Happy Fourth Sunday Of Advent!
If you, like me, have lived most of your life in an alternate universe, then you might have noticed that most alternate universes share a common thread, which is The Corruption Of The Good By Evil And The Ultimate Defeat Of Evil By Good Via Sacrifice.
Therefore most alternate universes I have encountered include at some point an event that is the equivalent to Easter, aka The Defeat Of Evil Via Christ's Death And Resurrection. And extrapolating this further, if those are the right words, most alternate universes include at some point an event that is the equivalent to Christmas, aka The Beginning Of The Final Stage Of Salvation History.
The three alternate universes I'd like to look at, for my own amusement, are Middle Earth, Hogwarts, and Narnia. Easter is more clear in these stories: in Narnia, it is Aslan's sacrifice, rise from the dead, and defeat of the White Witch; in Hogwarts it is Harry's sacrifice, rise from the dead, and defeat of Voldemort; and in Middle Earth it is the destruction of the Ring.
Unless I'm wrong, Christmas is the very beginning of the final stage of salvation history, which I said before. But I don't think I'm wrong. This means that the equivalent of Christmas in Narnia is whatever started off Aslan's return and the defeat of the White Witch, which would be the time when all four Pevensie children entered Narnia. Christmas in Narnia is easier to spot, because there actually is a Christmas in Narnia, complete with Father Christmas and snow and gift-giving and what-not.
The equivalent of Christmas in the world of Harry Potter is what brought about the downfall of Voldemort, or the murder of Harry's parents by Voldemort and the attempted murder of Harry. Had Voldemort not "marked Harry as his equal," Harry never would have been qualified to fulfill the prophecy re Voldemort's defeat. However, Voldemort obviously had never watched Kung Fu Panda, so he didn't know that "one often meets his destiny on the path he takes to avoid it."
The equivalent of Christmas in Middle Earth, I believe, is the time when Deagol finds the Ring and is murdered by Smeagol, who then takes the Ring for himself. This leads to Bilbo finding the Ring and giving it to Frodo who destroys it, or rather fails to destroy it and accidentally loses it over the edge of Mount Doom during the struggle with Smeagol. You could argue that Christmas in Middle Earth is Isildur taking the Ring from Sauron, but I'm not going to do that because the Ring was meant to be destroyed by smaller folk more suited to power than Men who were more easily corrupted. Also Smeagol's taking of the Ring is significant because it was ultimately Smeagol who caused it to be destroyed at Mount Doom.
The Christmas equivalents in Hogwarts and Middle Earth are not obvious because they involve murder and an overall sense of non-happiness, but this is perhaps a tribute to the Holy Innocents who were murdered by King Herod's soldiers on the first Christmas.
"You can only come to morning through the shadows."
-JRR Tolkien
Merry Christmas!
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