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

The solemnity 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 special diverseness of dried bread and made it the primary feed source for the main characters. This special food is, in certain ways, a type of Eucharist, as defined by the Catholic church. Specifically, the parralells can be found in the outward similarities and the surrounding effects. Lembas be 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 very tasty and seems to have a special quality of lend 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 process them on their journey (Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring 478). Similarily, the Eucharist is in wafer form, and has the spiritual quality of instilling grace in the soul. It is created in a special communion 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 Sacrament of Extreme Unction. When a psyche 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 like a journey, and not an ending. The Eucharist is habituated to the dying person much as an athlete is given high energy food just before a race. Lembas are, from thei r very name, a kind of food for the journey. Both these light wafers have similar purposes, to feed the traveler during a physical or spiritual journey.