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Originally Posted by davem
On Bethberry's point re the Harrowing of Hell. In the pre-Christian religions we have the descent into the UnderWorld for initiation, to meet with the Ancestors, etc. Its the old womb/tomb thing. The dead are placed in the earth, in the womb of the Mother, to await re-birth, & passing within the earth & emerging was a symbolic rebirth. The early Christians adapted these old ideas, as they did with so many 'Pagan' practices....
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davem, I specifically stayed away from mentioning underworld quests in pre-Christian religions--Persephone, Osiris, Orpheus--because I was rushed for time. Interesting how many of these involve a bereaved person braving the underworld to bring back an abducted or dead loved one. Sam brings Frodo back or through to rebirth? EDIT: I was also trying to limit my references to medieval and Old English literature, which Tolkien would have known professionally, not just as elements of his faith. There is some textual evidence in support of the Harrowing of Hell in a few very short biblical passages, but what is really interesting about the Harrowing is how rich the mythology grew in the Middle Ages. We nowadays might call it the development of an idea in pop culture rather than in formal theological tenet. /EDIT
To be honest, although I know of many, many underworld experiences of purifications and rebirth in mediteranean cultures, I am very foggy on whether these exist and what form they take in Northern--Scandinavian--mythologies. Anything in the Eddas? I don't mean to draw the thread off-topic, but I was wondering if anything is applicable here.