Monday, February 24, 2020
Illúvatar in Middle Earth
Something that I am really curious about is The Silmarillion's implications throughout the rest of the books. Obviously, Tolkien was Catholic and this played into how he wrote his books. The Silmarillion's creation story is very similar to Christianity's. We even have Illúvatar's angels going out and doing his bidding on his world. What I am curious about is how often Illúvatar intervened in Middle Earth. This is an often debated topic in all religions. Just how often does God meddle in the affairs of humans? I want to discuss how essential Illúvatar's efforts were in LOTR and The Hobbit. Tolkien consistently mentions luck and particularly how lucky Bilbo and Frodo are. That their family tends to be very lucky. He even mentions every now and then how lucky a specific event was. Is this him alluding to Illúvatar? I am curious how active Illúvatar is in Middle Earth and how much the events in LOTR in particular, hinged on Illúvatar's will.
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I think that since Tolkien wrote the Silmarillion after the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, it would be hard to say that these questions of whether or not its luck or a planned destiny for these characters can't be confirmed as references to Illuvatar specifically. However, like you mentioned about Tolkien weaving his religious beliefs subtly throughout his works, and also in he Silmarillion. So, I don't think its clear that these could all be connected to the same entity or direct meddling in middle earth, but they definitely share the same influences.
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