> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://mythicmindfellowship.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Eschatology in Arda: Did Middle-earth Know Its Ending? (Mythic Mind, ep. 195) - URL: https://mythicmindfellowship.com/eschatology-in-arda-did-middle-earth-know-its-ending-mythic-mind-ep-195/ - Published: 2026-10-19T13:19:34.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T02:26:08.000Z - Description: Did the people of Middle-earth know how their story ends? Rev. Jeffrey Wade joins Andrew Snyder and Josh to discuss his master's thesis on eschatology in Arda. - Author: Andrew Snyder ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/10/54/105464a9-c7ec-44c0-8dd5-919677a2209f/content/images/2026/10/cs-lotr-stalheim-d.jpg) Mythic MindEpisode 195 # Eschatology in Arda: Did Middle-earth Know Its Ending? (Mythic Mind, ep. 195) Rev. Jeffrey Wade in conversation with Andrew Snyder and Josh 19 October 2026 Johan Christian Dahl, View from Stalheim, 1842\. Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo. Public domain. [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) ## In this episode Did the people of Middle-earth know how their story ends? Rev. Jeffrey Wade joins Andrew Snyder and Josh to discuss his master’s thesis on eschatology in Arda. His question is not only what Tolkien believed, but whether the inhabitants of Arda themselves know their telos: the promise of resurrection, reunion, and the setting right of all things. Letting the text stand on its own rather than reading it through a scholar’s agenda, he argues that this hope is woven into the story from the Ainulindalë onward. One striking thread is water. The music of Ilúvatar lingers in the waters of Arda, and Rev. Wade traces moments of grace and eucatastrophe that happen near water, from Bilbo’s riddle game and Lake-town to the Ford of Bruinen, Nimrodel, and Mirrormere. He also shows how hope is handed down through song and story among Men, hobbits, Dwarves, and Ents, and points to the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth in Morgoth’s Ring as one of its clearest statements. The conversation then asks how much of this hope survives in Peter Jackson’s films and why Hollywood struggles with virtuous characters. It closes with Rev. Wade’s story of how the films led him to the books, and why he calls The Lord of the Rings a love letter to creation. Rev. Jeffrey Wade is a Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod pastor in Iowa, with an MDiv from Concordia Seminary (2014) and an MA in Language and Literature from Signum University (2025). ### People **Rev. Jeffrey Wade**Guest, Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod pastor in Iowa **Andrew Snyder and Josh**In conversation with ### Key themes - Water and the music of Ilúvatar - Hope handed down through song and story - The Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth - Eschatology in the Peter Jackson films ## Chapters 1. [00:00Introducing Rev. Jeffrey Wade](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=0s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) 2. [01:12The thesis: do the inhabitants of Arda know their eschatology?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=72s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) 3. [03:21Reading theologically and letting the text stand](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=201s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) 4. [05:24Water and the music of Ilúvatar](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=324s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) 5. [07:28What is Arda?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=448s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) 6. [11:12What makes this approach unique in Tolkien scholarship](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=672s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) 7. [15:50Best sources: the Ainulindalë and the Athrabeth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=950s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) 8. [19:57The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings: hope at the water’s edge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=1197s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) 9. [23:33Why water? Baptismal echoes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=1413s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) 10. [24:22How the hope is handed down: lore, song, and catechesis](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=1462s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) 11. [27:51Bombadil vs. the Barrow-wight: hope vs. despair](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=1671s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) 12. [29:20Eschatology in the Peter Jackson films](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=1760s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) 13. [34:26Can film viewers catch it? Hollywood and virtue](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=2066s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) 14. [37:00Recommended reading on Tolkien and theology](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=2220s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) 15. [39:50How the films led Rev. Wade to Tolkien](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=2390s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) 16. [43:36Closing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=2616s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) Choose a chapter to jump the video to that moment. > “I don’t think there’s a clearer love letter to creation as a sub-creator that has ever been created.” Rev. Jeffrey Wade, at [43:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OsBtHxKLA&t=2608s&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) ## Books mentioned - [**Morgoth’s Ring**J.R.R. Tolkien](https://bookshop.org/a/129785/9780261103009?ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) - [**Tolkien’s Theology of Beauty**Lisa Coutras](https://bookshop.org/a/129785/9781137553447?ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) - [**The Flame Imperishable**Jonathan S. McIntosh](https://bookshop.org/a/129785/9781621382942?ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) - [**Tolkien On Fairy-stories**J.R.R. Tolkien](https://bookshop.org/a/129785/9780007582914?ref=mythicmindfellowship.com) ## Go deeper The Cosmos ### [The Empyrean](https://mythicmindfellowship.com/cosmos/) Outside the world Find it on the Cosmos The Reading Room ### [The Wisdom of Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings](https://mythicmindfellowship.com/the-wisdom-of-tolkien-the-lord-of-the-rings/) Tracing the Wisdom of Arda. For Fellows and Companions. See the course The Inkwell ### [Arda Healed, not Arda Unmarred](https://mythicmindfellowship.com/arda-healed/) In this essay, I hoped to use this text of the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth to demonstrate the degree to which Tolkien’s fantasy is foundationally Christian and points to the mysteries of our salvation. Read the essay ![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R-1Yp1Z8dv4/mqdefault.jpg) Related episode ### [J.R.R. Tolkien and the Long Defeat](https://mythicmindfellowship.com/j-r-r-tolkien-and-the-long-defeat-mythic-mind-ep-181/) Mythic Mind, ep. 181 Watch the episode ![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IEIDwrI0kso/mqdefault.jpg) Related episode ### [The Ainulindalë and the Theology of Tolkien’s Legendarium](https://mythicmindfellowship.com/the-ainulindale-and-the-theology-of-tolkiens-legendarium-mythic-mind-ep-169/) Mythic Mind, ep. 169 Watch the episode Fellows and Companions study every course in the Academy, current and future. [View Membership Options](https://mythicmindfellowship.com/membership/) [Previous in Mythic MindThe Death of Ivan Ilyich: Am I Guilty?](https://mythicmindfellowship.com/the-death-of-ivan-ilyich-am-i-guilty-mythic-mind-ep-194/) [All episodes in The Gallery](https://mythicmindfellowship.com/videos/)