J.R.R. Tolkien – whether consciously or not – updated the Hellmouth narrative from pagan and Christian mythos to negotiate his removal of the afterlife in his legendarium. Four physical underworld locations – the Black Gate, Minas Morgul, Moria, and Dwimorberg – function as landscapes of transformation for Christological figures and conform to the Hellmouth pattern: a king descends into the underworld, delivers his people, transforms into an enhanced version of himself, and resurfaces, ready to lead his people. After the Reformation, the Hellmouth became secularized in contemporary literature; as a result, Tolkien benefitted from this secularization and appears to incorporate the Hellmouth motif in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien assigns oral imagery to his four underworlds, which suggests the Hellmouth motif inspired him. To update the Harrowing of Hell narrative, Tolkien associates these locations with Frodo, Gandalf, and Aragorn, who fulfill the three offices of Christ: priest, prophet, and king.