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“They will delve in the earth, and the things that grow and live upon the earth they will not heed. Many a tree shall feel the bite of their iron without pity.”


In the foreword to the second edition of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien makes his distaste for allegory abundantly clear; “…I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations…” . This, of course, makes any allegorical reading difficult, however, with the concession that “An author cannot of course remain wholly unaffected by his experience” (p. xviii), links can be established between author and themes. It is widely noted that Tolkien was anti-industrialism, seeing the destruction it caused to his beloved English countryside – indeed he himself acknowledges that in the foreword; “…The country in which I lived in childhood was being shabbily destroyed…” (p. xix). From this alone, parallels can be drawn between this country and the Shire. Indeed, it seems that amongst the simple binary opposition that forms the basis of the plot, good versus evil, lies commentary, and perhaps warning, about the uncontrollable spread of industry.

It is not that Tolkien seems to oppose industrialism altogether. If one looks at the races of Middle-Earth, it is difficult to establish whether industrialism is seen as good or bad. While the race of Elves seem perfect, there is a distinctly anachronistic feel about them. As a race content with what they have, static and against progress, they have excluded themselves from Middle-Earth and are a dying breed. Amongst the growing industry and change in Middle-Earth, they are uncomfortable and begin to migrate to the West, to their own untouchable haven. Perhaps, though, Tolkien here suggests that industry frightens and chases perfection and beauty from the land.

What one can establish is that Tolkien opposes the expansion of industry for profit or exploitation. As a ‘good’ race, Dwarves are seen as selfish and covetous. Yet, as a race of good nature, the Dwarves cannot be seen to be a damning critique of industrialism, simply of its avarice. Their obsession with exploiting nature for treasure causes major problems for them throughout the history of Middle-Earth; already they have attracted the attention of the dragon Smaug in The Hobbit, who not only steals their treasure but massacres the mountain-dwelling Dwarves. It is telling indeed that in The Fellowship of the Ring, during the passage through the mines of Moria, the atmosphere becomes stagnant, one of decay. Even before the Fellowship enters the mines, the disorder industry causes to nature becomes evident;

‘Ah! Here it is at last!’ said Gandalf. ‘This is where the stream ran: Sirranon, the Gate-stream, they used to call it. But what has happened to the water, I cannot guess; it used to be swift and noisy… (p. 395)

This place of industry is devoid of life, and nature has diminished – even Bill the Pony refuses to enter. As the Fellowship travel through the mines, the more apparent becomes decomposition and lack of life as their footsteps disturb long settled dust. The products of the Dwarves’ industry – in large part their prized “mithril” – have drawn the attention of not dragons, but Orcs, and Sauron, the ‘evil’ of the novel. But even these evil creatures dare not continue to mine for “mithril”. The Dwarves “…delved too greedily and too deep, and disturbed that from which they fled, Durin’s Bane.” (p. 417). Durin’s Bane, it seems, is a Balrog, a spirit of flame , too powerful for mere mortals to defeat. Industry has reaped its financial reward, and in turn, has awoken a great evil. But for the purpose of the tale – and indeed the fortuity of good – the terror awoken by Durin’s people does help in some way. Without the Balrog, Gandalf the Grey would have no catalyst for his transformation into Gandalf the White. Is there then some good that can come of industry’s evils?

Conversely, while the Dwarves exploit the land for profit, Hobbits seemingly have the ideal relationship with nature and industry. W. H. Auden notes that “…except for an invasion by orcs and a bad winter some two hundred and fifty years before, they have suffered no collective misfortune, either from nature or outside enemies” . The implication seems to be that the best relationship with industry and nature is that exemplified by the Shire-folk. Yet, it cannot be ignored that when Saruman attempts to industrialise the Shire (partly for profit, mostly for revenge), their isolation from the expansion of the outside world results in an inability to defend themselves. These home-loving and slow-living beings are overwhelmed by a force that they cannot comprehend, and as a result are not only exploited but also ruined. Hostility and fear of some controlling force have replaced the friendly and co-operative atmosphere that pervades the initial introduction to the Shire. Parallels can indeed be drawn between the system that is in place when the four travellers return to the Shire and factories; by force, appointed masters would enforce the work that would be for an owner’s profit. Here, the Hobbits are given rations and no longer eat frequently and plentifully. As Hob explains to the returnees,

…We grows a lot of food, but we don’t rightly know what becomes of it. It’s all these “gatherers” and “sharers”, I reckon, going round counting and measuring and taking off to storage. They do more gathering than sharing, and we never see most of the stuff again… (p. 336)

The fertility and natural peace of the Shire has been replaced by a scene not unlike those industrial towns that began to spring up all over Tolkien’s beloved English countryside, and Tolkien even goes so far as to implement factory-like buildings which pollute the countryside:

Worse, there was a whole line of the ugly new houses all along Pool Side […] An avenue of trees had stood there. They were all gone. And looking with dismay up the road towards Bag End they saw a tall chimney of brick in the distance. It was pouring out black smoke into the evening air. (p. 342)

Indeed, in the foreword, Tolkien does suggest that the ‘Scouring of the Shire’ was influenced by the industrialisation that was destroying his childhood country “…in days where cars were rare […] and men were still building suburban railways.” (p. xix), and it has been suggested that

Tolkien bitterly resented the effect of industrialism on the countryside, as well as on its traditional way of life. This is nowhere more evident than in his representation of the Shire, the culture of which is deliberately evocative of the England of the late 1800s.

Perhaps the very presence – or rather, the knowledge of the presence – of the Ring brought about the descent of the Shire into industrial turmoil. Prior to this, there was no reason for evil to be drawn to the Shire (unlike the Dwarves whose riches caught the attention of greedy eyes). Races, unaware of its existence, were unaware also of the opportunity for exploitation. But, as mentioned previously, Saruman’s motives for industrialising the Shire were not simply those of avarice, rather those of a personal vendetta. Even industry, though, could not prevent the sturdy Hobbits from rebuilding their home, with the help of some Elvish (and as such, natural) magic. Perhaps there is hope in spite of the devastation industrialism has rendered.

Of course, Saruman, as a powerful being, is enticed by industrialism. It seems that those of an evil nature are those who instigate the evolution of industry. Isengard was once “…green and filled with avenues and groves of fruitful trees, watered by streams that flowed from the mountains to a lake” (p. 191) . But the promise of power and an innate greed resulted in Saruman’s industrialisation of Isengard. Using his cunning, Saruman has manipulated people and things, and even gone so far as to manipulate a super-breed of Orc – “I wonder what [Saruman] has done? Are they Men he has ruined, or has he blended the races of Orcs and Men?” (p. 84). That Isengard and Saruman are capitalist icons is unmistakable. Isengard becomes a caricature of the factories of the British countryside, and its oppressive nature obvious:

Many houses there were, chambers, halls, and passages […] Thousands could dwell there, workers, servants, slaves, and warriors with great store of arms [...] The shafts ran down by many slopes and spiral stairs to caverns far under; there Saruman had treasuries, store-houses, armouries, smithies, and great furnaces. Iron wheels revolved there endlessly, and hammers thudded. At night plumes of vapour steamed from the vents, lit from beneath with red light, or blue, or venomous green… (pp. 191-2)

Perhaps Tolkien is suggesting that industry itself is not a necessarily bad thing, in the right hands, not in those of men like Saruman with “a mind of metal and wheels” (p. 84)

Industry in Middle-Earth devastates its natural beauty and fecundity. Saruman is bound by the desire for power to do whatever is necessary for its gain, as Sauron is bound by the desire to regain his Ring of power. Perhaps the ring itself is a symbol of industrialism perverted, as Sauron took Celebrimbor’s forging of the rings for good purposes (that is, governing races wisely) and twisted it to his own benefit. The effect the ring, industrialism, has on the average being is that it corrupts and destroys them – one need only look at the degeneration of Smeagol to see this. Indeed. Sauron himself can be interpreted as analogous of the empire-building, financially obsessed industrialists of Tolkien’s time. His intentions did not evolve from any evil desire to destroy, but from a desire to gain power and build his empire. Sauron manipulates and nurtures his allies, and his actions become evil and ruinous because his intent, although not necessarily evil, was certainly not good. Yet, Tolkien suggests that there are ‘good’ methods of controlling and ruling, which the industrialists are not exemplifying, through characters such as the Elves, or Aragorn.

But Tolkien further hints at a natural revolution against industrialisation. The grounded Hobbits have already been seen to fight back and restore their natural lifestyle. At Isengard, however, nature is seen to take a far more dynamic role in the insurrection against industrialism as signified here by Saruman. The Ents rise against Saruman’s wanton destruction of their trees and destroy Isengard, flooding it and imprisoning Saruman in his own tower. It is also deeply ironic that those like Saruman most closely associated with industrialism are those who live in towers, while those working with nature, like Hobbits, live in and on the earth.

Industrialism is evident throughout The Lord of the Rings, and whether or not this was Tolkien’s intention is unclear. It does seem that Tolkien is counselling against the wanton destruction and pollution of the natural environment for the sake of profit and advancement. What is certain, however, is that Tolkien’s stance is not clear-cut. The representations of industries are not altogether on the evil side of the binary that encompasses the novel. While Tolkien did not entirely appreciate the Elves’ lack of progress, he certainly did not advocate the hyper-progress initiated by Saruman. Perhaps one can read The Lord of the Rings as expressive of Tolkien’s disgust over the intentions of those behind industrialisation and the careless destruction it caused to nature.

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Rohan is MINE

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