Date Presented

Spring 4-1-2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

English

First Advisor

James Koger

Second Advisor

Chidsey Dickson

Third Advisor

Katherine Gray

Abstract

It’s not hard to imagine the English air being warm the night John Ronald Reuel Tolkien brought Clive Staples Lewis hard won into Christianity. The image of their lengthy midnight talk has since become almost mythic to those who study those two authors because of the impact that Christianity (and the other) had on each other’s lives. Lewis’ most famous works - everything from Narnia to his Space Trilogy to his apologetics - all are based on and inspired by his faith. Similarly, Tolkien once said that “The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work” (Rutledge 6). But what did he mean by that? To understand that question, it is important to look at what Tolkien said to Lewis that night beside the River Cherwell.

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