Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

The Ring of Truth: Truth and Wisdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
The Ring of Truth: Truth and Wisdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
The Ring of Truth: Truth and Wisdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
Ebook306 pages6 hours

The Ring of Truth: Truth and Wisdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

5/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

For decades millions of people have enjoyed reading J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. This seminal work of modern fantasy was deservedly voted the greatest book of the twentieth century by major British booksellers. But The Lord of the Rings is more than a great work of fantasy, more than an epic adventure story. The world of Middle-earth was conceived by an author whose fantasy world was informed by his biblical and Catholic beliefs. Because of this, his novel is filled to the brim with timeless truth and wisdom. Middle-earth is a world of ethical absolutes and very real evil. Its history is one great and marvelous tapestry, tightly and flawlessly woven by Providence. Prophecy is its organizing motif and unifying feature. All of its prophetic elements pertain to a providential plan to deliver Middle-earth from the evil power and designs of Sauron. Scriptural allusions abound, for Tolkien has saturated his fantasy novel with allusions to biblical ideas, scenes, and characters. These themes, and more, emerge in brilliant detail in Joseph E. O’Day’s The Ring of Truth: Truth and Wisdom in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.

Tolkien wrote that his fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings “is about God, and his sole right to divine honour. The Eldar and the Númenoreans believed in The One, the true God, and held worship of any other person an abomination.” Consequently, Tolkien’s novel contains Christian truth and wisdom that has much to say about our beliefs, our world, our spirituality, and ourselves. Divine providence, ethical absolutes, beauty, temptation, mercy, joy, courage, and self-sacrifice are but a few of the twenty-four prominent themes from Middle-earth that resonate with the ring of truth. Some other themes of truth and wisdom in The Ring of Truth:
Prophecy, Resurrection, Spiritual Healing, The Reality of Evil, Faithfulness, Hope, Humility & Pride, Righteous Anger, Everyday Wisdom, and Loyalty & Friendship.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherJoseph O'Day
Release dateAug 21, 2014
ISBN9781311841872
The Ring of Truth: Truth and Wisdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
Author

Joseph O'Day

Most of my work since 1986 has been as an editor, but I have considered myself a writer first. My story as a writer began in high school. I grew up on a farm, and my parents were active in the Grange, both state and national. My mother entered Grange sewing contests for many years and won so many times in a row that they asked her to take a break so that someone else could win! When I was a teenager, the Grange had a national safety essay contest. I decided to enter. My mother told me not to get my hopes up, but I was confident, and guess what, I won! After high school, I went on to undergraduate and graduate work, and writing papers was what I enjoyed the most. In fact, I was disappointed when a course did not require a paper. Two of my English professors were so impressed with the paper that I wrote for them that they encouraged me to get my master’s in English, but I felt called to go to seminary. A few years later, in the eighties, I wrote and published a booklet with InterVarsity Press, "Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts." In the eighties, my older brother tried his hand at writing a science-fiction novel but grew tired of it, so he handed it off to me to finish. I improved his part of the novel, beefed up the characters, and completed the plotline. I eventually self-published it as "Imperial Guard" and recently published it as an ebook on Smashwords and elsewhere. In the nineties, I wrote several articles for magazines and contributed chapters to two compendiums. After the turn of the century, I wrote a book on "The Lord of the Rings," trying to beat the premier of the third movie. I almost found a publisher, but again, I had to self-publish. "The Ring of Truth: Truth and Wisdom in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings" also is now an ebook. Two years later, I published four children’s picture books with Ambassador Books. Shortly after the publication of the fourth book, the publisher declared bankruptcy! Two of those books are available as ebooks on Amazon: "I Like Snow!" and "I Like Rain!" The other two ("I Like Wind!" and "I Like Sunshine!") will be available soon. Over the years, I have written for preschool, grade-school, and teenaged kids and for adults. Despite disappointments and setbacks, I continue to write. I love it and hope to be able to write for the rest of my life.

Related to The Ring of Truth

Related ebooks

Christianity For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for The Ring of Truth

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5

1 rating0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    The Ring of Truth - Joseph O'Day

    cbook_preview_excerpt.html|ͲF^YWe!$Km[ciFPhEs)z-{Λ9' vjBK(TeɓYfw7е7ʶɾ /昕.tGvh>k7&oǏ}6Yޅ%ڬhk|7tf~ig0}4_Uֺ]¾,UHCwKqUkE>kP|Λo2 eu}~vy_b0l8iy`*x\a=) ݚe_ru貢;B(ՆCݛ޶X. 6t}&cX:z,:۬mɞ(n]6[Ne[]yݐW]x°c|K>,uhJ5+2˵aW;,0.C>5 kc?pRgv!BaSben_v0SUbv8Y^W! x,+R߫r]ZAp[en Qsд$u; :D.,}~m?7Ȳ;~1]z݊qa|_2 V[هBQ_^UFsȚp+Ү](F.!TW.ؐZΪm96qd>?ln1A[`9ͭ(;C7y]VeiOv](Z4&4-ެ&t$v%^| >Iv+M?B|8.jm`nRfE/tFY㶃ރ޾ؔ]gĎі^_&C4:W'~,﫣E{6|:hBYL4ۇvOZM'h>|g= 32k邉06pR.氯rp(2瞡iaE30,Xe=ġnwG b[,䜼P&79["K_Ղo6RzMT0{>#GӠ,\HڭԦ=u0]Cׅ~"wu 3+7%A 6=cP IsȖGaS¶h64XtrFeO^o&gƺr~\.$&'siGʼno tM̾ndgA9*k;+Էt(\]y.kГW#!QTՅvut9~q2\y6NQ»MT1zSl})(z"ܼMjTks0uTgPeϴ=Z*õPQCq yWn7il ̄2.4hV*ĥ-J3j.$\01–cl_[<܃ƥP@a L^wؗZob?6?}uWN_/ ^&GŰuCYgZ~SDA6^K-",7 KD]^v C}Y{<\Ҁ0[I/۪u,f`a>j-#Fp',nL!wɇ%AqZ"qQ ¶ń0lEKK0\!@[; ɥiUp Ag/y>#U1(ƴmjOL$s 4sp2rZKYqA6?dA =1"7\yk&6 >LC5xB Y X513[ڶMJȞUZ >"+zʱ#^`:G/&EzPB4Koh:f,bZV1 D9gAgіF7!=MQ,`Hdcnp柬Zk1|X HUJӪ2plr巖:MӔTT5.ODyAcJݏQB1L,]`\GnM%zmOCÑ ~M̀GtV)lc‚b1"ѽz4g./ ĜN.qjwra; !{nO4="Q^)PÆ Qf B ^CI"ݦ/;s+W vPkB|&{HXe8wo Orw ^oP6Pǽ<4EX}g8!,"BÐȗY[n=}B:xŢOwCV}嗷7y!ǂ`OIURaw{&koǖ&ċMKdMs6hx4yNò@8n1{@sK2"zq}"KpA#Lz26yైy]Fltc#g E>lwPR_ܾ̀+LNqѳٍ>-o*ߙql|!PyI+kH+(^"5L [@\}TOɇ@Hn&Ik~HR+ oQOHF#m.:rG~" ");fB/~SJNд> Hؗss'.Xr4 xQ.-TS H"i`i{ U<4 WF )+eK6t+goӠCtI\ͦLo%9Lύ:H䶷-"7k]t~S6yoVˏgˋn_|Ȟ[qXwza#e3# [*=J{Sg}ky/ir&J8(!CGR|<Z8rҫѺOe4*v* )1Lw2tme^U1?jX&"Pߢ·ln;xŦ澘A̤ђS _~<_9Ê,Wv3$o31rE?ʅaے‛_u.y9r]?w#ݘ*a\3̾ͯIzI7:7@1S%b Deq_}5q^Vv*|rk2Q+ob0f(f*RtVc < Hتr666<3FTl"0ÚtɦG0nm#)b1gT e/ΥK148Q !}-sxR?L"+p>1nƎ:;5~̾_:4_2.ٔI]Mmtq]]rL4ig|/"%\]1֪"ls%d~@Lx8 @Qs"zQ m圖?5vlZ)fr>"i[ P 눃R8qx>5IQjsgE+ZKE6Ly)iq5+JPˍY)x@BV̢Hg1Z ]c5"XR1jܵ$Is/qgSc%)aگÈ,,n`!$71:_Ov=e8`w5 D n2;BGp ߆"+ˠuЗne\G)&&qY"V,j5i'fdB ňЏiX.KYA+7%k!zH "%^Ę*H2K@j珮:Z{[{X У`|/}"= &U3~{uN:|EccYXd~o1y:@0=A#=~#ހ́ك5=zu}P.pF1Qǐ*|SYX$Uan'&}E$=eXLϰCvb6Ŀ+?^^ӎ3d{o [&cz˪pUc#yeH; l *fgݱfXp6h-!xbX9癆ݖS: NEðKb,lU _Mk̕,+ نrZS9H]\L&JEkEje56sJ&$5ό'ڲ~j}8);Ԋ [)Loj,ݽ̉?~=>ADh ؅ߑo+,Z+Y9Ǔ *S4H5Z,v00#oGB 8([R [E1&>wȉSUɓ^ ;;jj^ь"AD+f\nШ4e#6nK8 Z UrU*riџyl1tmat0*L-';FK[S_] !;V^C޼c>L,?!+[۪ݒxy$b >PDXDGW Q{5SSYC[e3\6EPg~u:RAe Un61*SZO4t;gߕKT,=PjxB Cˁ1=aeq*GgAaa*wߙ~Oer'"&.RD țcwƀi!|"9:&w"h cqϽ/og4Џ$O\xʂ6t=| gp <-i[ ]1U+MB#I^+z{iBBƩ5 X>Η>Lѹ2}}=$RSw]d_~kebOJRP@vTPOF3Mux|o\$O򊎉J!6OejHD>W5 n?i1% /zegW~*2r(Rڈ+&1zTI1p4I2m4n})Y3S[b݂kFb(zJ;| Hԁpfsaٝdd5+iȲoe?uITxMO2ј~bY&+%b{$}uqs::O%EBӱHa;*j2% ;?4Nrh@-~&;ah?[ʝˋ֖kKv~.(F򵞊DMp)1 X,*.6%"9H5@Z*0Dg#L6Uҭsi(OvjwG(5OvЏ@] =V3pjoRC;T2b!Sʲ*JK.$_9S.,øzw+gmQt*Rϲ./T ƽOOWPqq;̻cu>:s]^K?w/_)}֩g?UcCҡBYmTNc<ܟ~ws-8پR<*ğkףW W`D{ Otu f&&4qZVV,L!Hyg8IkSU}EղrH?Rm! uRأy6,$E@cr'US,={1 LW.2 +k77z/#/#LM}},L?L$KHBzC :)i r]{E?/%Ode]7V9XΪOȽHtqKT:6P:":8MZIy\}+!c$%Pgf<)vL+V*쑔 t” ֡ߙpBj\A7@i,qSLE1lӪ${q~ܒMbjzC(ҽInΤ*[a}2H:C](Z,m1smjz?p\sS|z:<+,O. dXsO[§r: yS5NXENw? ;~$:>cPw,ΏՐo6C5U.t=U2z?܆ek!z;>I +xwkNTq+LWޯ.0¤6G gְԣ%n~20[nbeqmu:I˙"@H'_.dƸ:j!x2 ]}_"NPeyv|Gµrq_'/W@gD6FwXhNcGn* kV³(dd7L0uf#]l20Nr8B$.'豵(ͥ/xRu;5n,86'"B9 vZE"6_xӳniU4![Zg]إ/n_2UWg0Kkّ#82N2a9>AnT1L+2bcHSS;C(y> ﷜ֺ!^[Եef[zɔs6^le2fJ$)a=xnJ=4{z SЬ$=O.Z۪%Ӗ8={^;n[Ԝk+fkX`k6%p(yAL\gЋaN]|S[)ϱt-*r;eٳف3?kkdSR<!_$6$!Z 6b:`%2>'MW܆%>2 `B#YF^EN -?yY h+ZLo4VϐUjIJACy:V6H0%U}|zֹ4ȪovdOW6Mgmb!lS%P}a-tIws9)x|v4xJZ?nd jO^ W(Y=:/F,vƌ, i9ϩ ĭm"GIJItc#,CXc3;UvbcbѾS=?g;zt{y┿ S kI̴}:F?bF|hL,9ao2/a}CGkkb/`| w_;FtTxyYaŖIN[dxs[ga7f@<Q売+Mz2'5aV%50cw޾E ܞu8|Im'M :xuXϼf0zqV40`wHMTMU~;MTeS6ߕ.j;.ܽN޴"D,yĘK*CPv0 'ߞԠRI^!s IXbR߽Mcb,&'{8$蠱a{Y fzITZWo<.=)r_:GT|qPSZ {S!"dD:*+ZM'j{{_MĨT#̄*ʠ n&D>6aza_jڧk4[e7K%觳k"Oձm%7ݑzeǭ^\9!CO"f/ *vcW&dplD"]f[f?"꽎֒q
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1