Lord of the Rings: Apocalyptic Prophecies

[Elizabeth]

     Of interest, we observe the Great Monarch with a ‘lily’ on his brow he will reclaim the ‘sceptre of glory’. According to French tradition, the title of king was already conferred by the Divine Right of Kings by God in Clovis I, hence the universal acclaim of ‘The King is Dead, Long Live the King’ after the death of the previous monarch was the official ‘coronation’ and recognition of the people, the crowning was a royal formality added later. In the numerous prophecies of Marie- Julie the lily or fleur-de-ly is often described as white, and represents his purity and his justice. We find a very close parallel in Tolkien’s work as the ancient Númenoreans regarded the sceptre the chief token of nobility, and like the Great Monarch with the White Lily, the Númenorean kings wore a white royal gem on their brow, obviously the white Star of the North Kingdom that Aragorn wears at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, but conceals before his entrance into Gondor:

   “The sceptre was the chief mark of the royalty in Númenor, (...) and that was so in Arnor (i.e. the Northern Kingdom), whose kings wore no crown, but bore a single white gem, the Elendilmir, Star of Elendil, bound on their brows with a silver fillet.”31

     Eventually, in Tolkien’s kingdom the practise of crowning the king was added later to the Númenorean ritual similar to the Kings of France from whence the Great Monarch will descend. Also, the Númenorean kings wore an unusual jewelled crown fashioned after a soldier’s helm, obviously paying tribute to their lineage as soldier-kings and defenders of Middle Earth; again, another possible link to the Great Soldier-Monarch of Catholic prophecy:

 “The crown of Gondor was derived from the form of a Númenorean war-helm. In the beginning it was indeed a plain helm, and it is said to have been the one that Isildur wore in the Battle of Dagorlad (for the helm of Anárion was crushed by the stone-cast from Barad-dûr that slew him). But in the days of Atanatar Alcarin this was replaced by the jewelled helm that was used in the crowning of Aragorn.”32

     Furthermore, Aragorn’s royal gem, the white Star of the Northern Kingdom, bears a striking resemblance to one of the mighty signs in the sky that will accompany the Great Monarch when he assembles his armies near the Rhine and begins to drive out his foes. This sign will arise and appear from the West:

 "Amid these bloody and frightening signs, (i.e. red signs in the sky like blood) there will be a white light that will surpass the beauty of the dawn. (...) A white sign to the west of France, surrounded by a curtain of diamond fringes, enormous, the space of three quarters of an hour. Your homes will be lit up as if by the sun. (...) It will be as an ornament in the sky, in the form of a square star, bearing in its middle a sceptre and a crown, that will be well distinguished by the people of the earth.”33

     Aragorn, who is also called a Dúnadan, Númenorean Man of he West,34 has similar miraculous signs that announce his arrival like the Great Monarch, such as the sign of the White Star of the Northern Kingdom. During the course of their journey, Aragorn majestically reveals himself to Éomer, Third Marshal of Riddermark, and although he does not wear the noble jewel, Prince Legolas the elf witnesses a royal sign hover over Aragorn’s brow:

“Gimli and Legolas looked at their companion in amazement, for they had not seen him in this mood before. He seemed to have grown in stature while Éomer had shrunk, and in his living face they caught a brief vision of the power and majesty of the kings of stone. For a moment it seemed to the eyes of Legolas that a white flame flickered on the brows of Aragorn like a shining crown.”35

     When Aragorn rides forth to battle in the Pelennor Fields, he wears the Royal Insignia of the Northern Star, he bears the Broken Sword now re-forged, which emits powerful Elven flames. His Royal Standard is now unfurled to the bewilderment of his enemies, and he is followed by a terrifying phantom host mustered from the Paths of the Dead as foretold in prophesy, a great and unconquerable army of dead warriors, former allies who had broken their oath to aid Gondor and were punished for their treachery. For centuries they were doomed to haunt the Paths of the Dead until an heir to the Kingdom came forth and demanded they fulfil their oath, after which they would finally be granted eternal rest:

“And all eyes followed his gaze, and behold! Upon the foremost ship a great standard broke, and the wind displayed it as she turned towards the Harlond. There flowered a White Tree, and that was for Gondor; but Seven Stars were about it, and a high crown above it, the signs of Elendil that no lord had borne for years beyond count. And the stars flamed in the sunlight, (...) Thus came Aragorn son of Arathorn, Elessar, Isildur’s heir, out of the Paths of the Dead, borne upon a wind from the sea to the kingdom of Gondor (...) But the hosts of Mordor were seized with bewilderment (...) and a black dread fell on them, knowing that the tides of fate had turned against them and their doom was at hand. (...) But before all went Aragorn with the Flame of the West, Andúril like a new fire kindled, Narsil re-forged as deadly as of old; and upon his brow was the Star of Elendil.”36

     Returning to Catholic prophecy, the Great Monarch will not only be accompanied by a great army aided by angelic hosts, according to several of Marie- Julie Jahenny’s visions and other mystics, he will have a great royal standard, the White Flag or Banner of the Absolute Monarchy to which no enemy could withstand, in addition to miraculous signs. St. John Bosco (1815-1888) also had a vision of a ‘great warrior’ king who would come from the north bearing a black standard that would turn white, in the middle of which was written, “the name of Him who is able to do all things,”37 which bears a striking mystical similarity with Tolkien’s royal black and white standard of Gondor.
     In Tolkien’s fictional kingdom, the various symbols on Aragorn’s royal banner represent the Exiled Faithful after the destruction of their beautiful island kingdom of Númenor and their arrival on Middle Earth. The White Tree stands for Gondor and also the royal house, for Elendil brought with them a blessed seedling: a descendant of Telperion, one the famed Eldest of Trees that gave light in the Undying Lands of the Valar from which the famed Silmarilli Jewels were made as we learned earlier from the chronicles. Although the evil entity Morgoth had poisoned the two trees, Telperion bore fruit from which its likeness was preserved in the circles of the world for age upon age. Henceforth, a descendent from the royal lineage of this tree was also planted in the royal courtyard of Gondor. The Seven Stars represent the First King Elendil and his captains vis the seven ships that each bore a Seeing Stone from Númenor, powerful crystals with which the kings and leaders of the Númenorean exiles kept in communication with each other.
     First, we must examine the legends of the tree. As mentioned, Tolkien’s two blessed trees may have been inspired by the Two Trees of Paradise: Knowledge and Life. One of Tolkien’s trees, Laurelin, is poisoned before it bore fruit, hence all likeness of the tree died when it perished, while Telperion’s descendants continued to beget a likeness of its parent throughout the ages and is associated with the blessed and Faithful remnant race of Númenor. This appears remarkably close to the fate of the Biblical trees: mankind was ‘poisoned’ by original sin in disobeying God by eating from the Tree of Knowledge, and therefore man was banned from approaching the Tree of Life until the Saviour was sent to redeem the human race. Throughout the Bible, the Tree of Knowledge is not mentioned again, perhaps represented by Laurelin that is wiped out forever, but the Tree of Life appears again in the Apocalypse—those who remain faithful to Christ and His rule are saved and shall be permitted to partake of its fruits in the Heavenly Kingdom, symbolised by Tolkien’s Telperion:

“And he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street thereof, and on both sides of the river, was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no curse anymore, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. And they shall see his face; and his name shall be on their foreheads.” (Apoc. 22:1-4)

31 Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Appendix A, (note 1), p. 1080.
32 Ibid.
33 The Virgin Mary to Marie-Julie Jahenny, (November 21, 1882), We Are Warned, pp. 339-340.
34 Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, p. 249.
35 Ibid. The Two Towers, p. 454.
36 Ibid. The Return of the King, p. 881.
37 We Are Warned, p. 559.