Product Description

Never before has the esoteric significance of the "Novel of the Century" been explained. At last its profound symbolism is made clear in light of the Hermetic tradition, establishing The Lord of the Rings to be the work of an illuminated imagination. Alchemy in Middle-earth traces J.R.R. Tolkien's motifs to unexpected connections with Scotland, the Middle East, and legendary Atlantis, and unveils the ancient wisdom in Tolkien's great work not only with the Alchemy of the past, but also with the living spiritual alchemy of Sufism. In the process, the mysterious relationship between the spirituality of Islam and Tolkien's Christianity is revealed, signifying nothing less than the completion of the Grail quest at the end of an age.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1851169 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 124 pages

Customer Reviews

Brilliant
"Alchemy in Middle Earth" illustrates how the great J. R. R. Tolkien wove Islamic and Judeo-Christian mystical symbology throughout the Lord of the Rings. I found myself re-reading this book several times.
I am a Muslim and I made gifts of this book to some Imams (Islamic "ministers") of my aquaintance. They were all impressed with the content of the book and of the brilliant scholarship of both Tolkien and Shelton.

Grab bag of symbolism
I am sure Mahmoud means well but this is typical perennialist writing. He throws a whole range of cultural and religious symbols together in a bag, shakes them and then makes out there is some reality more than conicidence in the fact some of them stick together. This commentary lacks rigor but has tons of imagination, in other words. Of course, Shelton's basic thesis, that Tolkien's work owes much to Middle Eastern religious thought and symbolism (whether Islamic or not) is true, but that doesn't make Tolkien a saint, a spiritual teacher or even a 'mystic'. He's just a story-teller. Believe it or not, most sagas in the history of world literature are about 'the conflict between good and evil'. Come to that so is the Terminator series of films. So is LOTR. But reading LOTR will not make you a Sufi. It won't even make you a better person. Neither will this book, I'm afraid. The writing lacks discipline, and discipline (in the sense of being a disciple with a master) is precisely what you need to become a better person according to Sufism/Islam. Stories help but they are not the whole deal. Verdict: not what it wants to be, this book. If you want to know Islam, read the Qur'an, not Tolkien.

alchemy in middle earth
This was a very interesting and thoughtful book. It casts a new light on Mr. Tolkiens masterful work.