In Pursuit of the Divine Spark: An Analysis of Tolkien’s The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings Series through a Gnostic Framework

Abstract

Dating back to ancient times, Gnosticism stands as an esoteric sect of belief that envisages the common human as the battleground between two forces namely the light and the dark. The dispute results from an archetypal divergence that takes place between two divinities. While the transcendental god holds the holy wisdom under his dominion that manifests itself as the holy spark, a lesser deity named ‘Demiurge’ labours darkness into a material prison for the purpose of captivating and strangling the holy light. The radical dual division in the human condition delineates each pole with definitive terms, yet these highly discrepant antipodes are convoluted closely together by birth so that each person stands a mystery box in which crafted darkness forges the materialized body that encapsulates a spark of holy light. According to the belief system, every person is destined to grant the ultimate and total victory for either force over the other with corresponding outcomes. If a soul proves his merit by letting the holy spark shine and wash away the darkness, he reaches a divine state of blessed salvation that is called gnosis, however those who surrender to darkness are forced to undergo life and death cycles until they achieve their pure spiritual rebirth. To achieve the holy salvation, total asceticism and relinquishing from the earthly appeals are stated as the indispensable requisites. In light of the ancient esoteric teaching, Tolkien’s notoriously famous Ring promises much compatibility with the gnostic assumption of the diabolic matter, the destruction of which enables the hero to sail for an allegoric expedition in which both the destination and the rebirth of the hero pieces together the complete the divine godhead.

Keywords

• John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
• The Silmarillion
• The Lord of the Rings
• Gnosticism

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