One Christmas Movie Tradition to Rule Them All

One does not simply claim the Lord of the Rings are Christmas movies!

In our recent conversation about favorite Christmas movies, my most memorable movie tradition during the holidays is watching the extended edition of the Lord of the Rings with my family. The combined length of the extended editions is a daunting 11 hours and 22 minutes, so the holiday season is often the only time of year when we all could sit down and watch a masterpiece in storytelling and filmmaking. We enjoy many other wonderful Christmas movies and special holiday traditions, but watching the Lord of the Rings is precious to me.

In keeping with the annual tradition, my wife and I are watching these remarkable movies as Christmas approaches. If you have never seen the Lord of the Rings or struggle to find time for the superior extended edition, *cough* Daniel Mitchell, the holiday season is the perfect opportunity. 

It is feasible to consecutively watch and truly take in these long, beautiful films because, by Shire-reckoning, more of us have time to spare during the holidays than any other part of the year. More importantly, Lord of the Rings and Christmas go together like Old Toby and a pint of ale! 

You look confused. Let me explain.

The Lord of the Rings are Christmas movies. There are magical beings with long-white beards, elves, roaring fires, and family members we avoid to keep our gatherings merry and bright, like the Sackville-Baggins, but I digress. Beyond some aesthetic and surface level similarities, the Lord of the Rings and Christmas share many important themes we ought to consider as an old year ends and a new one begins. 

There are three particular themes that resonate as much in Middle-Earth as they do in our reality, especially during Christmas: sacrifice, friendship and “eucatastrophe.”

Sacrifice

The holiday season is a time for sacrifice, and the virtue of generosity is often the moral lesson of Christmas stories and movies to this day. We are encouraged to give rather than take, whether that is being generous with our time, our possessions, our desires, and, in some cases, even our lives. Similarly, the Lord of the Rings is a tale of sacrifice as exemplified by its heroic characters.

First and foremost is Frodo. He takes on the burden of the Ring to save his friends and the Shire. After the Ring is destroyed, Frodo’s wounds are too deep. He gives up the Shire, the very thing he sought to save, in search of peace in the West, which is emblematic of his death.

In the Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf dies. He gives up his life defending his beloved companions against the demon, Balrog, in the Mines of Moria, but he is spared and brought back to life to complete his task as a protector of Middle-Earth.

In the Return of the King, Aragorn undergoes a spiritual death when he recruits the Army of the Dead to fight on the Pelennor Fields against the forces of Mordor. He dies to himself for something greater than himself. As Elrond gives Aragorn the sword of Anduril, he says, “Put aside the ranger. Become who you were born to be.” 

These are only a few examples because all the heroic characters make numerous sacrifices for their friends and the peace of Middle-Earth. Christmas and the Lord of the Rings share the belief that sacrifice really works. Selflessness is stronger than selfishness; right makes might.

Friendship

Sacrifice is closely related to the next theme that Christmas and the heroes of Middle-Earth share, namely friendship. Friends and family are often the reason we make sacrifices. Whether you are watching It’s a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Carol, all good holiday stories revere the love and devotion friends and family share with each other. In fact, our friends and family are at the heart of the holidays; the meaning behind the lights, decorations, and gifts. Similarly, friends and their fellowship are central to the Lord of the Rings.

Friendship is the impetus of the adventure and the heroic sacrifices made along the way. There are many beautiful friendships in the Lord of the Rings, like Merry and Pippin or Gimli and Legolas, but anyone familiar with the story will know that the greatest of these is Frodo and Sam.

Much like Frodo, Samwise sets out on adventure to help save the Shire, but he goes further and further away from the comfort and safety of his home to help his friend. He refuses to leave Frodo’s side as they risk life and limb to destroy the Ring. On a few occasions, Frodo attempts to make the journey alone and bear the burden of the Ring by himself, but Sam is unwilling to let his friend face trouble alone. It is what true friends do for those they love, and it is more real and more powerful than any other force in the world. Few will fight for a mere cause, but many will fight for their friends.

Christmas and the Lord of the Rings remind us that the most important things in life are those friends and family members we hold closest to us.

Eucatastrophe

Finally, there is the concept of “eucatastrophe,” a term that J. R. R. Tolkien coins and defines in his 1947 essay, “On Fairy Stories.” The eucatastrophe or good catastrophe, especially in fairy-stories, is the unexpected “turn” or “miraculous grace” that produces “the joy of the happy ending.” Christmas stories and the Lord of the Rings are marked by the joy of eucatastrophe. 

Eucatastrophe is the arrival of the angel, Clarence, who saves George Bailey’s life in It’s a Wonderful Life. It is the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come who transform the miserly Scrooge into a kind, generous soul in A Christmas Carol. It is Rudolph’s inexplicable shiny red nose that guides Santa’s sleigh through a winter storm and saves Christmas. 

In the Lord of the Rings, it is the eagles who suddenly appear to rescue our heroes from certain danger and death. It is the arrival of Éomer and the Riders of Rohan at the battle of Helm’s Deep. Most famously, it is Gollum, not Frodo, who destroys the Ring. Evil is defeated in unexpected ways and by unlikely creatures. Good triumphs, and we delight in its victory.

For those who celebrate the holiday season to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the concept of eucatastrophe connects Christmas and the Lord of the Rings in a significant way. As a devout Roman Catholic, Tolkien thought all good fairy-stories contain the joy of eucatastrophe because they emulate the Great Eucatastrophe of the Gospel, which anticipates the redemption and salvation of us. Once you start looking for them, it is difficult to ignore the wonderful Christian themes that pervade the Lord of the Rings. I mean, the Fellowship leaves Rivendell to destroy the Ring on December 25th for goodness sake!

Regardless of how and why we celebrate the holidays, the Lord of the Rings, like all true Christmas stories and movies, encourages us to hold onto hope and goodness in a world that often seems devoid of both. 

At a moment when all hope seems lost, Sam reminds Frodo and us what we are holding onto before, during, and long after the holidays:

FRODO: I can't do this, Sam.

SAM: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

FRODO: What are we holding onto, Sam?

SAM: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.

The Lord of the Rings movies, especially the extended edition, are worthy companions as we reflect on Christmas and venture into a new year. As Gandalf says, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” With whatever time that is given to you this holiday season, I hope you get to spend it with friends, family, and the heroes of Middle-Earth.

---

Happy Holidays from all of us at Cinemantics! What is your favorite Christmas movie tradition?