Greg Basch/Outside Reading #4

Outside #4

                One of Lewis’ closest friends, colleague and mentors throughout his life was JRR Tolkien. It amazes me that these two great friends are both being celebrated so extravagantly today, side-by-side, in books and in film. Lewis frequently alluded to his friend in his writings and was obviously influenced and impacted by Tolkien in many different ways. We know that they had heated disagreements over Christian doctrine, but they were fierce friends and had great affection for one another.

                I’ve been wondering lately how we can draw parallels, if we can at all, between Lewis’ Narnia and Tolkien’s Middle Earth. I had been a fan and reader of “the Lord of the Rings” trilogy long before I ever read any of Lewis’ books, and it wasn’t until a few months ago that I began reaching “The Chronicles of Narnia” for the first time.  Obviously the works by the two authors are similar in that they are both myths that take us through the histories of worlds apart from our own. In keeping with our study of myth and truth this semester, we can conclude that there is important truth to be gleaned from the myths written by both authors. There are some notable differences between the two works, however.

                First, I feel that Lewis’ implementation of Christian themes is far more overt and pointed than Tolkien’s. We can certainly ascertain some echoes of Christianity from “The Lord of the Rings,” but one must dig a little deeper and look a little harder to find it. Was Tolkien as concerned with Lewis about incorporating Christian truths into his world? Were his allusions to Christianity intentional or merely unavoidable given his Catholic background? I may never know. Another important difference is that Tolkien seems to have gone to greater lengths to develop the complexity and nuance of Middle Earth. The original three books are rich enough, but when you consider “The Hobbit” and “Silmarillon” as well, there is a fascinating depth of history to Middle Earth. Lewis was not nearly as concerned with building this kind of depth to Narnia, and this could be for any of several possible reasons. Maybe Lewis was writing to a younger audience? Maybe Lewis wanted to leave more room for imagination?

Either way, it is interesting to line up the works of these two friends to see how they are similar and how they differ. Both teach us valuable lessons of how myth can come alive in powerful ways.