J.R.R. Tolkien’s Legendary works possess a spectacular beauty  . When you immerse yourself in them, you discover something you’ve never known before. Not only because of the stories they tell, but also because of his vision, which uncovers wonders and captures them in such a unique way. 

It possesses something that resonates with the deepest longings of humankind. Perhaps it’s because we harbor desires for beauty in the depths of our hearts:  we were created with dreams of infinity,  with a “seed” of eternity, and we are not “filled” by just anything.

Furthermore, our author possesses a  very special creative gift  , honed by the many languages ​​he knows, speaks, and is passionate about, and by his understanding of the etymological meaning of words. His semantic capacity, and the worlds he illuminates through these languages—some arcane and ancient, imbued with a wealth of accumulated wisdom, providing historical depth to the narrative, and others simpler, like the characters who speak them—are truly remarkable.

Tolkien is able to engage us with his work, to create a bond with each reader that makes us think and discover a better reality than the one we so often experience. A reality with more light,  joy, and hope. What could or should be… And he does so through  words  and  stories that unfold,  many in Elvish languages ​​he invented. For example, Quenya, based on Finnish, and Sindarin, based on Welsh, spoken by  the elves,  ancient creatures, artists, and sages.  

These languages  ​​preserve  believable stories, rich in meaning and imbued with profound beauty. Something truly dazzling: a harmonious and captivating whole that allows us to revel in the unfolding beauty, immersing us, moving us, gladdening us, and even healing and comforting us.

When reading his work, one perceives that everything in Middle-earth is alive… serpentine, something almost magical, for he knows how to convey with  “enchanted” words  that  superabundance of the being  of things, their nuances, many created with his “magic wand” of the word, full of  meaning.

The Professor has been able to beautifully illuminate  a field that was undiscovered, as he put it, with memorable stories full of splendor for his beloved England, and for all of us who approach him from the various corners of the planet. 

Because to invent, in its etymological sense, means to find, to discover, to uncover: to ” unveil” possible worlds  that are as if “hidden,” waiting for someone to reveal them, and thus, to make a call to the innermost recesses of the heart. For this reason, he will say that his work is an  essay in linguistic aesthetics … on  the death and immortality of humankind. 

An artistic ” sub-creation , “  as he calls it. Not “fantasy” in the sense some believe, as something unreal, futile, banal, and without transcendence, but an authentic  mythology created , sub  -created, for his beloved nation. Precisely at the beginning of the Great War,  from the trenches and the pain and the senselessness.  What greatness of spirit! 

And myth, in its Aristotelian sense, is narrative, story, history, and is composed of truth. He explains this in his essay  “On Fairy Tales,”  from the book “Tree and Leaf.” That is why it reflects and illuminates the reality in which we live. Often the meaning of myth is confused, and it is lumped into the catch-all category of “fantasy” in its pejorative sense, even as something false. However, it is authentic art, true art, such as few have been able to create. A singular gift.

He discussed this topic of myths at length with his friend C.S. Lewis and other intellectuals, such as Hugo Dyson, because it is a way of understanding the world through the light and beauty that emanate from them, illuminating our world. For:  “We come from God,  and inevitably the myths we weave… reflect  a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal truth of God,”  which we perceive in many nuances that resonate within each reader, according to the circumstances of their life.

The Professor understands  human beings,  and he doesn’t remain on the surface, but rather delves into the deepest desires and  longings of the heart :  that desire for immortality, to endure, to do something great with one’s life. Because we are created to last  ” beyond  the circles of this world,” as Aragorn tries to console his wife Arwen in their farewell. We do not aspire merely to memories.

Middle-earth is full of meaning,  light  , and beauty. And everything is a gift, something free, magical, and miraculous to be grateful for, as G.K. Chesterton would also discover after times of “darkness”…

It reaches the very core of the human being through the beauty of its  legendarium , full of stories and meaning, though often terrible, as happens in the real world. Because  ” joy , like sorrow, is sharp as a sword” … as happens to Gimli with the beauty of the Lotlhórien. He did not fear pain or death, but light and beauty… He is dazzled by it. That is why it touches the heart so deeply.

In one of his letters, Letter 183, he will say that his world is not an imaginary world, but  an imaginary historical moment in Middle-earth,  which is the place where we live.

Its creation helps us discover  the meaning  of reality, to see beyond appearances, and to glimpse our own purpose in life.  The mission of each individual,  as happens to Frodo, and to every character in the legendary tale.

This way of seeing the world is closely related to G.K. Chesterton’s conception of fairy tales, with whom he shares this philosophy.  Chesterton  writes about it in “The Ethics of Elfland,” or Fantasia, in his autobiographical book Orthodoxy. It is a beautiful and sophisticated form of literature, not so much for children, that reflects the reality, full of the astonishing beauty of that world.

This imaginative power and capacity   “awakens” and becomes more prominent with  J.H. Newman  and other intellectuals of the Oxford movement. And in George MacDonald, from whom they learn its full meaning, both romantic and Christian, well integrated, especially in his work “Phantastes.” And specifically C.S. Lewis: he will be the “baptism” of their imagination, and they will discuss it with their  friends the Inklings,  above all with Tolkien.

The Professor says: “I believe that what are called fairy tales are one of the greatest forms that literature has given us, mistakenly associated with childhood.” And  imagination , which recovers the initial beauty of the created world through fantasy. That power and  “ right”  of human beings, to create with their faculties and capacities to discover the  initial beauty  of creation, and to “complete” that creation.

Tolkien’s work helps us to look at and  contemplate  reality, to discover the beauty hidden everywhere, for we perceive the infinity it contains, reflected in  a thousand nuances and stories, like white light breaking down  into many colors. And this is because reality is brimming  with meaning , a gift bestowed upon us. And therefore, something to be grateful for.

Perhaps  artists  are more capable of perceiving many of these nuances… and of reflecting them in  moving, vivid works of art and stories, “that go from mind to mind,”  as Tolkien writes in his poem Mythopoeia.

Discovering and perceiving the beauty of reality, because everything is a gift , a present, overflowing with truth, beauty, meaning… Learning to  contemplate,  which is a “loving perception” of the world around us. Having a warm, grateful gaze, because everything is “magic,” a miracle; the illusion of “finding something around the corner,” as Gilbert Keith says with his open smile and  grateful wonder.  

And for Tolkien, ” magic”  means wisdom, knowing things and bringing them to their  full potential.  That is,  the natural way of being of the world . Seeing beyond appearances, perceiving the underlying beauty… “lifting it up” with the imagination.

In Middle-earth, everything seems to be “enveloped” in magic… Closely linked to the powers of the  Wizards, or Istari, who are “wise.”  And to the Elven Rings that preserve and enhance the beauty of nature and the created world. One of these is guarded by the Lady of the Wood in Lorien, a lush realm where time seems to stand still. With her unfolds the  creative will  of the elves, the creative artists. 

We can learn to perceive things in their true depth, calmly, with fresh eyes, without becoming accustomed to them, because so often we get caught up in the superficial and the merely incidental, due to haste, lack of thought, failure to pause, and a lack of contemplation. And in this way, we cannot discover their true charm. So much  beauty eludes us, and we need it  far more than it seems, as Dostoevsky discovered in such harsh circumstances.

Truth  becomes accessible to us through the splendor of its beauty …: it is like the key that unlocks the door to truth and goodness. For, as Thomas Aquinas pointed out, “ beauty is a reflection of that truth ,” of that gratuitous, dazzling reality, full of meaning. 

In Tolkien’s Middle-earth, there is much wisdom about the world and about humankind: about its depths and its longings. And this knowledge illuminates us and helps us understand who we are, what truly fulfills us, and ways to cultivate that essence, which will make us happier. It is closely related to the  initial beauty  of all creation. We are  made from beauty, for the  imperishable beauty that never fades. Our hearts desire it and seek it… a calling that propels us upward.

One of his first stories

One of his first poems was  “The Voyage of Eärendil ,  the Evening Star.”  It would become the foundation for unfolding worlds and stories where beautiful words could be spoken in a fitting setting… He wrote it around 1914, and it narrates a sailor’s journey across the sky: “Eärendil plunged from the top of the Ocean…” Later, it would have more versions and would “grow,” based on the invented languages ​​he developed as he worked on it. And from there, much later, would emerge  the light of Eärendil , the most precious Star…  which Lady Galadriel gathers in the crystal vial to give to the Ring-bearer on his journey to the “Cracks of Doom.” May it illuminate him in the dreadful places when all other lights have been extinguished.

Looking back in time, this is what a group of friends from Birmingham School, the  TC, BS  (Tea Club and Barrovian Society), set out to do before the Great War of 1914:  to enlighten the world.  And this is something Tolkien accomplished, as two of them, his dear friends G.B. Smith and R. Wilson, died in it. Only Christopher Wiseman survived, and he was deeply affected by it.

Later, at Oxford University, he would do something similar with his great  friend C.S. Lewis,  forming the  Inklings literary group.  They became close friends, finding solace in each other amidst the suffering of war and death. Lewis constantly encouraged him as his creative work unfolded, recognizing its greatness and uniqueness. Lewis, in turn, would write other stories about time and space travel. And later, when he came to deeply understand the illuminating reality of myth, and the transcendence of “Myth” with  a  capital M, thanks to his friends, an awe-inspiring horizon would open up to him, and the Chronicles of Narnia, written in an allegorical style, would overflow from his heart.

Finally, I would like to recommend again the book “The Wizard of Words” by Dr. Eduardo Segura, from which you can learn so much, as well as  the more in-depth “JRR Tolkien: Fairy Tales”  by JM Odero, a pioneer in the study of Tolkien.