The Theology of Shardik

Shardik, by Richard Adams (of Watership Down fame), has been among my favorite books for many years. It was the novel that immediately followed the enormous popular success of Watership Down, and it was a commercial flop. That's a pity, because it is a complex and sophisticated work of great philosophical inquiry.

On the surface, it is a story of a Bronze Age culture in an imagined world. The Ortelgans live on the fringes of the Beklan Empire. Once a great nation themselves, now they are merely a client state of the pagan Bekla. The Ortelgans yearn for the return of God, who is prophesied to return in Shardik -- literally translated as "the Power of God" -- in the form of a bear. Surprisingly, Shardik appears -- an enormous bear, larger than anyone has ever seen.

Here is God, but a strange God indeed. He is a bear and cannot directly communicate his message. He is God and a wild, savage animal.

It would be an understatement to say that the book is rich and high literature. But I will address one of the book's many themes.

It has been said that the disciples of Jesus were initially affiliated with him because they wanted earthly power in some sort of revolution that Jesus was to lead against the Romans. Now imagine that somehow the mission of Christ on earth had been thwarted -- that the message of Jesus had been perverted by his followers in his own time. How could such damage be undone? It is this problem that the novel Shardik addresses in metaphorical form.

The faithful seek to wait patiently on Shardik to reveal his message. Others forcibly use him to lead zealots on the warpath, leading to great destruction. The name of Shardik becomes associated with war, murder, and slavery instead of holiness and piety.

Some turn from this path to follow Shardik, set loose into the wild. They seek redemption for their wickedness and ultimately find it, paid at heavy cost by Shardik himself.

Unfortunately, this book has been neglected by scholars. To my knowledge, not a single scholarly publication has been produced on the novel. It was even out of print for more than a decade until two years ago. Now that it is available in bookstores again, it can receive the study that it deserves and its author can enjoy the respect earned by composing high literature.