Is there a religion or belief system that uses characters from 'The Lord of the Rings' as archetypes ....

Question

... or god-forms in their worship, including prayer or spellwork - web-sites and book refernces and titles please -

people who quote endless irrelevant chunks from the bible wil be reported to yahoo forthwith!

Answer 1

I know people that definetly come close to following such a religion...

Answer 2

not that I am aware of...however, the author based the caharacter on the mythical Archetypes foun in Germanic, Anglo-Saxon and Finninsh pre-christian religious and spiritual beliefs. In fact many of the dwarf names came straight from the pages of a work called The Poetic Edda, a 13th century Icelandic colleciton containing many of the old sagas of the gods and heroes. That is probably as close as you are goind to find on the matter, of course if you are well versed in the Lord of the Rings and in the Old religions you could start one yourself....

and being well versed in such things I might even have a few ideas on the matter

Answer 3

Of course there is no religion based on the Lord of the Rings, it is a fantasy novel. Might as well base a religion on Winnie-the-Pooh!
Most religions use prayer.
Spellwork is generally misinterpreted, as potions can be bought at any pharmacist, produced by pharmaceutical companies. As for reciting things to conjure spirits or influence events; this can be found in what the church calls 'occult' meaning hidden. These include the Kabbalist Jews (such as John the Baptist, Jesus, Simon Magus), druidism and the Romany Gypsies. Ignore Wicca, it was invented for fun in Victorian England.

Answer 4

Well, ok, Im not gonna spew a huge chunk of the bible at you but I do have some interesting info that I found.

"Lord Of The Rings" Based On Christian Beliefs?

Often overlooked, meanwhile, is the subtle Christian message underlying Tolkien's fiction.

In fact, Tolkien persuaded C.S. Lewis, who himself later wrote several Christian classics, to become a Christian. The two are credited with paving the way for a new genre of devotional literature, influencing authors like Charles Williams, T.S. Eliot, G.K. Chesteron and Dorothy Sayers.

Tolkien omitted overt references to God, worship, prayer and Christianity in the 500,000 words of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. It wasn't an effort to hide his Christian faith, he said. Rather, he believed the technique communicated Christian values more effectively precisely because they were less obvious.

According to Tolkien and his close associates, the writings were grounded in an unstinting Christian conviction that, at the end of time, God would finally and forever defeat evil. Tolkien rooted that conviction in his own faith in Christ.

Tolkien said that the only criticism of "Lord of the Rings" that ever bothered him, "was that it contained no religion." He described his fictional Middle Earth as "a monotheistic world of 'natural theology.'" The fact there are no churches, temples or religious rites and ceremonies "is simply part of the historical climate depicted" in his fiction, he said. "I am in any case myself a Christian," he said, even if his "Third Age" was not a Christian world.

Tolkien believed that eternal truths established in creation would be recognizable even in his fictional "sub creation."

"We have come from God and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, will also reflect a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal truth which is with God," he told C.S. Lewis during their late night discussion that resulted in Lewis becoming a Christian.

Answer 5

I am not really scientifically sure but when I was reading The Name of The Rose (TNTR) by Umberto Eco I found some things that similar to LOTR such as King Aragorn, Bilbo, etc. They were mentioned slightly although TNTR was written long after LOTR. TNTR was using much real facts in history, middle age period. So, I guess, LOTR was using some of the historical facts from that period too.

Answer 6

You might want to read "Silmarilion" by Tolkien. It's quite dull but I think it will take you where you want.
That book really depicts a type of Cosmogony UPON which the characters and happenings of the "Lord of The Rings" and the other Tolkien books are based on.

Answer 7

While it might be an interesting theological exercise, I would seriously doubt that Tolkien had that intent.

Thus, an attempt to model a religion after those fictional works is just misguided projection of a moral framework around a literary reference, for the sake of understanding.

You would do better to just read and study.

Answer 8

yes there's always some **** who thinks this way hence cults ... unfortunately but everyone to their own sad but true

Answer 9

You mean that it is not a religion already?

Answer 10

I think pagans?