Mercy and Morality in Tolkien

Virtue ethics is an approach to life, a framework for developing character and making moral decisions. To learn about virtue ethics, you could read a philosophical treatise by Aristotle. Or, you could read a fictional novel by J.R.R Tolkien. As my guest, Christopher Snyder, observes, the ideals of virtue ethics are well illustrated in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, being vividly embodied in the characters of Middle-earth.

Chris is a professor of European history, a medieval scholar, and the author of Hobbit Virtues: Rediscovering J.R.R. Tolkien's Ethics from The Lord of the Rings. Today on the show, he shares the way Tolkien's fantasy stories provide real lessons in the capacity of ordinary people to act heroically. We discuss the courage of persistence, the importance of fellowship and how it differs from friendship, the role of merrymaking in the good life, and the value of chivalry.

Resources Related to the Podcast

• AoM Article: Lessons in Manliness —The Hobbit
• AoM Article: Against the Cult of Travel, or What Everyone Gets Wrong About the Hobbit
• AoM Podcast #272: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Myth of Progress
• AoM Podcast #723: Men Without Chests — An Exploration of C.S. Lewis' Abolition of Man
• "Beowulf, the Monsters and the Critics" by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Scene from  LOTR: The Return of the King — "I Can't Carry It For You... But I Can Carry You"
• Scene from LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring — The Death of Boromir
• Scene from LOTR: The Return of the King — The Coronation Of Aragorn
• "The Necessity of Chivalry" by C.S. Lewis 
• The Making of Middle-Earth: A New Look Inside the World of J. R. R. Tolkien by Christopher Snyder
• Books by Tom Shippey

Connect With Chris Snyder

• Chris' faculty page