originally published 8/8/2019

Jonathan McIntosh claims that the mythological stories of J. R. R. Tolkien are rooted in certain metaphysical assumptions. These ideas are most clearly evident in the Ainulindalë, the creation account which Tolkien includes in The Silmarillion. Tolkien scholarship has tended to ignore the depth of influence on Tolkien’s understanding of Creation of the work of St. Thomas Aquinas. McIntosh is convinced that Aquinas’s discussion of the relationship between God and Creation serves as a helpful guide in understanding Tolkien’s instincts. In numerous letters and essays, Tolkien expressed his view that all works of art — of “sub-creation” — are a tribute to God’s own act of Creation, an act whereby the One who is Being gives being to the universe. All art is fundamentally about reality, and hence expresses metaphysical assumptions. McIntosh offers examples from Tolkien’s stories of his metaphysical concerns.

28 minutes

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