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Hell And Middle-earth
Scholars have seen multiple resemblances between the medieval Christian conception of hell and evil places in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth. These include the industrial hells of Saruman's Isengard with its underground furnaces and labouring Orcs; the dark tunnels of Moria; Sauron's evil land of Mordor; and Morgoth's subterranean fortress of Angband. The gates to some of these realms, like the guarded West Door of Moria, and the Black Gate to Mordor, too, carry echoes of the gates of hell. Some of the journeys down into the dark places of Middle-earth, too, have been likened to the katabasis of Ancient Greece, a descent into the underworld, as when Lúthien and Beren descend into Angband, or when Lúthien goes to the Halls of Mandos to plead with him to allow Beren to return to life, paralleling the classical Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. These journeys into hellish places may also recall the medieval theme of the Harrowing of Hell, a story in which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vank Cathedral, Isfahan - Heaven, Earth, Hell
The Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (), abbreviated VANK (), is an Internet-based South Korean organization established by Park Ki-Tae in 1999, consisting of 120,000 South Korean members and 30,000 international members. VANK's membership consists mainly of junior high and high school students, although university students also participate. Activities Examples of campaigns they have conducted include organizing a protests movement to pressure Google and Apple to label the Liancourt rocks as Dokto on their maps and spreading the story of the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo, and about ''Jikji'', the world's oldest extant book printed using movable metal type. VANK publishes reading materials, postcards, maps, and videos. VANK's self-built online database and published books with information about Korea are acknowledged by overseas universities as recommended learning resources about Korea. As a way to exchange cultures and connect with foreigners, VANK also conducts surveys about thei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nazgûl
The Nazgûl (from Black Speech 'ring', and 'wraith, spirit')introduced as Black Riders and also called Ringwraiths, Dark Riders, the Nine Riders, or simply the Nineare fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. They were nine Men who had succumbed to Sauron's power through wearing Rings of Power, which gave them immortality but reduced them to invisible wraiths, servants bound to the power of the One Ring and completely under Sauron's control. ''The Lord of the Rings'' calls them Sauron's "most terrible servants". Their leader, known as the Witch-king of Angmar, the Lord of the Nazgûl, or the Black Captain, was Sauron's chief agent for most of the Third Age. At the end of the Third Age, their main stronghold was the city of Minas Morgul at the entrance to Sauron's realm, Mordor. They dress entirely in black. In their early forays, they ride on black horses; later they ride flying monsters, which Tolkien described as " pterodactylic". Their main weapon is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Númenor
Númenor, also called Elenna-nórë or Westernesse, is a fictional place in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings. It was the kingdom occupying a large island to the west of Middle-earth, the main setting of Tolkien's writings, and was the greatest civilization of Men. However, after centuries of prosperity, many of its inhabitants ceased to worship the One God, Eru Ilúvatar, and they rebelled against the Valar. They invaded Valinor in an erroneous search for immortality, resulting in the destruction of the island and the death of most of its people. Tolkien intended Númenor to allude to the legendary Atlantis. Commentators have noted that the destruction of Númenor echoes the Biblical stories of the fall of man and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and John Milton's ''Paradise Lost''. The tale forms part of the theme of decline and fall in Middle-earth that runs throughout Tolkien's legendarium, ancient Númenor representing a now-mythical age of greatness. Scholars, and Tolkie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sundering Of The Elves
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Elves or Quendi are a sundered (divided) people. They awoke at Cuiviénen on the continent of Middle-earth, where they were divided into three tribes: Minyar (the Firsts), Tatyar (the Seconds) and Nelyar (the Thirds). After some time, they were summoned by Oromë to live with the Valar in Valinor, on Aman. That summoning and the Great Journey that followed split the Elves into two main groups (and many minor ones), which were never fully reunited. Tolkien stated that the stories were made to create a world for his elvish languages, not the reverse. The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey writes that ''The Silmarillion'' derived from the linguistic relationship between the two languages, Quenya and Sindarin, of the divided Elves. The Tolkien scholar Verlyn Flieger states that Tolkien used the Indo-European type of proto-language as his model. In her view, the sundering of the Elves reflects the progressive decline and fall in Middle-earth from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ainulindalë
The (; "Music of the Ainur") is the creation account in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, published posthumously as the first part of '' The Silmarillion'' in 1977. The sets out a central part of the cosmology of Tolkien's legendarium, telling how the Ainur, a class of angelic beings, perform a great music prefiguring the creation of the material universe, '' Eä'', including Middle-Earth. The creator Eru Ilúvatar introduces the theme of the sentient races of Elves and Men, not anticipated by the Ainur, and gives physical being to the prefigured universe. Some of the Ainur decide to enter the physical world to prepare for their arrival, becoming the Valar and Maiar. Tolkien wrote the initial version of the between November 1919 and the spring of 1920 as "Music of the Ainur", and then completely rewrote it in 1930. He continued to make further revisions throughout his life. The early version was eventually published by his son Christopher in '' The Book of Lost Tales 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fall Of Man
The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God in Christianity, God to a state of guilty disobedience. * * * * The doctrine of the Fall comes from a biblical interpretation of Book of Genesis, Genesis, chapters 1–3. At first, Adam and Eve lived with God in the Garden of Eden, but the Serpents in the Bible, serpent tempted them into Taboo#In religion and mythology, eating the Forbidden fruit, fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which God had forbidden. After doing so, they became ashamed of their nakedness and God expelled them from the Garden to prevent them from eating the fruit of the Tree of life (biblical), tree of life and becoming Immortality, immortal. In Nicene Christianity, mainstream (Nicene) Christianity, the doctrine of the Fall is closely related to that of original sin or ancestral sin. Nicene Christians believe that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Silmarillion
''The Silmarillion'' () is a book consisting of a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited, partly written, and published posthumously by his son Christopher in 1977, assisted by Guy Gavriel Kay, who became a fantasy author. It tells of Eä, a fictional universe that includes the Blessed Realm of Valinor, the ill-fated region of Beleriand, the island of Númenor, and the continent of Middle-earth, where Tolkien's most popular works—''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''—are set. After the success of ''The Hobbit'', Tolkien's publisher, Stanley Unwin, requested a sequel, and Tolkien offered a draft of the writings that would later become ''The Silmarillion''. Unwin rejected this proposal, calling the draft obscure and "too Celtic", so Tolkien began working on a new story that eventually became ''The Lord of the Rings''. ''The Silmarillion'' has five parts. The first, '' Ainulindalë'', tells in mythic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Murray (Jesuit)
Robert Patrick Ruthven Murray (1925-2018) was an English Jesuit priest, scripture and patristics scholar and university professor who wrote extensively on Syriac. Early life Murray was born to parents who were Congregationalist missionaries in China. His grandfather was James Murray, the noted lexicographer and founding editor of the ''Oxford English Dictionary''. His uncles included H. J. R. Murray and Oswyn Murray. He had his entire education in England. After going to school at Eltham College and Taunton School, he went to study Classics at the University of Oxford. In Oxford, where he met and became friends with J. R. R. Tolkien. While there, he converted to Catholicism. After graduating, he taught at Beaumont College, for one year. It was a school run by the Jesuits. After that year, he decided to join the Jesuits and was ordained at Heythrop College, in Oxfordshire, on 31 July 1959. The next day, at his first Mass, Tolkien was one of the altar servers. Academic career A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christianity In Middle-earth
Christianity is a central Themes of The Lord of the Rings, theme in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional works about Middle-earth, but the specifics are always kept hidden. This allows for the books' meaning to be personally interpreted by the reader, instead of the author detailing a strict, set meaning. J. R. R. Tolkien was a devout Roman Catholic from boyhood, and he described ''The Lord of the Rings'' in particular as a "fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision". While he insisted it was not an allegory, it contains numerous themes from Christian theology. These include the battle of good versus evil, the triumph of humility over pride, and the activity of grace. A central theme is Death and immortality in Middle-earth, death and immortality, with light as a symbol of divine creation, but Tolkien's attitudes as to mercy and pity, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, the Eucharist, Salvation in Christianity, salvation, Repen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lord Of The Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually developed into a much larger work. Written in stages between 1937 and 1949, ''The Lord of the Rings'' is one of the List of best-selling books, best-selling books ever written, with over 150 million copies sold. The title refers to the story's main antagonist, the Dark Lord Sauron, who History of Arda#Second Age, in an earlier age created the One Ring, allowing him to rule the other Rings of Power given to Men in Middle-earth, men, Dwarves in Middle-earth, dwarves, and Elves in Middle-earth, elves, in his campaign to conquer all of Middle-earth. From homely beginnings in the Shire, a hobbit land reminiscent of the English countryside, the story ranges across Middle-earth, following Quests in Middle-earth, the quest to destroy the One Ring, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization. O'Collins, p. v (preface). The church consists of 24 ''sui iuris'' (autonomous) churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and eparchies around the world, each overseen by one or more bishops. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor of the church. The core beliefs of Catholicism are found in the Nicene Creed. The Catholic Church teaches that it is the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church founded by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission, that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles, and that the pope is the successor of Saint Peter, upo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
