One of my most favorite things about Oxford, as compared to other cities in the UK, is that it was home to my two most favorite authors: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. I have the privilege of visiting where they lived, walked, and taught. When I hear something like "Lewis was a Fellow at Magdalen College," I know where that is. I have walked those grounds, and I can see it in my mind. More days than not, I walk by Merton College where Tolkien was a Professor. They have become more real to me in a physical sense, but even more than that, I am learning more about the influences these two men had. Most people have heard of these authors and even read their books, but they may not be aware of the friendship behind the stories and the impact they had on each other's faith and lives.
They first met in 1926. Tolkien had just moved back to Oxford to be the Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College, and Lewis was a Fellow and Tutor in English Language and Literature at Magdalen College (pronounced "Modlen"). It seems like they did not know what to make of each other at first; Tolkien was a hard-core Roman Catholic, and Lewis was an agnostic. But, they soon found other common interests, especially their love for Norse Mythology. Lewis referred to this as his desire for "Northernness". They began meeting in Lewis's rooms at Magdalen where they discussed mythology, literature, politics, and faith.
Through these discussions, Lewis started to realize that he had to accept that God did exist, but he did not yet understand where Christ came in, at least not until a certain Saturday evening in the fall. Lewis had invited Tolkien and another friend, Hugo Dyson, to dine with him in his college, and afterward they took a stroll along Addison's Walk. The talk turned to the purpose of mythology and the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. "How could someone's death two thousand years ago help us today?" argued Lewis. Tolkien and Dyson pointed to the stories of sacrifice and redemption of deities in mythology. Lewis admired and was even moved when he heard those stories, so why couldn't he apply that same admiration to Christ? "But, myths are lies, even though lies breathed through silver," Lewis lamented. But, Tolkien argued that the story of Christ was a "true myth," and that all the other stories point to Him in one way or another. Because human-kind is made by God, our imagination, even though impaired because of the fall, will still contain some truth in them. This new argument broke through the rest of Lewis' unbelief. Twelve days later, Lewis wrote to a friend stating that he finally believed in Christ and that his conversation with Tolkien and Dyson played a major part in his conversion.
Later, Tolkien wrote and dedicated a poem to Lewis summing up their conversation. He named it "Mythopoeia" which means the making of myths. He expounds on how man is able to create, "sub-create" is the way he preferred to word it, because we are made in the image of the ultimate Creator:
The heart of man is not compound of lies,
but draws some wisdom from the only Wise,
and still recalls him. Though now long estranged,
man is not wholly lost nor wholly changed. (lines 53-56)
This concept formed the basis for his own mythology, The Silmarillion, and later for his epic, The Lord of the Rings.
But, Tolkien's and Lewis' influence on each other did not end there but continued on into their works. The most amusing of these is that Lewis based his protagonist in Out of the Silent Planet on Tolkien, and in The Lord of the Rings, Treebeard the Ent resembles Lewis with his "booming voice". Lewis began writing Out of the Silent Planet to try and recapture the concept he and Tolkien had talked about. Lewis read this science-fiction novel to The Inklings. (This was the literary group that Tolkien and Lewis attended either at Magdalen or at The Eagle and Child.) Tolkien greatly enjoyed the story and even helped to get it published. "I read the story in the original manuscript and was so enthralled that I could do nothing else until I had finished it," Tolkien wrote in a letter. Tolkien would have also heard many of Lewis' other works, including The Chronicles of Narnia, as they met with The Inklings. And, Lewis' novel, The Screwtape Letters, is dedicated to Tolkien.
As for Tolkien's works, he read The Silmarillion and some of his other poems to Lewis who responded with great enthusiasm when they first began meeting at Magdalen. Lewis would then send Tolkien criticism in a satirical manner by "quoting" fake scholars who had commented on the work. Tolkien found this amusing, but he also incorporated the comments. Lewis also listened to The Hobbit as it was being read in its unpublished form to The Inklings in the early 1930s. But most importantly, Lewis encouraged Tolkien to finish The Lord of the Rings. It took Tolkien twelve years to write his epic and another four to publish it. During this time, he read the manuscript chapter by chapter to Lewis as it was being written. There were several times that he would stop writing for one reason or another, but he would eventually pick it back up again when Lewis prompted him. "He was for long my only audience," Tolkien once said. "Only from him did I ever get the idea that my 'stuff' could be more than a private hobby. But for his interest and unceasing eagerness for more I should never have brought The L. of the R. to a conclusion."
In the latter part of their lives, their friendship was not as close as it had been. This was partly because Lewis had taken a professorship at Cambridge, and so he spent half of his time there and half in Oxford. Also, both men were caught up in taking care of their wives' poor health. But despite their circumstances, they still maintained a deep respect for each other.
After Tolkien heard of Lewis' death in 1963 (ten years before his own), he wrote to his daughter: "So far I have felt the normal feelings of a man my age - like an old tree that is losing all its leaves one by one: this feels like an axe-blow near the roots."
I think it would be near impossible to fully explore how these two men touched each other's lives. But, what we do have is the legacy they left in their writings: mirrors of their experiences and beliefs wrapped in romance, legend, and poetry. Lewis expressed this best in a letter he wrote to Tolkien right after The Lord of the Rings was published: "So much of your whole life, so much of our joint life...is now, in a sort made permanent."
Hopefully, you have seen the article Mike Haynes wrote about me helping out with the Tolkien/Lewis documentary that was published yesterday. I did not plan to do this blog to coincide with the article, but it's cool that I finished it at the same time. Mike did a wonderful job of telling about my experience as well as the meaning behind the documentary. If you have not seen the article yet, I am copying the link here:
Also, I have included more pictures of Magdalen College down below.
British thing I learned:
British people commonly refer to the BBC as "Auntie B".
