J.R.R. Tolkien - The Return of the King with Kirsten Sanders

Nadya Williams talks with theologian Kirsten Sanders about J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Return of the King, exploring its vision of good and evil, the tragic imagination, and the “faith of hobbits.” They discuss why classics endure, the theological depth of Tolkien’s world, the moral resonance of small acts of faithfulness, and the book’s bittersweet ending.

Chapters 00:03 – Tolkien’s life, The Hobbit, and the birth of The Lord of the Rings 02:44 – What makes a book a classic? 05:19 – A reluctant Tolkien reader finds unexpected resonance 10:53 – The quest, the ring, and the nature of evil 14:11 – Evil’s hunger and the metaphors of light and darkness 17:56 – Frodo’s smallness and the anthropology of humble creatures 20:49 – The tragic tone of The Return of the King 23:02 – Denethor’s despair and Gandalf’s call to do good 28:30 – The faith of hobbits and resisting nihilism 30:38 – Tolkien’s gift for character and detail 31:42 – Gandalf, Tom Bombadil, and the mystery of the unaffected 34:27 – Elves, tradition, and the long memory of history 36:46 – Everything is theological: why the story works 39:03 – Sanders’ current and future book projects 41:21 – The faith of hobbits in daily life 42:40 – The power of tangible care and the visible good 44:06 – The devastating beauty of Kristin Lavransdatter 44:59 – Rethinking feminist novels and facing “big books”

Links

Kirsten Sanders, "For Eowyn" Jake Meador, "What I Saw in the Shire--JRR Tolkien and the Love of Little Things" Holly Ordway, "Hobbits and Empire: Geography and the Life of Nations in Tolkien's Writings"