It's a comparatively well-known fact that J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were good friends and often exchanged notes on their progressing written works. Both writers, as Christians, worked allegory into their most famous tales, though Lewis often criticized Tolkien for being too subtle with his allegory, while Tolkien said Lewis was to blatant and up-front with it. Regardless, while Lewis's allegory is for the most part pretty self-explanatory, I'm having more difficulty in figuring out Tolkien's. Here's what I have:
Gandalf is a Jesus figure. That one's easy enough. Dies fighting the king demon, is resurrected and goes on to orchestrate the events in Gondor which enable Frodo and Sam to cross Mordor. He is a self-identified emissary of the Valar (gods) and protects the entire fellowship.
Elves and Orcs are Angels and Demons. Just as demons are fallen, twisted angels, orcs are fallen and twisted elves. This explains both the elves' beautiful physical appearance as well as their rather inactivity in the books. We rarely see angels and they rarely affect our lives, at least as far as we perceive. Similarly, the elves don't affect much in the books, beyond occasionally sheltering, and Legolas's part (Legolas as a guardian angel seems plausible enough to me, he's alone and helps Frodo as long as possible).
The Ring is Free Will. We assume that the entire story centers around Frodo. The Ring, for him, is everything. What he does with it will decide whether the world lives or dies. If he takes it for himself, the world falls, either by him being taken by the dark lord or becoming the dark lord. Similarly, if we refuse to surrender our own wills, and never give them to God, we also fall, either falling to our worst fears or becoming them. If Frodo gives up The Ring, the world is saved and evil is defeated. Similarly, if we take our free will and give it to God, he can save us. This one I'm actually pretty sure of. The Ring is Free Will, one of the most important questions humans have.
Gollum is Guilt? This one I'm not so sure about. Gollum haunts Frodo from the beginning of the story on. Sometimes he is productive, sometimes he is harmful. In the end, Gollum is ultimately instrumental in Frodo's throwing away the Ring. Perhaps Tolkien thought Guilt was the same way: it can hurt you if you're depressed, it can help you if you're proud, and ultimately it's one of God's surest but most painful ways to get you to repent and throw away the Ring.
Gondor is the Church? I mean, it plays much the same role in Frodo's journey. It opposes the Enemy to the best of it's ability, but ultimately it's made up only of men, and can't win the war. Similarly, the Church can't win our spiritual battles for us, but it can help us, and it does as much as it can when captained by fallen Stewards.
Regardless, LOTR is still awesome just as a story and movie. I need to watch and read it again, actually. Anyhoo, toodle-pip!
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