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Old 08-26-2006, 08:28 AM   #24
Boromir88
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I also think ''borrowed'' might have been a better word than ''steal'' for the original thread question.
I don't think either word works out well. Tolkien didn't write a story to mimic or be similar to the Bible. The Bible, and his religion, plus his many interests of studies (Beowulf, Egyptian mythology, Anglo-Saxon...etc) all influenced his writing. But, he did not a write a book to mimic anything, he was creating his own story, his own world, with it's own unique history.

Anyone can find allegories, or references to past cultures all throughout Lord of the Rings (but you can also do this through any book, movie, piece of literature if you're looking for it). Gurthang provides a link to a good thread, there is nothing original anymore, everything that can be written has been written. And authors will either intentionally or unconsciously write about stories, histories, cultures, and what influenced them. But what's important to always remember is that most of the time a good author can successfully create a new world, or a new story, by drawing off of what influenced him or her.

It's perfectly reasonable to find similarities and allegories (Tolkien even chimed in with his own at times), but it's the individuality and the freedom of the reader that shouldn't be taken away, by forcing an accepted view that Elrond=Jesus, the Lord of the Rings was written as a 'Biblical book.' And considering that Tolkien and C.S. Lewis' friendship pretty much ended because Tolkien criticized Lewis for writing too much of 'his religion' in the Chronicles of Narnia...I doubt Tolkien was doing the same with LOTR. There were some other reasons that caused strain between the two, but pretty much C.S. Lewis didn't like Tolkien criticizing his books because it had too much of the religious element.
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