The Bible, King Arthur, and 'The Lord of the Rings': Archetypal connections and influences on J. R. R. Tolkien

While much literary criticism has been written on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, including using the archetypal approach, not many critics have specifically traced archetypes of the Bible and Arthurian literature to Tolkien's work---both of which profoundly influenced his writing. This study will look at evidence of these influences in the Rings trilogy as well as explore particular archetypes. The middle chapters of this thesis center on different archetypes, each chapter focusing on a single one and drawing connections between characters in each of these three areas of literature. These are archetypes that are employed in the Bible but can be traced through Arthurian legend and into The Lord of the Rings , such as the wise prophet and the sacrificial hero.; Humanity through the ages has desired stories of heroes that elevate the human spirit. Exploring archetypes from these three ancient, medieval, and modern epics---like analyzing any universal symbol or theme in any literature---validates that part of human nature.