Eschatological Myth and Civilizational Decline

A Comparative Reading of Tolkien and Latter-day Saint Scripture

Overview

This study explores the recurring mythic patterns of civilizational decline across Tolkien’s legendarium and the Latter-day Saint scriptural corpus (Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price).

Rather than treating these texts as prophetic or doctrinally prescriptive, the goal is to read them mythically — as symbolic maps of how societies behave when approaching their own twilight.

“The shadow is only a small and passing thing: there is light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.” — The Return of the King

Purpose and Scope

  • Identify shared archetypal structures of societal rise, corruption, and fall.
  • Treat myth and scripture as anthropological case studies of decline.
  • Examine what these patterns imply for modern civilization’s trajectory.
  • Avoid apologetic or theological argumentation — focus on mythic psychology and cultural diagnostics.

Methodology

  1. Comparative Mythic Reading
    • Use Tolkien’s “sub-creation” and scriptural cosmology as parallel mythic systems.
    • Focus on archetypes, not literal correspondences.
  2. Pattern Recognition
    • Identify repeating civilizational motifs (unity → expansion → corruption → collapse → remnant).
  3. Application
    • Map these mythic stages onto modern socio-cultural dynamics (technological hubris, loss of transcendence, etc.).

Archetypal Parallels

Archetype LDS Scripture Tolkien Modern Echo
Fall from Unity Tower of Babel, Nephite divisions Sundering of the Elves, Númenor’s pride Cultural fragmentation, tribalized truth
Corruption of Stewardship Secret combinations, pride cycles Denethor’s despair, Saruman’s technocracy Institutional rot, technocratic dominance
Withdrawal of the Sacred Christ’s departure, loss of prophets Fading of the Valar, departure of the Elves Disenchantment, secularism, nihilism
Remnant Consciousness Mormon/Moroni, faithful remnant Frodo, Sam, Faramir Marginal keepers of meaning and memory
False Salvation Gadianton oaths, false Christs The Ring, promises of “order” Ideological utopias, control through systems
Cleansing Cataclysm Nephite destruction, Second Coming Fall of Barad-dûr, end of the Third Age Global collapse, cultural reset
Revelation of Renewal Christ’s visit, New Jerusalem Fourth Age of Men Possible re-enchantment, rebirth through humility

Structural Phases of Decline

1. Record Phase – Foundation

Creation of sacred order and stewardship.

  • Nephi’s exodus / Elros and Númenor’s founding
  • Obedience, divine favor, clarity of purpose.

2. Expansion Phase – Prosperity and Pride

Growth leads to forgetfulness of origin.

  • Nephite empire under prosperity
  • Gondor’s grandeur fading into bureaucracy.

3. Corruption Phase – Idolatry and Division

Power eclipses meaning; sacred law becomes politics.

  • Secret combinations, false priests
  • Saruman’s machine-mind, Denethor’s despair.

4. Collapse Phase – Twilight and Judgment

The divine withdraws; catastrophe cleanses.

  • Final battles in Cumorah
  • Destruction of the Ring, fading of the Elves.

5. Remnant Phase – Memory and Waiting

The few preserve truth through record and story.

  • Mormon and Moroni’s writings
  • Frodo and Sam’s return, the Red Book of Westmarch.

Modern Application: Diagnosing Our Age

Working Hypothesis: Civilizations that abandon the sacred myth of stewardship lose cohesion, replacing transcendence with control. In their decay, they birth technological idols and bureaucratic faiths that promise order but deliver entropy.

Possible markers today:

  • Worship of efficiency over meaning.
  • Polarization replacing shared myth.
  • Commodification of knowledge (truth becomes content).
  • Moral exhaustion masked as progress.
  • Nostalgia for transcendence (myth hunger).

These correspond to the late-Third-Age or pre-Cumorah phase — the moment just before collapse or renewal.

The Role of the Remnant

The “remnant” in myth isn’t about superiority — it’s the memory-keepers. Their work:

  • Preserve truth in symbolic, artistic, or moral form.
  • Live as witnesses, not conquerors.
  • Keep language connected to meaning.
  • Re-sacralize the ordinary world through stewardship.

“The job of the remnant is not to win the war, but to remember why it was fought.”

Suggested Framework for Further Study

A. Primary Texts

  • Book of Mormon (esp. Alma, Helaman, Mormon, Moroni)
  • Doctrine and Covenants 1–138
  • The Silmarillion, Akallabêth, The Lord of the Rings Appendices
  • Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

B. Secondary Works

  • Mircea Eliade – The Myth of the Eternal Return
  • René Girard – Battling to the End
  • Joseph Campbell – The Masks of God series
  • Oswald Spengler – The Decline of the West
  • Eric Voegelin – Order and History
  • Patrick Deneen – Why Liberalism Failed (modern angle)

Possible Essay Structure

  1. Introduction: Mythic pattern recognition as cultural diagnosis
  2. The Language of the Sacred: How myth encodes moral structure
  3. Tolkien’s World at Twilight: Decline of enchantment
  4. Mormon Scripture as Mythic History: Cycles of pride and fall
  5. The Modern Age: Secularization and loss of meaning
  6. The Remnant: Preserving sacred memory amid collapse
  7. Conclusion: Renewal through stewardship and remembrance

Closing Thought

Both Tolkien and Mormon scripture end not with triumph, but with remembrance. Their shared message isn’t “the end is near,” but “when the end comes, be found faithful — and writing.”

“And the record is true, and behold, I come quickly.” — Moroni 10:34 “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” — Gandalf

TODO / Study Notes

  • Gather cross-references between Moroni and Frodo as archetypal “last witnesses.”
  • Trace specific Book of Mormon pride cycles and align with Third Age events.
  • Analyze Tolkien’s concept of “long defeat” alongside Mormon eschatology.
  • Identify literary expressions of remnant culture in postmodern media.
  • Draft comparative diagrams for inclusion in visual appendix.