MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature Power, Deception, Destruction of Environment, and Rebellion against God as Evil in the Works of J. R. R. Tolkien Bachelor Thesis Brno 2020 Supervisor: Mgr. Jiří Šalamoun, Ph.D. Author: Tomáš Pelc Bibliographical record Pelc, Tomáš. Power, Deception, Destruction of Environment, and Rebellion against God as Evil in the Works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and Literature, 2020. 46 pages. The supervisor of the bachelor thesis: Mgr. Jiří Šalamoun, Ph.D. Bibliografický záznam Pelc, Tomáš. Power, Deception, Destruction of Environment, and Rebellion against God as Evil in the Works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and Literature, 2020. 46 pages. The supervisor of the bachelor thesis: Mgr. Jiří Šalamoun, Ph.D. Abstract The bachelor thesis focuses on what John Ronald Reuel Tolkien understood under the term “evil”. The aim of the thesis is to create a comprehensive list of qualities and characteristics typical for evil and evildoers in The Hobbit (1937), The Lord of the Rings (1954-55), and The Silmarillion (1977). This is done by analysing antagonists that Tolkien created for his fictional world, and finding connections between them and influences from the real world, those influences being Christianity, Old Norse mythology (also old Finnish mythology), and World War I and World War II. The thesis found reoccurring characteristics in Tolkien’s antagonists, such as their deceptive and shapeshifting abilities, their skill in crafting and inventing, their rebellious attitudes towards higher beings, their tendency to destroy environment, their similar emotional states, and their immense power. These characteristics were then linked to the Christian doctrine, impacts of war on the environment, and the character of Loki from Old Norse Eddas. Anotace Tato bakalářská práce se zaměřuje na to co John Ronald Reuel Tolkien chápal pod pojmem “zlo”. Cílem této práce je vytvoření přehledného seznamu kvalit a charakteristik typických pro zlo a jeho tvůrce v Hobitovi (1937), Pánu Prstenů (1954- 55) a Silmarillionu (1977). Tohoto je dosaženo analýzou záporných postav, které Tolkien vytvořil pro svůj fiktivní svět, a jejich propojením s vlivy ze skutečného světa. Těmito vlivy se myslí Křesťanská víra, Severská mytologie (společně s Finskou mytologií), a první a druhá světová válka. Nálezem této práce jsou opakovaně se objevující se vlastnosti u Tolkienových záporných postav, například jejich schopnosti ovlivňování myslí ostatních a změny podob, jejich tvůrčí a řemeslná zručnost, jejich neposlušnost vůči vyšším bytostem, jejich obliba v ničení životního prostředí, jejich podobné emoční stavy a jejich vysokou moc. Tyto vlastnosti byly následně propojeny s křesťanskou doktrínou, vlivem válek na životní prostředí a Lokim, postavou ze Severské Eddy. Keywords: J. R. R. Tolkien, evil, environment, Christianity, Norse mythology, power, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, Legendarium. Klíčová slova: J. R. R. Tolkien, zlo, životní prostředí, křesťanství, severská mytologie, moc, Pán Prstenů, Silmarillion, Legendarium. Acknowledgment I want to thank my supervisor for all his help, support and seemingly never ending patience. Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this bachelor thesis and that I have used only the sources listed in the bibliography and identified as references. Prohlášení Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou práci vypracoval samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných literárních pramenů a zdrojů uvedených v seznamu literatury v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů. In Brno, April 14, 2020 Tomáš Pelc Table of Contents 1. Introduction ……………………………………………................................... 9 2. Inspiration ……………………………………………………………………. 10 2.1. Christianity ……………………………………………………………… 12 2.2. Old Norse Mythology ………………………………………………….... 14 3. Tolkien’s Antagonists ………………………………………………………... 16 3.1. Melkor …………………………………………………………………… 20 3.2. Fëanor …………………………………………………………………… 22 3.3. Sauron …………………………………………………………………… 26 3.4. Ar-Pharazôn …………………………………………………………….. 29 3.5. Saruman …………………………………………………………………. 31 3.6. Other Antagonists ……………………………………………….………. 33 4. World Wars and Environment ……………………………………………… 37 5. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………….…… 41 Sources ……………………………………………………………………….…… 43 1. Introduction John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was a 20th century British writer best known for his fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings (later referred to only as LotR). Tolkien is also known as a creator of fictional languages which led him to create a fictional world in which these languages could evolve. This fictional world evolved and, in later years of Tolkien’s life, became the main object of his interest. After his death, his son Christopher Tolkien1 published the mythology that Tolkien created as The Silmarillion (1977). Despite the world with its mythology being originally created only as a background for Tolkien’s languages, somewhere in the process Tolkien decided to create a fictional mythology of England, a piece of literature similar to Beowulf, but capturing the essence of England (not the whole Britain and its Scandinavian heritage). The Hobbit (1937), The Lord of the Rings (1954-55), and The Silmarillion (1977) were the results of this want. Despite Tolkien being openly dissatisfied with allegories and the use of author’s life in interpreting his works (Carpenter, 2000, p. 9), he claimed that every “myth and fairy-story must … reflect and contain in solution elements of moral and religious truth (or error)” (Carpenter & Tolkien, 1981, p. 167). On this basis, this thesis will try to define Tolkien’s own view on evil by drawing connections and discovering analogies between Tolkien’s mythology and his life. The aim of this thesis is to summarize portrayals of evil in Christianity (as Tolkien was strongly religious) and Old Norse mythology, and then analyse the antagonists that Tolkien created and look for similarities between the antagonists and connections with the portrayals of religious/mythological evil in the real world. First, this thesis will present findings of scholars concerning the acts of evil in the Bible (for example Satan or the original sin). Then it will examine acts of evil in Norse mythology, focusing on the character of Loki, who is colloquially known as the God of mischief. After that, analyses of antagonists from The Silmarillion (Melkor, Fëanor, Ar-Pharazôn, Glaurung, Ungoliant), and The Hobbit and LotR (Sauron, Saruman, Shelob, Smaug) will follow, together with the description of their connections to Christianity and Norse mythology. Last, to complete the findings that will be presented, this thesis will present several secondary sources concerning Tolkien and the world wars and the reflection of these wars in Tolkien’s work. By these means, this thesis will provide a complete list of characteristics of Tolkien’s antagonists, and at the same time, based on the quote cited above, Tolkien’s understanding of evil. 1 For the purpose of clarity, the surname Tolkien will serve to refer only to J. R. R. Tolkien, his son will be referred to by his first name Christopher. 9 2. Inspiration In this chapter, important background information about the life of J. R. R. Tolkien that may have impacted his fictional world will be given and analysed. The chapter will focus mainly on defining evil from various aspects and the definitions will be used in the subsequent chapter, which will focus on the analysis of Tolkien’s fictional world and the antagonists in it. It is a common knowledge that Tolkien was a devoted Catholic. Humphrey Carpenter (2000), Tolkien’s official biographer, described numerous theological conversations that Tolkien held with C. S. Lewis. Beside that, Tolkien wrote in his letter to Robert Murray that “The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work” (Carpenter & Tolkien, 1981, p. 191). This serves as a reason enough to analyse the similarities between Bible and The Legendarium.2 The concept of catholic evil has been greatly debated for centuries and the resources concerning Tolkien’s own interpretation of catholic evil are scarce. For this reason, this thesis will focus only on the colloquially best known stories and characters, such as the character of Satan, the concept of seven deadly sins, or the stories of Genesis, such as the Fall of Adam and Eve, and the slaying of Abel. Beside his faith, Tolkien was certainly affected by Norse and Finnish mythologies. Tolkien is the author of one of the English translations of Beowulf and co-author of the Oxford English Dictionary, in which he was tasked with researching the Old and Middle English etymology. During his career at Oxford and Leeds he also gave many lectures concerning Germanic, Gothic, Welsh and Icelandic languages (Carpenter, 2000). Tolkien’s letter to W. H. Auden, a New York Times reviewer, Tolkien wrote that he “was immensely attracted by something in the air of the Kalevala3 (Carpenter & Tolkien, 1981, p. 229), which serves as another example of his fascination by Norse, Finnish and Germanic mythologies. On this basis, this thesis will analyse the depiction of evil in Norse mythology, where it will