LOTR Themes

[Algamesh]

WarRingers ...

I've recently been engaged in conversations about the different themes that are presented in LOTR. Decline, Pity, Growth, Friendship, etc.

What ... in your opinion ... are the most applicable themes for us today? Which themes really enhance the epic and why?

[Galadriel]

I think that friendship was the best theme though out the story. I mean frodo could of never completed his mission without his friends. i mean look at Sam he helped Frodo sooo much in Mordor. i mean he saved him from the orcs and carried him up the monutain and everything. I mean without friends he would of had to go on the jounry alone and he need support though everything.

[Tinwë]

I like the theme of Loyality. :)

[TheRingBearer]

I agree. Friendship and Loyality definatley. I also beleive that Pride, Desire, Passion and Determination play a part in the minds of the characters.

[Sindarin]

Friendship and loyalty. :entdraught:

[Galadriel]

I oh yes loyalty also

[Daughter of Finarfin]

Friendship and also the decline of good things as we get ready for more technology etc.

[Daisy Gamgee]

i agree with the friendship and loyalty theme being the most important but i think that also theres the idea that you have to work together with people/races you do not like or even understand, and you have to begin to understand them to be able to defeat evil. understanding goes along way towards peace, which is a problem in todays society, and i think there is a bit of this in the book (at the council mainly), and if you don't understand each other then you can't work towards the end result.

[Finrod Felagund]

Pride will be your downfall.
More so in Sil, but also in LotR.
Witchking gets shanked b/c he underestimates his opponent
Sauron, same reason.
Elves have to swallow thier pride and help out the unworthy
Dwarves have to back down and fight with the Elves

[Dernhelm]

Decency.

I think the the concepts of loyalty, courage, honor, sacrifice, and friendship are all encompassed by the idea of living one's life as a decent hobbit, elf, dwarf, or human being. To love one's neighbor as one's self is easy to say, but far more difficult to live out. A strong sense of decency allows a person to at least get one foot in the door. IMO, Tolkien's characters who fought against Sauron were all endowed with a strong sense of decency which we could all benefit from an infusion of.

[Lady Melody]

I think, that we could put all this themes into one word, Virtue. Takes wisdom to tell you what to do and think it all up, takes virtue to go out and do it.

[Windwater Elf]

the main theme is mercy and forgiveness can overcome evil. If Frodo had put an end to Gollum, the One Ring would have met with a different fate. That is a quick and short summary.

my favourite theme is the friendship development between Legolas and Gimli.

[Gwaihir]

Friendship, loyalty, honor, courage... so many things can be themes for the great books! :grin:

[Bena]

I agree with the themes listed above but I want to add one, Hope. Hope that "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future." Hope that a race experiencing its possible downfall can once again rise to greatness. The whole trilogy leaves me with a sense of hope that somehow all will turn out well in the end no matter how bad life may become.

[anduril]

I believe that Tolkien's main theme was death. If you really think about it, he is always talking about death in some way...whether it was Boromirs death, the death of Isildur, the death of Balin. Hell, even the death of all of Moria. You can even see this theme being brought out from the movies...a bigger theme comes from the Arwen/Aragorn sequence in which Aragorn parishes yet Arwen lives on--alone. This is his theme indefinately...and I find that it makes his writing very gripping.

[Melain]

I believe that friendship and loyalty hold strong in these books, but also humility and being able to help one another are strong. Believing in one another is what helps the ending happen the way it does.

[Elanor]

A major theme in the LOTR that is still relevent today is his Industry vs Nature theme. Those are still issues we deal with today as we struggle to find a way to still progress yet keep the world natural. Industry is represented by the destruction of the forest to fuel the forging of weapons of war, the diminishing of the Elves to the West, the creation of unnatural creatures (cloning?) and the greed of the dwarves who mined too deeply and awoke the Balrog. Nature is represented by the simple spirit of the hobbits, the Ents, the Elves, as they battle to keep their world from changing.

[Slieken]

Hope, if you pay attention hope is mentioned on nearly every page.

[Ludibunda]

More than friendship and loyalty, I believe the most important theme throughout the trilogy is cooperation and tolerance. In order to hide, transport, protect, heal, fight, and even detroy the ring, the bearer must rely on creatures of all kinds. These creatures must learn to tolerate and trust each other. Group effort is required at all times and without multiple particitation, the ring will not make it back into the fires or Mordor.

[Periannath]

Depends on the reader. It's a matter of 'applicability'."I think many confuse 'applicability' with 'allegory'; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author" J.R.R. Tolkien

[Winyaél Greenleaf]

Friendship! I love the way they portray it between the hobbits, especially Sam and Frodo, and Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn.