Emily Baines: The Spiritual Heritage of Tolkien: New Spiritual Engagement with Tolkien’s Legendarium

Описание: "This paper explores how new spiritual movements have formed that are inspired by the works of Tolkien. My previous dissertation focused on spirituality in engagement with English heritage, and found Tolkien to have a large impact in how British Pagans engage with English heritage; this inspired me to look into spiritualities that are specifically based on Tolkien’s work. This paper investigates the rituals and beliefs of these new groups as forms of intangible heritage that are ways in which practitioners connect with the Legendarium. It does so through a case study: by speaking to the spiritual group Tië eldaliéva and investigating their media content and output, including their website and their publications. It aims to investigate this group as an example of how new spiritual groups engage with Tolkien’s work as a spiritual form of heritage and how the Legendarium becomes everyday life for them: part of their rituals and routines, and therefore intangible cultural heritage.

This paper focusses on the spiritual link between members of Tië eldaliéva and Tolkien’s work, and how this is represented through their routines, practices and activities. It explores how the practices and rituals of these spiritual groups can represent new ways, and new forms of intangible heritage, in which the relationship between practitioners and Tolkien’s work is enacted, a subject relatively under-researched within literature."