Nature & Race in The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings

Abstract

In Tolkien’s beloved world of Middle-Earth, nature, including the flora, fauna and even the weather, plays an important role in the story. Tolkien himself says, “In all my works I take the part of trees against all their enemies” (The Letters of JRR Tolkien 419).  Much research has gone into the study of Middle-Earth’s natural elements and their effect on the story; some even claim nature is in itself a character. However, the connection between a character’s race and their environment has often been overlooked. Tolkien populated his fictional world with fictional races, including elves, hobbits, dwarves, and orcs. Each of these races interacts with their environment in unique ways, and their environments respond to them in turn, sometimes based solely on their race. Elves and hobbits enjoy a positive relationship with nature, as revealed in their homelands and nature’s reaction to their presence. Both these races work in harmony to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome. Dwarves and orcs, on the other hand, have a much more uneasy relationship with the natural world. These two races, orcs in particular, tend to destroy Middle-Earth’s nature in attempts to harness the earth’s resources. Studying the interactions between nature and each of the fictional races reveals much about Tolkien’s world and the story within it.