The Two Faces of Nature Kara Cavallaro College

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s, The Lord of the Rings, the natural environment plays an important role as a tool for characterization and personification of the natural world. Readers who have studied Tolkien and know of his respect for nature might assume that he would depict the environment purely in a positive light, but in fact he shows it realistically as a source of good and as a potentially dangerous force. To create this view of nature, Tolkien presents many parts of the natural world as magical in nature; this empowers nature in hidden and surprising ways, both for good and for evil. In this author’s work, nature is not simply a passive background for the plot; instead, nature appears as a character and even seems to have a mind of its own at times. The magical elements in The Lord of the Rings serve as warning that even though it may appear that nature can be controlled and manipulated by man, ultimately it asserts its authority and can work for our good or strike back.

The natural environment is a key to characterization in this novel. Nature’s beauty and lush vegetation reflect the essential moral goodness of the inhabitants, such as the Shire and the Hobbits. In contrast, environments that are barren and ugly express the...