September 20 2020

A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J R R Tolkien and C S Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-1918 (2015)
By Joseph Loconte

I've read only parts of Lewis's and Tolkien's most well-known books, but I have gained great insight into the motivation and theme of The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings, thanks to Prof Loconte's study of the two writers.

Tolkien and Lewis, both Oxford scholars, found common ground in their shared love of myth.  But both men served in the Great War, suffering the loss of close friends as they saw first hand what modern science and technology could do: unprecedented butchery with no good outcome.  Even the Treaty of Versailles disappointed all parties.  A new cynicism about liberal democracy, capitalism, Christianity, and the achievements of western civilization took hold.  Loconte speaks of 3 "epidemics" that grew out of the war:
1) Spanish flu
2) communism
3) fascism
that helped further lead to a loss of hope and what many considered a failure of religion.  Tolkien's war experience is reflected in Lost Tales (started in 1917), the Silmarillion, and The Lord of the Rings - violent contests of good against evil, moral tales.  "The sheer destructive power of the war, the unimaginable number of dead and wounded...the apparent futility of the outcome - all of this instigated a new season of religious doubts and experimentation.: (p 124)

In Lewis's case, his conversations with J R R Tolkien and Hugo Dyson about myth and faith led him to observe, "the difference between Christianity and all the pagan myths is that this Dying God actually entered into history, lived a real life and died a real death... a myth that has really happened?  In that case, says the skeptical Lewis, "I begin to understand." (p 133)  He felt a great sense of relief and gratitude, as he came to embrace a common faith with his fellows.

In discussing the writers' themes, Loconte notes that an "encounter with the presence of evil: the deep corruption of the human heart that makes it capable of hunting and destroying millions of lives in a remorseless war of attrition" (p 145) was central to Tolkien's and Lewis's experience.   Yet their writings reflect
-a "longing for goodness and joy, so palpably alive in the best and noblest of the characters" (p 150).  "They are haunted by a memory of eden" that enables their moral vision.  The characters in Lord of the Rings had lots of chances, like us, of turning back from a painful path, only they didn't. This freedom [to either fulfill or evade the calling on ones life] is central to Tolkien's work - and to his understanding of the human condition.
-heroic quest: As veterans Tolkien and Lewis choose to recount "not only the horror and sorrows but also the courage, sacrifice and friendships that made it endurable" (p 170).  They shared a strong bond, based on the war experience, writing and faith.  Their stories help readers find the grace and strength to play their own part in the story, however long it endures and wherever it may lead them.  They "sought to make sense of a conflict that claimed so much in blood and treasure and delivered so little to the cause of human happiness" (p 186).

Their stories might have reflected the futility of the war in which they'd served, but these writers instead chose hope.  Yet, unlike our modern tales of heroism, no superhero like Superman could save the day - their only hope came from beyond the characters' own strength, whether it was the unlikely loss of the ring that had started to work its evil spell on Frodo, or the return from death by Aslan.  Today, it is clear that our salvation is not through our own strength, but in God alone.