The Legendarium

 

Mythic legends and ancient lore stoke the imagination and enchant our minds.  Humans thrive on stories of heroic deeds and victories won against seemingly impossible odds.  Mythologies hold their value even if they are viewed as allegories and not taken literally.  These old stories address concepts, thoughts and feelings that are still relevant today. In my humble opinion, the question of whether a myth is a factual account of something that actually occurred misses the point entirely.

The epic tale of the Lord of the Rings is set against an expansive mythology created by JRR Tolkien.  For serious students of this ‘history,’ Tolkien’s The Silmarillion is as close to being the ‘Bible’ of Middle Earth as it gets.  The entire series of Lord of the Rings related books comprises the Legendarium.  Middle Earth, the realm in which the action in The Lord of the Rings happens, has a long and fully articulated history that begins with the supreme Being, Eru Iluvatar.   Eru Iluvatar, which means ‘the ONE all-father’ in the ancient elvish tongue, created the ‘Holy Ones’ known as the Valar.  Functioning as co-creators, the Valar literally sing the world into existence.  The Silmarillion goes on to relate a truly wonderful account of the development of a realm which is nothing less than breathtaking.

The Legendarium is remarkable on many levels.  For this reason it is not surprising that some people have peered below the surface of Tolkien’s epic mythology to see a deeper spiritual truth.  Although the LotR mythos is relatively new to me, it rings true.  It resonates with who I am and is true for me on a level that does not require correspondence with objective material “reality.”  Physical “reality” is only a tiny slice of what is REAL and TRUE.

We humans are fond of labeling things.  We're pretty good at it too.  The problem is that labels put constraints on the thing they are attached to.  To offer a super-simple analogy, if you label a human being "boy" you define him in ways that also limit or separate him from other concepts.  It might suggest a number of boy characteristics he may or may not have. You might presume, for example, that he likes girls.  You might presume he is a child.  You might presume he's physically stronger than a girl, more aggressive too.  You might presume he likes Tonka trucks, plays sports or masturbates everyday.  None of these things may be true but the moment the label changes from 'human' to 'boy,' it tends to change the way we think about this person.  Another label is "God."  Although a fairly generic word, it also carries a lot of baggage.  The most obvious issue is the gender bias.  God is masculine, Goddess feminine.  The mere suggestion that the supreme being is a Goddess and not a God can open up a gigantor can of worms.  In some countries such a labeling snafu could get you very dead!

Labels tell us what a thing is as much as what it is not.  A car is not a truck, a boy is not a girl, what is good is not evil. To stroll this line of thought a few more paces down the road, change the title 'God' to Brahma, Krishna, Allah or Jehovah and these new labels create diverse concepts, do they not?  Even so, many individuals would say they are all names for the same thing.  Having said that, who could deny that each label inspires radically different images and concepts?  Is the image below your concept of the supreme Deity?  Can you imagine a Christian congregation in the American 'Bible belt' singing hymns to Krishna?  Not likely.  There ARE differences inherent in the two labels for the same thing.  This is the problem with assigning any name or physical representation to the omnipotent, omnipresent Being.  The moment we rubber stamp that label we begin to distort and diminish the truth about it.

The Lord Krishna

The Lord Jesus Christ

Pagans also believe in a supreme Being.  In this they are not unlike Christians, Muslims and Jews.  The difference is that they believe said Being expresses itself in diverse manifestations.  These unique expressions or facets of the supreme ONE are said to be individual gods and goddesses each with it's own unique characteristics, powers, appearance, etc.  Christianity's large cadre of saints and martyrs serve a similar function as Paganism's gods, goddesses, minor deities and elemental spirits.  For example, a Christian may pray to a patron saint whose special province covers whatever needs the supplicant may have.  How is this different than the pagan who prays to the elemental ruler of water to bring rain during a drought?

Myth making comes naturally to humans.  An epic tale can weave the disparate elements of our lives into something that makes sense.  This has intrinsic value to people on a very personal level.  These stories can express a deeper truth than mere factoids can, don't you agree?  Have you never been touched by a story that never claimed to be anything but fantasy?  It begs the question, what is more powerful, an event experienced in the real world or one experienced inwardly?  Is an objective experience superior to a subjective one?  There is food for thought here.

The Silmarillion has been called Tolkien’s first and last book.  It was his first major novel but was written over the course of a long and illustrious literary career.  Ironically, this masterpiece was not actually published until after his death.  It is pure fiction. I, for one, am grateful to the man for creating, or some would say, channeling a reality that has a strange yet irresistible allure for me.  If Shakespeare wrote "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet," why should not each individual have the freedom to worship what deities they prefer in their spiritual quest for ultimate truth - even if that truth is conveyed using fiction as its vehicle?