The Resurrection of the Fellowship
By Thomas Bentley, 2002
At various points in the novel The
Lord of the Rings, each member of the fellowship faces death through a
symbolic burial within the earth.
Each member is transformed by
their experience and brought forth from the earth to a new life. My brother Robert pointed out that these
experiences serve as baptismal events through which each is reborn as a
stronger character. Here is a list of
these transforming events including one from The Hobbit.
At first, Bilbo Baggins was not the type of person you would want on an adventure. He complained, doubted and was about as useful as baggage until he fell into Gollum’s lair. It was there, in a deep underground cavern that the insecure Bilbo was transformed into a clever, calculating and resourceful adventurer. He emerged as the leader of his group who mastered his fears to get the job done.
Near the beginning of their travels, the four hobbits of the fellowship were overcome by the Barrow-wights (evil spirits) who inhabit a haunted hill. The hobbits were drug underground, laid out in a burial posture and were almost dead when Frodo managed to wake up and call for help. They were saved and brought forth from the earth by the benevolent being Tom Bombadil. Through this experience they obtained Elvish weapons that proved essential to the quest. Additionally from this point on, the hobbits began to gain wisdom, courage and a sense of purpose of their individual mission.
The next characters to face death and resurrection were Gandalf and Legolas in the Mines of Moria. Gandalf was pulled deep into the earth and he battled the Balrog until both were killed. Because Gandalf’s mission is not yet complete his body was healed and his spirit was allowed to return. He emerged as the new head of his order with addition power and authority. Of course there are other religious parallels to his experience that are examined in other articles.
Legolas was the most difficult one for me to identify his symbolic transition. To meet my criteria the event had to occur underground, place the person in mortal danger and leave that person changed. Legolas is very assured of himself and confident in his fighting abilities to the point that he battles fearlessly even against great odds. The only occasion in the novel where he displays any fear, even terror is the confrontation with the Balrog. “Legolas turned and set an arrow to the string, though it was a long shot for his small bow. He drew, but his hand fell, and the arrow slipped to the ground. He gave a cry of dismay and fear. Two great trolls appeared; they bore great slabs of stone, and flung them down to serve as gangways over the fire. But it was not the trolls that had filled the Elf with terror.” (1) It was the Balrog. One of the fallen angels akin to Sauron himself, the Balrog is the embodiment of darkness and spiritual decay. As an Elf, Legolas will not die a natural death and has lived for hundreds of years but he has never faced a being with the power to corrupt the soul.
Borimir of Gondor is the only member of the fellowship whose death is permanent. After allowing his desires to overcome him, Borimir tries to redeem himself by protecting the Hobbits with his last breath. However Tolkien cleverly alludes to his resurrection in two ways. Borimir is given a water burial that symbolizes his cleansing through a post mortem baptism. In the Two Towers Borimir’s brother, Faramir sees the funeral barge but there is no body suggesting his escape from death. For the reader, the wiser and more spiritual Faramir becomes the new and improved incarnation of his brother.
When Aragorn leads Gimli and Legolas through the “Paths of the Dead”, we are treated to one of the greatest fictional types of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The “Paths of the Dead” are underground caverns beneath the mountains that are haunted by the dead ancestors of Aragorn. They possess no threat to Legolas because he does not fear the ghosts of men and he has already faced his trial. Gimli the Dwarf is paralyzed from fright in the surroundings that dwarves love best (underground caves). This is Gimli’s burial and only by following Aragorn’s lead is he able to escape the hold of death.
This is the turning point when Aragorn finally accepts his destiny as the true King of Middle Earth. Centuries earlier one group of Aragorn’s ancestors had covenanted to fight against Sauron but secretly pledged allegiance to him. When they default on their oath in a critical situation, they are cursed to haunt the caverns until freed by a righteous heir to the throne of Gondor. Aragorn descends into the depths of the “Paths of the Dead” and after reviving the spirits of the “Oath-breakers” he offers them a chance to honor their covenants. Those who accept his conditions are released from their spiritual prison and help turn the tide. Aragorn emerges from this “baptismal” experience as the King of his people and as one who wields divine authority. Of course this is what happened between the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as described by Peter:
“18 For
Christ also hath once asuffered
for sins, the just for the bunjust,
that he might bring us to God, being put to cdeath
in the flesh, but quickened by the dSpirit:
19 By
which also he went and apreached
unto the bspirits
in cprison…”
(2)
These symbolic experiences were essential in transforming the Fellowship into the individuals they needed to be in order to complete their respective missions.
(1)
The Fellowship of the Ring, The bridge of Kazadoom
(2)
1 Peter 3:18-19