Over the last few months, I found myself more and more attracted by the world of Tolkien. I had long felt that the Ring was closely connected to the myth of the Fall in Christianity. I also discovered more recently that according to Tolkien himself (who in general dislikes allegories), the Ring was a symbol of the machine. One may recall here the analysis of Heidegger about technology as an expression of the “will to power”. There is a deep antimodernist component in the Lord of Ring that puts Tolkien in the lineage of Heidegger but also the traditionalists.
About this latter connection, I came accross an interesting posting by James Cutsinger.