 154n. 4
yin and yang, 188–191
You’ve Got Mail (film), 79
Zarathustra, 78
Zen Buddhism, 179, 184–85, 186, 188
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