Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography
Tolkien described The Lord of the Rings as “a fundamentally religious and Catholic work” and declared, “I am a Christian (which can be deduced from my stories).” Yet he insisted his writings were not allegories, and Middle-earth is loved by millions who do not share his religious beliefs. How were his faith and his fiction related? Holly Ordway answers that question biographically, focusing on Tolkien’s spiritual development, a dramatic story that previous accounts of his life have left largely unexplored. Here we find that Tolkien’s faith was hard won. His Anglican upbringing was overturned when his mother converted to Catholicism. Soon afterward, she died, leaving Tolkien under the guardianship of a Catholic priest, who forbade him to see his Protestant girlfriend, whom nonetheless he eventually married. The Great War, in which most of his close friends were killed, deepened Tolkien’s reliance on his faith, but then for a decade he “almost ceased to practise” his religion. Friendship with C.S. Lewis and success with The Hobbit were followed by another war and by turmoil in the Church that sternly tested Tolkien’s commitments. The challenges and triumphs in his religious life are reflected in his masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, that epic tale of endurance against the odds. As Ordway shows in her expertly researched and richly illustrated study, Tolkien’s faith and Tolkien’s fiction are intimately related, though in subtle and complex ways. This long-overdue spiritual biography gives new insight into his works by shedding fresh light on their author’s deepest-held convictions.
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Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography
Tolkien described The Lord of the Rings as “a fundamentally religious and Catholic work” and declared, “I am a Christian (which can be deduced from my stories).” Yet he insisted his writings were not allegories, and Middle-earth is loved by millions who do not share his religious beliefs. How were his faith and his fiction related? Holly Ordway answers that question biographically, focusing on Tolkien’s spiritual development, a dramatic story that previous accounts of his life have left largely unexplored. Here we find that Tolkien’s faith was hard won. His Anglican upbringing was overturned when his mother converted to Catholicism. Soon afterward, she died, leaving Tolkien under the guardianship of a Catholic priest, who forbade him to see his Protestant girlfriend, whom nonetheless he eventually married. The Great War, in which most of his close friends were killed, deepened Tolkien’s reliance on his faith, but then for a decade he “almost ceased to practise” his religion. Friendship with C.S. Lewis and success with The Hobbit were followed by another war and by turmoil in the Church that sternly tested Tolkien’s commitments. The challenges and triumphs in his religious life are reflected in his masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, that epic tale of endurance against the odds. As Ordway shows in her expertly researched and richly illustrated study, Tolkien’s faith and Tolkien’s fiction are intimately related, though in subtle and complex ways. This long-overdue spiritual biography gives new insight into his works by shedding fresh light on their author’s deepest-held convictions.
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Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography

Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography

by Holly Ordway
Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography

Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography

by Holly Ordway

Hardcover

$34.95 
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Overview

Tolkien described The Lord of the Rings as “a fundamentally religious and Catholic work” and declared, “I am a Christian (which can be deduced from my stories).” Yet he insisted his writings were not allegories, and Middle-earth is loved by millions who do not share his religious beliefs. How were his faith and his fiction related? Holly Ordway answers that question biographically, focusing on Tolkien’s spiritual development, a dramatic story that previous accounts of his life have left largely unexplored. Here we find that Tolkien’s faith was hard won. His Anglican upbringing was overturned when his mother converted to Catholicism. Soon afterward, she died, leaving Tolkien under the guardianship of a Catholic priest, who forbade him to see his Protestant girlfriend, whom nonetheless he eventually married. The Great War, in which most of his close friends were killed, deepened Tolkien’s reliance on his faith, but then for a decade he “almost ceased to practise” his religion. Friendship with C.S. Lewis and success with The Hobbit were followed by another war and by turmoil in the Church that sternly tested Tolkien’s commitments. The challenges and triumphs in his religious life are reflected in his masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, that epic tale of endurance against the odds. As Ordway shows in her expertly researched and richly illustrated study, Tolkien’s faith and Tolkien’s fiction are intimately related, though in subtle and complex ways. This long-overdue spiritual biography gives new insight into his works by shedding fresh light on their author’s deepest-held convictions.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781685789916
Publisher: Word on Fire
Publication date: 09/02/2023
Pages: 544
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.77(d)

About the Author

Holly Ordway is the Cardinal Francis George Professor of Faith and Culture at the Word on Fire Institute and Visiting Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is a Subject Editor for the Journal of Inklings Studies. Her book Tolkien’s Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages received the 2022 Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies.

Table of Contents

Beginning: 1892–1916

Chapter 1 “I am in any case myself a Christian”

Chapter 2 Two Worlds

Chapter 3 Mabel’s Choice

Chapter 4 J.R.P.R.T.

Chapter 5 Learning to Pray

Chapter 6 Formation

Chapter 7 Death in a Cottage

Chapter 8 A Home in the Highest

Chapter 9 Horsemaster

Chapter 10 Love’s Labors

Chapter 11 Towery City

Chapter 12 A Second Wind

Chapter 13 “The one great thing to love on earth”

Chapter 14 “With this ring I thee wed”

Middle: 1916–1952

Chapter 15 Into Battle

Chapter 16 Stella Vespertina

Chapter 17 Demobilization

Chapter 18 “I almost ceased to practise my religion”

Chapter 19 The Domestic Church

Chapter 20 Fellow Pilgrim

Chapter 21 An Academic Vocation

Chapter 22 Saints and Angels

Chapter 23 Charity and Forgiveness

Chapter 24 Men of Valor

Chapter 25 Darkness Visible

Chapter 26 The Inklings

Chapter 27 Praises

Chapter 28 Tolkien’s Parish

End: 1952–1973

Chapter 29 “I have exposed my heart to be shot at”

Chapter 30 The Accredited Altar

Chapter 31 Bearing Witness

Chapter 32 In the Beginning Was the Word

Chapter 33 Jonah

Chapter 34 “An axe-blow near the roots”

Chapter 35 “The Tree is the thing”

Chapter 36 Loyalty

Chapter 37 New Friends, New Horizons

Chapter 38 “Companions in shipwreck”

Chapter 39 Reuel

Photo Gallery

Appendix A: Timeline of Tolkien’s Life

Appendix B: Prayers and Liturgical Extracts

Glossary

List of Bibliographical Abbreviations

Endnotes

Bibliography

Biblical Index

General Index

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