While J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings novels are considered the epic fantasy work of the 20th century, Frank Herbert’s Dune is considered the epitome of sci-fi novels around the same period. Many might have noticed some similarities in the themes of both these groundbreaking works of fiction but most fans don’t know that Tolkien absolutely hated Herbert’s influential novels.
Tolkien openly talked about this hatred in a letter to a friend. However, he didn’t mention the reason behind his dislike for Herbert’s work. Many speculate that Tolkien’s opinion about Dune stemmed from how the novel handled its religious theme as opposed to Lord of the Rings.
Lord Of The Rings Author J.R.R. Tolkien Revealed His Intense Hatred For Frank Herbert’s Dune
Both Lord of the Rings and Dune were works that received attention in recent years due to the screen adaptations that came out in the last few years. While the 2000s film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings novels were great cinematic work from Peter Jackson, the recent Amazon Prime Video series The Rings of Power did not create the same impact. The movie adaptations of Dune, especially the most recent Dune: Part Two, were immensely successful.
Frank Herbert‘s Dune influenced works like Ridley Scott‘s Alien and Blade Runner and George Lucas‘s Star Wars. However, J.R.R. Tolkien hated the novels. In 1965, a fan, Sterling Lanier, sent a copy of Dune to Tolkien and he revealed in a letter back to the fan that he would read it during his next holiday. In another letter to his friend John Bush in 1966, Tolkien expressed his feelings about the Dune book, which for some reason Bush had sent to him.
He revealed in the letter to Bush that he had already gone through the copy that Lanier had sent and was unimpressed by the novel. In fact, his words were harsher, as he shared that he “dislike[d] Dune with some intensity.” However, he refused to go deeper into his issues with the book as he felt that it would be “best and fairest” to Herbert for him to keep silent on the matter.
Tolkien did NOT like Frank Herbert's Dune! pic.twitter.com/ec1Ckq4vZK
— 𝐑. Å𝐥í | Secrets of Dune (@SecretsOfDune) February 16, 2020
Even fans of both works cannot deny that J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels were more positive in nature while Frank Herbert’s novels worked due to their chilly precision. Over the years, many fans had several theories about why Tolkien didn’t like Dune, which aligned with this very aspect of both of these books.
Lord Of The Rings And Dune Tackle A Similar Theme From Opposing Perspectives
One fan, @tony.aube.design, noted on Instagram that Tolkien was a devout Christian and portrayed religion in a good light in his The Lord of the Rings novels. In the books, Gandalf could be equated to Jesus Christ as he sacrificed his life for his friends while fighting the demons and later resurrected from death.
However, in Dune, Herbert tackled how the central character, Paul Atreides, manipulated an entire community with religion and posed as their Messiah to make them fight a war for him. Other fans also agreed that Dune is a more pessimistic take on religion and hope, which Tolkien couldn’t process as a believer and a World War I veteran.
Movie buffs received both works with the same love. Denis Villeneuve‘s first movie adaptation, Dune, is now available for streaming on Max and Netflix. The sequel to the film is currently running successfully in theaters. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is now available for streaming on Max.
