著者

中尾 セツ子

出版者

清泉女子大学

雑誌

清泉女子大学紀要 (ISSN:05824435)

巻号頁・発行日

no.48, pp.43-55, 2000-12

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This is a tentative study of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in comparison with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in particular of the heroes' missions. Both heroes, Frodo and Gawain, take a toilsome journey to accomplish their mission, and are wounded on the last stage of their tasks. A furthur study of the journey reveals that LOTR is a Catholic fantasy although this is never manifest verbally, and Naomi Lewis says that one can read through the book without noticing that the author is a Catholic. The unexpected call of Frodo to destroy the Ring, his incurable wounds, the role of the wicked creature Gollum in the hero's task, and many other events in the story can be classified as 'the inversion of the norma'. This stems from the Christian view of life, and from this point alone can be explained the mystery of Frodo's vocation. While SGGK was written against a background of a strong Christian ethic in society, LOTR is a product of an increasingly non-Christian society and this explains the essential differences between these two works of apparent resemblances.