Packaging Polytheism as Monotheism: A Study of the Mythopoeic Deity in Tolkien’s The Silmarillion
This essay deconstructs the godhead that Tolkien constructs in his mythopoeia. Tolkien’s polychronicon, The Silmarillion, splits the godhead between a creator God and a pantheon of gods and goddesses. Tolkien claims that Ilúvatar is a Yahweh-like God and the primary deity; on the other hand, the Val...
| Authors: | ; |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
[2020]
|
| In: |
Religion and the arts
Year: 2020, Volume: 24, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 84-109 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Tolkien, J. R. R. 1892-1973, The Silmarillion
/ Polytheism
/ Gods
/ Divinity
/ Mythopoiesis
/ Monotheism
|
| RelBib Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism AZ New religious movements CE Christian art |
| Further subjects: | B
creator deity
B mythopoeia B mythopoeic deity B created deity |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This essay deconstructs the godhead that Tolkien constructs in his mythopoeia. Tolkien’s polychronicon, The Silmarillion, splits the godhead between a creator God and a pantheon of gods and goddesses. Tolkien claims that Ilúvatar is a Yahweh-like God and the primary deity; on the other hand, the Valar, the fourteen gods and goddesses created by this primary God, who assist in creation, shape the world, have power over elements, and reign as ‘mistaken gods’ among the Elves, Dwarves, and Men, are not deities. This split of godhead is ignored, and the mythopoeic deity acclaimed as the biblical God and his angels is upheld as a Christian allegory. The essay negates the Christian parallels associated with Ilúvatar and Valar and establishes that Tolkien packages polytheism as monotheism. Monotheism does not permit secondary god/gods. Polytheism on the other hand often features an abstract creator God who creates a polytheistic pantheon. Tolkien’s model, which features a Creator deity and a pantheon of created deities, falls under the second category. The essay infers that Tolkien’s two-tier godhead firstly invalidates the norm of monotheism, and secondly conforms to creator deity and created deity structure of polytheism. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1568-5292 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion and the arts
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685292-02401014 |