^^ oh my word.....I can't believe you just said that! please accept the bid, MGM!!!!!

Unfortunately MGM is in serious financial trouble, and they own a share of the rights to The Hobbit. And it's investors and creditors have yet to accept any offers on the table. I hope something is decided soon. Production can't move ahead without some sort of settlement .

GB

UPDATE: Here is a bit of positive news from Warner Bros (owners of New Line):

Warner Bros. has officially confirmed the date for Part 1: December 2012.

^^ this does not sound good.....do you think there's a chance that MGM might go bankrupt, therefore destroying any chance of production on The Hobbit? I truly hope not!

If you click on the link in my last post, you'll find an article that demonstrates that the other studios involved (WB/New Line) are still tentatively planning release dates. My guess is that they feel assured that MGM's problems will be resolved sometime this summer. MGM and their creditors can't hold out forever, they'll have to make some sort of deal soon, even if it means taking a financial hit.

GB

Does anyone know anything about a good book that has keys to the symbols in Lord of the Rings? I just finished the Hobbit, and am having trouble getting into the next one.

I don't know exactly what you mean. But Walking with Frodo by Sarah Arthur is a good companion book for it .

Does anyone know anything about a good book that has keys to the symbols in Lord of the Rings? I just finished the Hobbit, and am having trouble getting into the next one.

What sort of symbols? The only ones I can think of offhand are explained pretty well in the story. If you're having trouble with the descriptions of the Elvish language that aren't really in the story, it's not essential to understanding the plot. I personally haven't read through any of that and I still understand the story perfectly.

"Walking with Frodo" is a good book (It's more like a devotional) to read, but I believe it has major spoilers from later on in the LOTR.

I mean symbols like parallels. You know how Aslan represents Jesus in LWW, and the white witch represents Satan. I was told there was parallels like these in the Lord of the Rings. I will look into buying
"Walking with Frodo."

Thanks for those links, GB.

I have had email contact with the author of Walking with Frodo, Sarah Arthur, and she is a really interesting and cool lady. More recently she's also written Walking with Bilbo, "a devotional adventure through The Hobbit. (Another publication of Sarah's is Walking Through the Wardrobe: guess what book this is based on ... )

Other related books—books that delve into the spiritual aspects of Tolkien's writings—are:
~Tolkien in Perspective by Greg Wright (Sifting the gold from the glitter: a look at the unsettling power of Tolkien's Mythology)
~Following Gandalf by Matthew Dickerson (Epic battles and moral victory in The Lord of the Rings
~Finding God in The Lord of the Rings by Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware (Discover timeless truth Among the hobbits)
~The Battle for Middle-earth by Fleming Rutledge (Tolkien's divine design in The Lord of the Rings
~The Gospel According to Tolkien by Ralph C. Wood (Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-earth)

Some of these are better than others: I didn't care as much for those books where the authors seem to delve too deeply into the supposed spiritual meaning of everything single thing in Middle-earth, and try to force it out, whereupon it sounds overreached and almost cheesy. To be sure, though, there are some interesting and valid points in each of these ... but some more than others.

I have had email contact with the author of Walking with Frodo, Sarah Arthur, and she is a really interesting and cool lady. More recently she's also written Walking with Bilbo, "a devotional adventure through The Hobbit. (Another publication of Sarah's is Walking Through the Wardrobe: guess what book this is based on ... )

My Bible Study did all three of those books.

On the subject of parallels. I remember reading somewhere that Tolkien didn't want people to look for parallels / or didn't put any in. On the other hand I remember something about his making the stories more Christian in revision. Can anyone clarify? (Of course this could be my memory playing tricks on me. )

I remember reading somewhere that Tolkien didn't want people to look for parallels / or didn't put any in.

I'm pretty sure I read that in the prologue for The Fellowship of the Ring.

PP, your memory serves you quite well. In Letter # 142 of The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (edited by Humphrey Carpenter, and one of my favourite JRRT books), Tolkien writes:

"The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put in, or have cut out, practically all references to anything like 'religion', to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism."

JRR's worldview, as with any author's, could not help but come through in so many aspects of his epic myth, even though he did not intentionally intend this to be the case, particularly in the initial writing.

Tolkien insisted that his tale was not an allegory (he actually disliked that form of writing). So, for people to try and match up his fictitious characters to Bible characters is going way overboard. That was never the intent, nor the form of writing. Someplace, and I wish I could track down which letter, he indicated his appreciation that people were going to get different things out of the story, depending on their beliefs and where they were at in life.

EDIT: Yes, GtG, in the "Forward", Tolkien expands on this. I wish I could quote it all, but take time and read it, y'all. 'Tis very insightful. For example, he writes part-way through:

"As for any inner meaning or 'message', it has in the intention of the author none. It is neither allegorical nor topical. ... But I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations ... I think that many confuse 'applicability' with 'allegory'; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author." (italics mine)

And then he goes on a bit until the end of the forward, explaining, however, how an author cannot be wholly unaffected by his experiences. Really interesting read!

I'm no professor when it comes to Tolkien, in fact, I don't think I've ever read any books on him outside of what he wrote. So everything I'm about to write is from my own perspective....

I mean symbols like parallels. You know how Aslan represents Jesus in LWW, and the white witch represents Satan. I was told there was parallels like these in the Lord of the Rings.

Middle Earth is not like Narnia. If you're looking for direct comparisons, you're going to be extremely disappointed. But when you get done reading Lord of the Rings and take a step back and look at it, the similarities of a Christian living his life for Christ and the journey Frodo takes in destroying the ring, are amazing to me. I won't go into detail because I don't want to spoil the book if you haven't finished it yet, but yeah, you're not likely to see anything jump off the page at you.

Now if you get into the Silmarillion, that's another story entirely. Jo recently posted (somewhere) the passage of the creation of the world and Melkor singing his own song.... That short passage is my favorite thing that Tolkien ever wrote and probably the one thing that directly paralleled Christianity (imho).

there is actually a very good book called "The Gospel According to Tolkien" by Ralph C. Wood! it's awesome! if you want some really good comparisons to the Bible and Middle Earth, check this book out!

Exactly, fk. Tolkien did not intend anything allegorical/direct comparisons, but so much of his Godly worldview is enveloped in his myth that we can see many parallels between the journeys of different members of the Fellowship—even Gollum and the Ring (as representing the ongoing struggle with our sin nature)—and our walk with Christ through life. Fantastic stuff! I know that is a key reason why The LotR means the world to me ... because so much of it parallels what I experience in life, with God's providential hand orchestrating it all. W.O.N.D.E.R.F.U.L. stuff!

And that top-notch quote from The Sil is here (first quotation). One of my 'favouritest' quotes ... ever! (The paragraph above the quote briefly explains why.)

Liberty, Wood's book is okay, yes, but we heard him speak once and were quite disappointed. He came out and said that, like Frodo and Sam on their journey Mordor, hope lessens as one goes on in life. That statement quite gave us an abrupt turn. He seemed somewhat cynical. A few people even countered him, but he stood by his ground, bringing very little hope to the audience. Sad. So that sort of turned me off ...