Ben Stewart Outside Reading 2

In The Lord of the Rings by J.R. Tolkien the sacred wilderness is a constant factor. In Tolkien’s writing he gives very vivid accounts of what the wilderness is like for the characters of the book. The landscapes that the characters have to cross are seen as an extra hurdle that the characters must cross while trying to achieve their goals. There are also ritualistic experiences that take place among men, elves, and even arguably the evil spirits themselves. These ritualistic experiences make the sites that they happen in sacred in the eyes of all experiencing it.