Sob a sobra de Fangorn: temas ecocríticos em O Senhor dos Anéis, de J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Abstract

Originally published in the second half of the 20th century, the British fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings (1954, 1955) became a literary landmark whose influence on numerous other works is thematically and structurally significant. It is a mythopoetic fantasy that, alongside J.R.R. Tolkien's other works related to the world of Arda, comprises the author’s Legendarium, which, in turn, dedicated itself to creating a mythology for his country, England. The work marks the end of Tolkien's mythology by narrating the beginning of the transition from the age of elves to the age of men, which would gradually lose its “enchantment”. This research focuses on the representation of forests in The Lord of the Rings. Throughout the work, the author repeatedly uses the figure of the tree in contexts ranging from symbols of communities and bliss to beings harboring resentment for the felling of their fellow beings. For the purposes of delimiting the research, the decision was made to focus, from an ecocritical perspective, on the plot related to Fangorn Forest – where the hobbits Merry and Pippin venture after the separation of the Fellowship of the Ring – a territory inhabited by huorns and ents, the latter known as Tree Shepherds, arboreal creatures that can speak and move. The hypothesis raised here is that Tolkien weaves criticism of environmental negligence through this narrative core. The chosen path to fulfill the proposed analysis involves raising an overview of myths and fantasy, considering the latter as a kind of reformulation of the former, in order to then present the concept of mythopoetic fantasy. Following this, the intention is to present Ecocriticism and the themes of the dichotomy between anthropocentrism and ecocentrism, of wild nature and nature and silence. The presence of the aforementioned ecocritical themes was observed throughout the narrative involving Fangorn Forest and the territory of Isengard, which act as contrasting elements. To provide theoretical support for the research, researchers such as Eliade (1972), Levi-Strauss (1987), and Noguera (2018) were consulted regarding myths; Mendlesohn (2008), Grant and Clute (1999), Manlove (1975, 1982), Sangster (2023), and Jacob and Menon (2023) were consulted in the discussion related to fantasy literature and mythopoetics; and Glotfelty (1996), White (1996), Manes (1996), Garrard (2006), Krenak (2019), and Plumwood (1993) were consulted regarding ecocritical studies, as well as Brawley (2007, 2014), Jeffers (2014), and Parrilla (2021) regarding ecocritical studies on the work of J.R.R. Tolkien.