Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues: Exploring the Spiritual Themes of the Lord of the Rings

Once more a book has been published which tries to venture into the spiritual depths of Tolkien's literary characters. Since the first part of the film trilogy had been released, the book market has got absolutely carried away in the sale of recent publications making any effort to get the Tolkien phenomenon more tangible for us. And do you know why? Well, it is just worth it. "The Lord of the Rings" is not a book to simply read and then to put down and forget it. On the contrary: it might change many of us forever, for the tale of Frodo and the One Ring leaves deep marks in our hearts and souls.This is what you feel when you read this work of Mark Eddy Smith, who - perhaps most of all for himself - has tried to work out what exactly it is that is touching him so deeply through Tolkien's work. And it is a wonderful fact that he has decided to share his cognitions with us. The feelings that the author might have experienced during the writing are passed on to the reader to leave him in a grateful and contemplative mood. Mark Eddy Smith has classified Tolkien's novel according to values and virtues to give us a clear vision of what we have to rediscover and cultivate to satisfy our contemporary desires. This book is simply a fantastic work.

This book follows along with the storyline of the Lord of the Rings and is helpful in pointing out both + and - virtues within characters and/or their development of those characteristics. It might be esp. helpful to those who want to teach the books in a scholastic setting, including home schooling, so that children can see virtue in action. I would recommend it also for the person who simply wants to enjoy the epic more and see some of the thematic elements he/she might be missing.

This is quite light reading; it isn't a major philosophical treatise. However, even with that being true, it draws the readers' attention to choices made by characters in novels, to choices that people may need to make in their own lives, (and these are realistically balanced against frequent occurrence in day-to-day life), and virtues that Tolkien included in his novels. The Lord of the Rings is considered sensu lato, (including the Hobbit). Some of these virtues may even have been included by Tolkien unconsciously, but this is a useful perspective on virtue.

It's obvious that Mr. Smith truly loves "The Lord of the Rings". That comes through, if nothing else does. The premise of the book is also good. However, Mr. Smith does not begin to go deeply enough -- and he doesn't use valuable, readily accessible source material which would have strengthened his case dramatically. (Two examples which come to mind are "Letters by JRR Tolkien" and "The Timeless Momement: Christian Doctrine in a Pre-Christian Age".)Smith does recognize that Tolkien was a devout Catholic -- but fails to bring this perspective into the book's development. In addition, the two most important virtues (according to Tolkien's own letters) found in the book, Pity and Mercy, were not dealt with in nearly enough depth -- and this is a loss.From a literary basis, Mr. Smith does make some basic errors in fact. (For example, the length of time between Bilbo's departure and Frodo's departure was 17 years, not 12 as was stated twice.) From my perspective, he seriously misunderstands the character of Aragorn (and to a lesser extent, Merry and Pippin).Why then the (almost) four stars? Because the passion in Smith's writing does come through, as does his humanness and his love for the subject. Mr. Smith has taken an enormous risk in revealing the deep parts of his soul to be shot at by callous reviewers! I respect this -- and I respect that Mr. Smith has made the attempt to bridge the gap between merely an enjoyable read and a spiritual read. I hope that he continues to make the attempt and that his future attempts are more successful.

Smith's book doesn't cover new ground, nor is it information dense. To some, myself included, that is a minus. But to many others, especially those now discovering the Matter of Middle-earth due to the movies, the level of this book is just right.It is a very pleasant read and very cheering. Not a bad thing in these days.Each short chapter explores a virtue portrayed in _The Lord of the Rings_. Tolkien encorporated this sort of thing into the work quite naturally, without having to work at it or really think about it, it simply flowed from who he was.These old Christian virtues aren't generally well known today, whether among Christians or among those who do not so consider themselves. They aren't a bad thing to know about, whatever ones' views.But Tolkien did consider himself one, and reading this book provides insight into the work that one would otherwise have to glean from much other reading. Tolkien -did- purpose through his life work, of which _The Lord of the Rings_ is a part, to communicate such matters in a non-allegorical mode. Understanding some of the instances where such matters are fairly easy to see helps you to better understand the work as a whole.