"Many of us are already ring wraiths." That hits hard.

I made a small mistake in the video, saying 4 rings for the dwarves for some reason. Sorry about that. Give me your opinions on the interpretation, I know people can be LOTR experts, which I am not, so I am curious to know.

Also notice how the level of control is increased with the multiplicity of the rings. The Nine he has complete domination over. The Seven he has corrupted to make their owners greedy and selfish, but the Three he cannot see unless he comes into the fullness of his power. Also interesting how three heroes, Gandalf, Aragorn and Frodo, aĺl have a descent into death/trampling down, sequence. One more point worth talking about is how every time evil is fought head-on, in ages past, the victory is laced with sorrow and evil is not fully beaten. Tolkien had a very clever take on how evil can be defeated.

I always saw the ring as an allegory for sin and giving in to being your own god. You desire it as it will give your power (invisibility) but by giving into the ring you allow the devil (sauron) complete control over you or to see and destroy you. You believe in the falsehood that the ring will bring you life/power but it really brings death and destroys you as evident by how it transforms gollum into a wretched creature.

I teach The Lord of the Rings and found this video among the most insightful work on Tolkien I've encountered. Thank you! I will share it with my students.

"it is possible that many of us have already become ringwraiths." i love how this interpretation puts the symbolism intertwined in the LOTR in modern context. i think advancing technology, especially artificial intelligence is, looking at the current developments that are coming at us faster and faster every time, something to definitely have an eye on or two.

Good idea for you to not bind yourself to patreon, it makes you stronger but you also become dependent on it :D

I am a wearer of many rings, the ring of alcohol, of cigarettes, of KZfaq. I'm a wraith. Thank you for this interpretation, it may be of some use to me in my struggles.

also.. the interplay of fate and free will in Lotr. Frodo’s fate to carry the burden but also his responsibility to take that moral choice. all characters are pushed to make difficult moral decisions, but in the end there is the ‘eucatastrophe’ (the Providence ensuring the good’s defeat over evil) no individual character, but the culmination of all small steps lead to victory and in the end saved by grace.

One aspect of the Ring of Power I find interesting is how it symbolizes one of the most perplexing characteristics of power over others - once you have it, it is almost impossible to voluntarily give up. In the LOTR trilogy, the only character we see truly able to resist the grasp of power after having tasted it is Samwise Gamgee. Every other character fails to voluntarily relinquish the Ring of Power without some degree of struggle.

“Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, Ash nazg thrakutulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul. Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.” by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

I find it interesting how the One Ring 'completes' the other levels - making 4 of the three elven rings, for example. The three elven rings are the ring of Water, Fire and Air (Nenya, Narya and Vilya), the One Ring would complete this series and be the ring of Earth, earth being a symbol for material wealth, but also for fertile ground (or the opposite). Celebrimbor thought Sauron to be a 'giver of gifts' when he crafted the rings, calling him 'Annatar'. He had mistaken or overseen the negative aspects technology, wealth, earth brings with it (a common theme for all Noldor) and was eventually killed by Sauron, 'giver of gifts', because he wouldn't yield the rings back to him. It's also interesting how the destruction of the One Ring could be seen as the completion of the world, as the Silmarils (symbols of holy power, something like that) were already in their right place (in the Sky with Eärendil, in the Sea due to Maglor and a 'fiery pit' with Maedhros - note here the similarities between the Silmarils and the 3 Rings), yet the earth element was missing and still about in the world in the form of the One Ring, made by Sauron. From a Jungian perspecitve, where one sees 3 of something, one should look for a 4th (which is oftentimes repressed, or seen as evil). 3 Silmarils on Morgoth's crown, making him the 4th - 3 silmarils and Sauron's ring, sauron being archetypically the same as Morgoth, the 4th element earth as an evil which needs to be incorporated and not seperate or above from the rest. I tried to figure this out for a while now and you helped me along the way, I hope this rambling made sense, thanks! Topic suggestion: The Fall of the Noldor, Nargothrond, Doriath and Gondolin and their relation to the biblical fall is a goldmine

I am not one to be joyful when I see a new video of a creator that I appreciate, I am a bit too stoic and negative for that, and yet I was joyful when I saw that you released a new video on LotR, which as someone raised atheist, was one of my first deep approach on mythology and symbolism. Do keep up the good work, your words do not die as soon as they have been heard.

As much as I’m not a fan of Harry Potter, I think that the notion of the horcrux is a really incredible way of understanding technology. The more Voldemort put his soul into different horcruxes, the more fragmented he became, until he ultimately lacked a proper body altogether and took on a weak, vampiric body. After his horcruxes were destroyed, he lacked embodiment and was easily overcome. Technology is a horcrux- the more of ourselves that we invest in it and depend upon it, the more fragile we become. How many people would survive if the grid were to collapse? Almost none- the grid is their horcrux, and when it is destroyed, so is the embodiment of their souls.

Loved it. If you want to stick with Tolkien, I'd recommend the Ainulindale, or The Music of the Ainur. It's from the Silmarillion. It's Tolkien's Creation myth, and is absolutely beautiful. Thank you for what you're doing, I'm hooked. This one spoke to me especially as I come from a communication background that presents a historical worldview that focuses on an idea of technological determinism (Marshall McLuhan type stuff). What you've identified is profound. We are all ringwraiths. More unsettling than us turning into androids. Thank you again! Your presentation of Orthodox iconography has set a fire beneath the development of my faith, I felt I was in a rut, or at least that I had plateaued. The rigidness of protestant systematic theology has been gnawing at me for some time. You're beautiful.

regards from egypt, i follow you since kek episode on jordan peterson channel. keep it up

Tom Bombadil would be cool to talk about since he is not influenced by the ring. Also I wish to hear ur interpretation of the Green Knight which Tolkien said was one of the most difficult characters to interpret. Great video as always!!

The work by this guy continues to fascinate and amaze me.

Excellent stuff, and particularly the Ringwraith punchline, which ties in with your thoughts on zombies. If you want suggestions for subjects in the LotR, how about: symbolism of the feminine (Galadriel, Eowyn, Arwen, Rosie Cotton, the usually-overlooked Ioreth, and Shelob); symbolism of the tower (LotR has lots of them); thoughts on Minas Tirith as Byzantium; an Orthodox Christian take on an explicitly Catholic work. Is that enough for starters? :-)

You make an interesting point about we humans binding, Sauron-like, our power to our technology. 'The Distributist' made a related point recently when he compared the power of emerging technology (especially AI) to the 'Eldritch Abominations' of HP Lovecraft.

I also see the inverted hierarchy in the structures of Middle-Earth. The evil uses menacing towers, which is similar to a corrupt hierarchy. Only one person on high above, and everyone else below, who have no hope to get to the top because it is a vertical structure. This is how corrupt systems works with only few people in the upper levels of society, who have ultimate overview on the landscape. On the otherside, Edoras, Minas Tirith, Caras Galadhon all placed on hills, which are much more like pyramids of normal hierarchical structures, where there is much more connection between the different levels. Also, the folks who extremely reclused from the world live under hills an mountains, which seem a pathologic level of isolation. This is the case with hobbits, dwarves and Mirkwood elves. And all of them are wilfully blind as JBP would say, which can or will be their doom (the hobbits in the end of the third book, and the dwarves of Moria and the Lonely Mountain).

amazing! please make a series analysing Lord of the Rings! there is so much!

I'd be fascinated to hear your take on the archetype of a Wizard, or of magic in general, and what it means in the modern world

I always liked the fact that hobbiton was segregated from middle earth. On the far north west end and they don’t really interact with any of the other species. They’ve never even seen them other than bilbo which is why he’s famous. He is the only one who left the village, went under a mountain to confront a dragon and found the most important thing and brought it back with him to the village. Then to finally right the world it takes his descendent to also go up a mountain into fire and lose himself only to be saved in an inverted way by Gollum who is a monster who has lost his soul, an image of what Frodo will become. And Aragorn has to come out of the wilds, the margin of the forests to finally take his seat in the center of middle earth, Gondor, by accepting his responsibilities and rescuing the spirit of his father to become king. Jordan Peterson would be so proud of Aragorn lol.

Excellent video. The smart phone is truly the ring of power. See how people covet and rub it and how uncomfortable they get if someone else touches it.

Excellent video! It draws my attention to a comparison between the enigmatic Tom Bombadil and Faramir. One who was completely immune to the ring, and the other who must have been inwardly tempted by it, but rejects it without second thought. The outward level of “power” of these two is completely different, but I think their response to the ring shows a similar “inward power.” However, where Bombadil is concerned, I can say nothing for certain.

This is one of them videos that I like before I press play. Tolkien blows my mind. EDIT: And to have Jonathan break down why it blows my mind is epic also.

I think Tom Bonbodil would an interesting subject to cover from the LotR.

The Lord of the Ring, a master-piece (here seen and exposed with a full intelligence and reflexion !) Bravo ! Please continue your serie of interpretations on this majestic novels/movies ! With you, my vision gets deeper and deeper. Very intersting as a writer to see all these new perspectives.

Wow, just wow! I’ve always been a huge fan of LOTR due to the mythopoetic nature and its higher meanings, but I’ve never considered how much of the themes affect our modern lives right now. Thank you for the eye opener Jonathan! P.S. I’ve just started to read your brother’s book as well.

I was watching the extended trilogy recently. I was thinking about the symbolism of the ring. I couldnt figure it out and hoped you will make a video about it. Perfect timing!

Fascinating discourse. Many interesting points. Thank you! (I'm reading LotR just now)

I always recognize the ring in smartphones. We thought they gave us power, that we could have all the knowledge of the world at our fingertips, and always reach anyone we needed to reach, and we loved them for the services they provided us. But now it's the phone that has power over us, we are constantly looking at it, no longer being free, anyone can get to us at any time and we're basically not allowed to get rid of them. Somewhere the phones gained more control over our lived than we controlled our phones.

This idea of the "binding of the powers" has me contemplating my own artistic practice. I have long used photography and 3D rendering... but perhaps it is time to take up drawing, painting, printmaking, maybe even carving. Thank you

Maybe a video on the symbolism of the different races ( Human, dwarf etc).

I'd like to see a video about Gollum.

January 2019-Hey this is a great video July 2021-OMG It’s all happening

I could listen and learn about these stories’ symbolism forever!

Tolkien's work never ceases to amaze me. It's like he tells the story that's hidden deep inside our collective unconscious. (The story containing symbols that reveal aspects of an archetypal pattern). When I first saw LOTR in my early teens it was like I was transported into an all-encompassing world that I've always known on a much deeper level then I could articulate. I would really love a conversation with Dr. Duke Pesta - he has quite an insight into LOTR as well.

Thank you for this video Jonathan; I would like to call it an enlightening masterpiece!

Another concept from Tolkien's letters that is relevant is the difference between magia and goetia. The use of craftsmanship to create new tools and the ability to emphasize different aspects of it. Both can be used for good or evil.

Great video, Jonathan!

This guy just changed my life... seriously, so many lessons here can be applied to the improvement of the self, its almost incredulous.

You're right about technology and supplements making us strong and weak at the same time. They're a paradox.

Great stuff, Jonathan! Think I'll have to watch it again. Wouldn't be surprised to see PVK dig into your ideas.

Loved this analysis! My suggestion for new videos would be to delve into the lore of the Silmarillion....particularly interesting videos may be on the meaning behind the Fall of Gondolin or the difference and hierarchies of Illuvatar, the Ainur, the Valar, the Maiar, and the Noldor, numenoreans, dwarves, and lesser men and elves. Not just the obvious differences in their races, but the reasonings Tolkien may have gave for such differences in their creation, etc. (getting away from the more superficial aspect of race and more towards their metaphorical and metaphysical purposes and meanings/ideals as they relate to humanity and religion. Other topics might include the Children of Hurin, the Lay of Luthien, or the reasoning behind the barring of certain peoples from Valinor and being among the gods, or why the gods only intervene in the troubles of Middle-Earth "when they feel like it." Cheers!

Genuine love and gratitude for you making these videos - they're having a PROFOUND impact on how i view the world

Great video as always, and unsettling too (part of its greatness!)

I really enjoyed this. Great take!

The "dark element of technology" I think helps explain why the Empire in Star Wars was the dark side. I remember Jonathan saying that Star Wars had symbolic confusion with the dark and light sides but it makes sense putting technology in the context constructed by LotR in this video.

I greatly enjoyed this! Great work!

brilliant as usual, Thanks Jonathan

Awesome interpretation. I'm currently writing a high fantasy novel and your view on power and it's affects is very identical to the "magic system" I use in my story. It also in many ways sheds light on things that I subconsciously added as well. Thanks for the upload and I am looking forward to more videos on middle earth!

the production value is increased so immensely I'm excited to see what the future holds for your channel. thanks for all you do

Great episode. Thanks for the insight.

That was amazing. Mind blown several times, re-watching right away!

I love you and the videos and podcasts you make!

Buenisimo! Great topic. Loved the part on the ornament.

Your interpretation is amazing! Thank you!

Thank you. It was extremely enlightening and interesting lecture.

Outstanding, great work .

awesome explanation!

Great video, I think you nailed it. Another idea for future LOTR videos could be: 1) Why does Frodo have to leave at the end and 2) What are the different archetypes of the major protagonists. Why is Aragorn below Frodo on the hierarchy of great characters? Thanks! Also, which church is that at 13:19?

you can talk about how evil corrupts and destroys rather than creates... sauron has to corrupt elves to warp them into orcs.

What an amazing video. You got yourself a new subscriber.

Awesome explanation. Thank you.

So ive been thinking about this a bit. The explanation of the three is that they have some 'hidden' power that keeps those they from the forces of time. The definition of Rivendell and Lorien are some of the best descriptions of Matthieu's concept of 'space' ive ever read. Now the pagan god of Moloch in the bible; he equates to Saturn or Cronos. Known as the Lord of Time....or the Lord of the Rings.

Been waiting so long for this

Absolutely slaying it, Jonathan! Mind nuked

Every word spoken by this man... Just life changing, all of it!

Love it! I feel like there is a lot of things to look at with Tolkien. Symbolism of the races, locations and breakdown of the characters.

Great analysis!

Clicked on this so fast! Made my week!

Awesome! This is everything I hoped it would be

Great video Jonathan. There is a lot to glean from studying these paradoxes you identify and articulate so well. As for suggestions about a future LotR video, have you done one on the flame imperishable?

thanks Jonathan for this video and thanks guys for this informative comment section

I would love it if you would talk about the Children of Húrin as it is one of Tolkien's greatest tragedies and i would love to hear your take on the mythological and spiritual aspects of this writing

Brilliant again!

Great video. The ring of "intellect" kept coming to mind as I watched this.

There is some good philisophical stuff here! I really enjoyed the paradox of ornament!

FINALLY SOME LOTR! Thanks Jonathan!

If I were to pick a theme for you to look at, I would choose what I see as his critique of the State, or the centralizing apatite for power of the state in LOTR. I see this work as a warning, and next to the Gulag Archipelago, the best. Thanks for your outstanding work.

Very well explained

thank you man ! appreciated much !

Not to mention Aule the Smith (who "created" the dwarves without the consent of Eru Iluvatar, the Creator - great story there) of Tolkien's Legendarium. Aule's story (and the stories of his disciples - Sauron, Saruman, Feanor...) is a beautiful exploration into the potential problems of these technological innovations.

great vid yet again. I think the analysis of Frodo , how the pure of heart is corruptable and how even he could not complete the mission, but "fate" did. Fredo was the only one to bere it, yet bare it is all he could do, for casting it out was just too much.

Thank you so much for all your content, Mr. Pageau. It fascinates me and I try to get as much from it as I can. Would you consider the possibility of making a small introductory series on symbolism for the people who don't have the prerequisite understanding of the insight offered in religious stories? I was raised in a non-religious family in one of the most secular countries on earth, and I think this is the reason I have such a hard time understanding your videos. I try to grasp with logic what should probably already be an intuitive understanding on my part. I don't have any intuitive understanding of any of the stories in the bible for example. Their meaning has always been lost on me, especially as a child, and my worldview is instead very rationalistic, scientific and materialistic. For example in the videos on encountering god in stories, the siginificance of the divine is completely lost on me. I try to wrap my head around it, but it just doesn't give in. I hope this makes sense. Thank you.

"We might be right wraiths already" .... SSSOOOOOO cool a concept to reflect upon!

I've spent years watching The Matrix trilogy and researching for inumerous insights in forums and youtube, and this is why I found your take on The Matrix - although very interesting - shortsided, specially because you had not clue of what happened in the second and third movie. Now, about LOTR, I haven't researched that much. I'm afraid I might get misinformed with this video. But here we go...

Hello Jonathan, when you spoke about the rings function as an ornament, I remembered that I once realized that the "mark of Kain" must be the crown. A crown has the function which is described as the function of the mark of Kain. Also, the word "king" seems to be derived from Kain's name in many languages ("khan" for example). Also, if Kain was the first to found and build a town, he also must be the first to be a king. What do you think about it? "King", of course, is not that old as a word and has a history of transformation. But it still has its old root word in it and this root word may be derived from "Kain". A confirmed example with another word: the Russian word for "king" is "karolj" and this is derived from the name of Charles / Karl / Carlo the Great (Charlemagne). Also, look at the name "Tubal Kain". At this point in history, "Kain" may have already become a title just like at "Genghis Khan" and "Ögedei Khan" a. s. o..

Great video! Might you interpret more of Tolkien? The elves, the dwarves, the evil in Tolkien? An additional point about magic itself. When they are given cloaks,at the beginning of the journey, the hobbits initially ask of the elves, : 'Are they magic?'. It confuses the elves, they answer something like: 'it is a good cloak [...] a great aid in keeping out of the sight of unfriendly eyes.' So in some ways I thought Tolkien actually... repudiates the concept of magic somehow. The elves do seem to speak like how knowledgeable people would speak to laymen.

Very interesting in the current context of Corona

Can you please do a symbolism video on the Shire and why the simple things in life make it worth living? PLEASSSEEEE

Althoug Tolkien never liked the Idea of alegory. But this video is really cool André bring some insights.

Thank you sir! I'd love to hear your take on the silmarils/morgoths crown and the related stories like the oath of feanor and beren and luthien

Thanks so much Jonathon I appreciate your insight and your ending note. I am perennially stirred by the Two Trees of Valinor in the Silmarillion as symbols of great beauty, and also their descendant lights. I wonder if you would be interested in speaking about them as they are in the Genesis of Tolkien's whole subcreated worlds.

Great, thank you!!

Wonderful!

I like how you look at things. You were born with great sight.

Well done.