TY - JOUR

T1 - The lords of the West

T2 - cloaking, freedom and the divine narrative in Tolkien's poetics

AU - Pezzini, Giuseppe

PY - 2019/10/1

Y1 - 2019/10/1

N2 - The article aims (1) to investigate the hidden divine narrative in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, that is the agency of divine characters in and on the story, whose presence appears to other, non-divine characters only in ‘cloaked’ or ‘glimpsed’ form; (2) to discuss the reasons for the concealing of this narrative (and of divine presence in general), which is revealed as a key feature of Tolkien’s literary technique and poetics. The article analyses both literary and non-literary sources, arguing that the Creator’s love for the freedom of His creatures is the main reason accounting for this ‘cloaking’ and this ‘glimpsing’, both within Tolkien’s sub-created, ‘secondary’ world and the ‘primary’ reality to which he belongs.

AB - The article aims (1) to investigate the hidden divine narrative in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, that is the agency of divine characters in and on the story, whose presence appears to other, non-divine characters only in ‘cloaked’ or ‘glimpsed’ form; (2) to discuss the reasons for the concealing of this narrative (and of divine presence in general), which is revealed as a key feature of Tolkien’s literary technique and poetics. The article analyses both literary and non-literary sources, arguing that the Creator’s love for the freedom of His creatures is the main reason accounting for this ‘cloaking’ and this ‘glimpsing’, both within Tolkien’s sub-created, ‘secondary’ world and the ‘primary’ reality to which he belongs.

KW - J.R.R. Tolkien

KW - Lord of the Rings

KW - ‘On Fairy Stories’

KW - Fantasy

KW - Literature and theology

KW - Literature and freedom

KW - Allegory

UR - https://www.euppublishing.com/loi/ink

U2 - 10.3366/ink.2019.0042

DO - 10.3366/ink.2019.0042

M3 - Article

VL - 9

SP - 115

EP - 153

JO - Journal of Inklings Studies

JF - Journal of Inklings Studies

SN - 2045-8797

IS - 2

ER -