The Eucharist in Fellowship of the Ring, Return of the King, and Two Towers :: Fellowship of the Ring Essays

The sacrament of the Eucharist in Fellowship of the Ring, Return of the King, and Two Towers J.R.R. Tolkiens use of waybread takes on the properties of the Catholic Eucharist in The Lord of the Rings. He creates lembas, a additional word form of dried bread and made it the primary food initiation for the main characters. This extra food is, in certain ways, a event of Eucharist, as defined by the Catholic church. Specifically, the parralells can be tack together in the outward similarities and the surrounding effects. Lembas are a special kind of waybread. Waybread is meant to be taken on long trips, so it must be easily preservable, nutritious, light and with no preparation necessary. Lembas are made in the form of light dried cakes, wrapped in leaves to preserve freshness. It is really tasty and seems to have a special quality of instilling energy when the eater has great need of it. Lembas are made by the elves of Lothlorien, a secret and unearthly race who gift the traveling band of heroes with the waybread to help oneself them on their journey (Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring 478). Similarily, the Eucharist is in wafer form, and has the sacred quality of instilling grace in the soul. It is created in a special ceremony and is a major part of the sacrament of theExtreme Unction. The Eucharist is considered by CatholicChristians to be the actual body of Christ. It is interesting to note that both lembas and the Eucharist share the title of Food for the Journey(Nicolas 90). In the case of the Eucharist, this is derived from the ordinance of Extreme Unction. When a person is on the verge of death, a priest is usually summoned to give the person communion to prepare him or her spiritually for death. Since, for the Christian, death is not final, but a door to heaven, it is considered more same(p) a journey, and not an ending. The Eucharist is given to the dying person much(prenominal) as an athlete is given high ene rgy food in effect(p) before a race. Lembas are, from their very name, a kind of food for the journey. both(prenominal) these light wafers have similar purposes, to feed the traveler during a somatic or spiritual journey.