Wonderous Stories of Hope: An Ecocritical Reading of Trees in The Lord of the Rings

Abstract

Trees has an immense part of our lives, not only as beautiful scenery, but also contribute significantly to our ability to breathe. This thesis presents an ecocritical view on the use of trees in the legendarium The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955) by J.R.R. Tolkien, which became especially popular during the 1960’s and 1970’s and again with the Peter Jackson film trilogy in the early 2000’s. Its epic scope of righteousness and villainy set in a imaginary universe with a variety of sentient fairy tale-inspired beings has intrigued millions, and as one pick up the books you learn that much of this impact have their wellspring from the prose describing places, nature, objects and people - all of whom carried by deep, cosmic and inventive lore. This is also considered noteworthy in terms of understanding the gravity of trees in Middle Earth. Besides trees, ecocriticism and literature don't immediately strike as impactful as for example scientific articles for social change. But as there is ample research to its defence, even an essay by Tolkien himself on this topic (more specifically on fairy tales), which elaborate on fantasy’s capacity to enthrall its reader in an alternative space - this essay will explain that foundation first to challenge any obstructive bias. On that note, I look into fantasy’s function in terms of generating hope for a sustainable future and then show trees in four different scenarios: a healthy tree in Lothlórien, a dead holy tree in Gondor, the political standpoint of an Ent (the deviant amongst my chosen trees), and the results of a silver nut planted in Hobbiton. Each with their symbolic themes of morality, grace, and the balance between nature and culture.

Trees has an immense part of our lives, not only as beautiful scenery, but also contribute significantly to our ability to breathe. This thesis presents an ecocritical view on the use of trees in the legendarium The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955) by J.R.R. Tolkien, which became especially popular during the 1960’s and 1970’s and again with the Peter Jackson film trilogy in the early 2000’s. Its epic scope of righteousness and villainy set in a imaginary universe with a variety of sentient fairy tale-inspired beings has intrigued millions, and as one pick up the books you learn that much of this impact have their wellspring from the prose describing places, nature, objects and people - all of whom carried by deep, cosmic and inventive lore. This is also considered noteworthy in terms of understanding the gravity of trees in Middle Earth. Besides trees, ecocriticism and literature don't immediately strike as impactful as for example scientific articles for social change. But as there is ample research to its defence, even an essay by Tolkien himself on this topic (more specifically on fairy tales), which elaborate on fantasy’s capacity to enthrall its reader in an alternative space - this essay will explain that foundation first to challenge any obstructive bias. On that note, I look into fantasy’s function in terms of generating hope for a sustainable future and then show trees in four different scenarios: a healthy tree in Lothlórien, a dead holy tree in Gondor, the political standpoint of an Ent (the deviant amongst my chosen trees), and the results of a silver nut planted in Hobbiton. Each with their symbolic themes of morality, grace, and the balance between nature and culture.