Hobbit Virtues – Review
One of the great things about J.R.R. Tolkien is that you can find more and more in his books each time you read his books. The themes he touches on are those that affect each one of us. This includes ethics.
I need to be clear that Christopher Snyder’s Hobbit Virtues is not an examination of the ethics of Tolkien or a comprehensive study of ethics in his Middle-earth works.
What Hobbit Virtues is a presentation of traditional virtues illustrated by, among other things, examples from the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Whether or not Tolkien held to virtue ethics, you can find illustrations of each of the classic virtues.
One of the other things that was interesting was how Snyder brought in other examples, including the Bible but also texts from other religions. In many ways this book is more helpful for those interested in ethics than those interested in Tolkien.
Still, as someone interested in both, I really enjoyed Hobbit Virtues.
