The song in the context of the books and movies is indeed religious, but it isn't Christian. The evening star in the first line refers to Varda, the elvish Queen of the Heavens. This is supported by the Quenya in the refrain.
@Wiccanbabe You're definitely right that there's nothing particularly Christian about this song; maybe that was an influence on the lyrics or maybe not, but certainly it's reading too much into it to try to claim that anything in the lyrics is particularly Christian. Some people just see what they want to see. (This is not the same as individual Christians seeing bits that bring to mind their own feelings about their faith, but people should recognise that their personal feelings about a song are not the same as what is actually present in the lyrics!)
@Wiccanbabe You're definitely right that there's nothing particularly Christian about this song; maybe that was an influence on the lyrics or maybe not, but certainly it's reading too much into it to try to claim that anything in the lyrics is particularly Christian. Some people just see what they want to see. (This is not the same as individual Christians seeing bits that bring to mind their own feelings about their faith, but people should recognise that their personal feelings about a song are not the same as what is actually present in the lyrics!)
I thought it was a...
I thought it was a reference to Arwen Undómiel, who has a much bigger role in the films than she does in the books. (Personally, I liked this particular change: even though Tolkien included female characters who were relatively cool for his time (like Eowyn the shieldmaiden), women, especially the queen-to-be Arwen, were still very much overlooked in the books.) In both the film and the book FotR, she makes a gift of a jewel (actually called the Evenstar in the film), but the huge difference is who she gives it to: in the book she gives this jewel to Frodo, while in the film, she gives it to her boytoy...err, beloved :) Aragorn. Either way, it doubtless represents hope, and especially a source of hope when it seems there is none. (I've had times when I could something like that!)
The song in the context of the books and movies is indeed religious, but it isn't Christian. The evening star in the first line refers to Varda, the elvish Queen of the Heavens. This is supported by the Quenya in the refrain.
@Wiccanbabe You're definitely right that there's nothing particularly Christian about this song; maybe that was an influence on the lyrics or maybe not, but certainly it's reading too much into it to try to claim that anything in the lyrics is particularly Christian. Some people just see what they want to see. (This is not the same as individual Christians seeing bits that bring to mind their own feelings about their faith, but people should recognise that their personal feelings about a song are not the same as what is actually present in the lyrics!)
@Wiccanbabe You're definitely right that there's nothing particularly Christian about this song; maybe that was an influence on the lyrics or maybe not, but certainly it's reading too much into it to try to claim that anything in the lyrics is particularly Christian. Some people just see what they want to see. (This is not the same as individual Christians seeing bits that bring to mind their own feelings about their faith, but people should recognise that their personal feelings about a song are not the same as what is actually present in the lyrics!)
I thought it was a...
I thought it was a reference to Arwen Undómiel, who has a much bigger role in the films than she does in the books. (Personally, I liked this particular change: even though Tolkien included female characters who were relatively cool for his time (like Eowyn the shieldmaiden), women, especially the queen-to-be Arwen, were still very much overlooked in the books.) In both the film and the book FotR, she makes a gift of a jewel (actually called the Evenstar in the film), but the huge difference is who she gives it to: in the book she gives this jewel to Frodo, while in the film, she gives it to her boytoy...err, beloved :) Aragorn. Either way, it doubtless represents hope, and especially a source of hope when it seems there is none. (I've had times when I could something like that!)