Supernatural Knowledge: Literary and Philosophical Approaches to Epistemology in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Legendarium

The dissertation studies J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium as an epistemic system and seeks to determine what kind of supernatural forms of knowing the laws of the fantasy universe allow. The study brings together literary theory and philosophy, particularly epistemology, and presents interpretations about the ways in which Tolkien’s fantasy universe is composed simultaneously as a metaphysical and as an epistemic whole. The preliminary hypothesis behind the readings is that the laws of the fictional world broaden the justified use and extension of the concept of knowledge.

The dissertation examines Arda, Tolkien’s fantasy world, and studies not only books that were released during the author’s lifetime but also posthumously edited and published works. The primary textual corpus includes The Silmarillion, The Lord of the Rings and Morgoth’s Ring. The study approaches the epistemic world of Arda from three main viewpoints. The first aspect focuses on the metaphysical structure of the fictional universe and its epistemic accessibility; the second viewpoint examines the role and workings of supernatural elements in knowledge formation processes, whereas the last one studies the supernatural anomalies of sensory perception and problems of reliability. The readings presented in the study join the tradition of preceding Tolkien-studies in which Tolkien’s mythbuilding has been examined side by side with Plato’s philosophical theory that is rich with mythological and literary tools and material. While Plato’s philosophy forms the vastest and the most fundamental part of the theoretical basis of this study, it simultaneously provides a literary counterpart for the works of fiction that are of interest: the analysis positions Plato’s philosophical writings on the same level with Tolkien’s fantasy books and examines their epistemic principles adopting an approach that focuses on the relationship between the literal and the figurative.

In addition to Plato’s philosophy, the dissertation relies on possible world theories that have been much discussed in speculative fiction scholarship, and on earlier Tolkien-studies, particularly interpretations about the complex light-motif. The supernatural elements of knowledge formation processes are approached with the help of medieval dream theory, modal philosophy, and theories about the causal chains of perceptual knowledge. The extension of the concept of knowledge and the limits of its justified use within the fictional world are pondered with respect to the cooperation of imagination and reason, sensory perception and divinity.

The study shows that the questions of worldbuilding and, in the context of Tolkien’s work, subcreation, so very central in the analyses of speculative fiction are not restricted to the formation of the fictional world construction alone but extend to the formation of its epistemic laws and systems. In Tolkien’s fantasy universe, the metaphysical and the epistemic systems are in constant interaction, and the supernatural elements of knowledge formation come to the fore especially in situations in which the metaphysical hierarchy of the world is broken and borders between different levels are crossed. Tolkien’s complex fantasy universe partakes in philosophical conversation about the questions of knowledge both directly and indirectly, using literal means as well as figurative.