A MUST READ Book Review for Tolkien Fans Eager to Learn about Middle-Earth's Creation: Defending Middle-Earth: Tolkien: Myth and Modernity

 

Hey there fellow Tolkienian followers! It’s your boy NoahtheBlue2003 again, this time with a book suggestion for you! I recently stumbled upon Defending Middle-Earth: Tolkien: Myth and Modernity by Patrick Curry. I personally, loved this book and suggest it to all Tolkien fans and scholars alike, as I felt like it was a good way to learn more about the man himself, J.R.R. Tolkien and how his life influenced his creation of my home away from home, Middle-Earth. Seeing as this book directly analyzes the influences of Tolkien’s life on his creation of Middle-Earth it seems only fitting that it belongs in a blog dedicated to his writings. By reviewing the themes presented in this secondary source, this book review highlights the connections that are drawn by the author, Patrick Curry, between Tolkien’s life and upbringing and the liveliness and depth of Middle-Earth’s role in The Lord of the Rings.

 

“Defending Middle-Earth: Tolkien: Myth and Modernity”

The intersection of culture, nature, and spirituality in Middle Earth to create a world in opposition to modernism.

Defending Middle-Earth: Tolkien: Myth and Modernity by Patrick Curry is a beautifully creative author, who divides his text into 3 distinct spheres of analysis: culture, nature, and spirituality; at the conclusion, he brings together these different strands and analyzes the themes throughout the Lord of the Rings. By slowing broadening his scope of analysis, Curry demonstrates how the Shire epitomizes the Tolkien’s idyllic culture and community, Middle-Earth expresses the deep value of nature, and the Sea explains the spiritual connection of Middle-Earth. I really like how he focuses his analysis on the world-building skills of Tolkien, as I feel that integrating the setting as another “character” really ties together the escape that Tolkien is creating for us lovers of Middle-Earth.

Starting with the Shire, Tolkien made it clear that it was based on his home saying, “‘The Shire is based on rural England and not any other country in the world’ and more specifically the West Midlands.” Here, we find how Tolkien perceived his childhood growing up outside of Birmingham as the quintessential representation of a proper life. The hobbits’ desire to not become mixed up in the troubles of the outside world is representative of Tolkien’s distaste for war and conflict, preferring ‘simple needs, simple goals, and a common-sense approach to life’ according to Curry. I feel like this is very similar to my own upbringing in rural Maryland. My family from New York City always jokes that everyone in my hometown drives 10 miles UNDER the speed limit, because nobody in my hometown feels they’re in a rush. I mean I cannot really blame them; I like taking my time to watch the cornfields tumble by too!

 This desire for a more conservative lifestyle, is deeply rooted with Tolkien’s dislike for modernism and industry. When describing his main villain, Sauron, Tolkien describes his army of orcs as mindless worshippers of modernism, of which Sauron was the most at fault. In Curry’s book, he says that some of the distinguishing characteristics of orcs throughout the Lord of the Rings are their ‘love of machines and loud noises (especially for explosions), waste, vandalism and destruction for its own sake.’ Tolkien believed that modernism specifically, caused the people of our world to lose focus, becoming greedy while sacrificing the most valuable parts of life: our family, our friends, and specifically the natural beauty of the world.

            Curry begins to investigate how Tolkien valued this natural beauty by expanding his scope of analysis to Middle-Earth rather than just the Shire. Drawing back to Tolkien’s upbringing, his time spent in the West Midlands forged a strong connection to nature and that he ‘loved it with an intensity of love that was a kind of nostalgia reversed.’ He expressed this deep love through his writing of the Lord of the Rings; for Tolkien did not merely perceive nature as a mindless crop of plants sprouting from the ground, rather he viewed it as a legitimate participant in daily life. Curry cited how Tolkien gave each forest its own unique personality, even creating an entire race of living trees, the ents, with their own complex myriad of deep thoughts and emotions accompanied by a seemingly unending memory. By creating nature as another character, Tolkien demonstrated how he believed nature should be valued as a life that contributes to the culture and diversity of our world. I really appreciate the introduction of this new character; especially because I feel like nature is undervalued in our world. In fact, just the other day I drove by a construction company clearing out a big plot of trees to make ANOTHER STRIP MALL in Greenbelt. Who needs another strip mall?

 Conversely, Tolkien created a clear contrast between nature and industry by associating his ents with the heroes of his story and forever associating Mordor with pollution and destruction. Curry cited Frodo’s observations during his time in Mordor, where Frodo ‘found a huge mass of ash and slag and burned stone, where the air was full of fumes; breathing was painful and difficult.’ This underlying conflict between nature and industry came to a head in Tolkien’s The Two Towers, when the ents marched unto Isengard to battle against the Saruman and his orc army, I mean a literal conflict between the trees and the machines.

            Finally, Curry widens the scope of his investigation even further, drawing his focus to the Sea, where he analyzes the spiritual influences that exist throughout Middle-Earth. It was known that Tolkien was a devout Roman Catholic, and Curry draws some connections between Tolkien’s religious beliefs and the religious elements that permeate throughout Middle-Earth. Curry cites Gandalf saying, “there is more than one power at work,” hinting at the fact that there is ‘another power, that is, beyond even that of the greatest in Middle-Earth, namely Sauron.’ The religious elements are felt through the change that some characters undergo throughout the story. Chiefly, Tolkien reflects the most desirable qualities he sees in a person through this growth; we see as pity and mercy ‘hold an indispensable place in the Lord of the Rings’ according to Curry. One example is how Frodo refused to kill Gollum and let him serve as a guide throughout Mordor, at which point Gollum was ultimately key in destroying the ring. Lastly, Frodo is converted into an almost Christ-like figure at the end of the book, someone who is smart and “at peace” after his time with the ring. Ultimately, he sails beyond the Western Sea with the elves and Gandalf, reaching an almost heavenly period of rest, a return to the higher power that Sauron cannot touch beyond the Sea. This Sea is seen as an almost mystical place, a place where you go not to necessarily die, but a place to rest, like heaven.

            Ultimately, the compilation of Tolkien’s love of strong-individualized communities in the Shire, his deep appreciation for the natural world, and his religious influences coalesce into Tolkien’s ultimate conflict, a struggle against modernism. Curry synthesizes Tolkien’s final message for his work as it ‘urges a new ethic of human conviviality, respect for life, and ultimate humility.’ For Sauron represents the greed that corrupts those who come in contact with his ring, the destruction of nature as his orcs raze forest and the beauty of the natural world alike, and the deviation from conservative values with the concentration of a totalitarian power that rules over us all, steamrolling the individual cultures of Middle Earth that make everything unique and harmonious. Curry’s analysis of the Lord of the Rings and his research on Tolkien’s life is a MUST READ for all Tolkien fans!!!! It is a relatively quick read at only approximately 150 pages, but I swear you will tear through it like a hot knife through butter. I think we can all take something away from this book, learning about the importance of the natural world in our life and appreciating the beauty of each individual day. I hope that you enjoyed my review and that you consider reading this masterpiece!