”For Every Wound that Arda Has Suffered”: Wisdom and Lament in Tolkien’s Middle-earth

A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/

by Matt Dickerson, guest lecturer

Lament is woven into the story of God's people from the Psalms and prophets to the teaching of Jesus. It is also an important element of the fabric of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. Indeed, through his major works including The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, Tolkien connects lament to wisdom and shows that lament is both rooted in hope and leads to action.

Matthew Dickerson is the author of numerous books, book chapters, and essays on the writings of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, including most recently Aslan's Breath: Seeing the Holy Spirit in Narnia. He has also written about Biblical lament in his recent book Birds in the Sky, Fish in the Sea: Attending to creation with Delight and Wonder.

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