NP? article re Tolkien

[pynchonoid]

...of interest perhaps to those who took part in the
recent thread re Tolkien and racism:

<http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/2003/mar14.html>

Saint J. R. R. the Evangelist
Tolkien wanted his Lord of the Rings to echo the "Lord
of Lords"—but do we have ears to hear?
by Chris Armstrong

[...] Wheaton College (IL) professor Clyde Kilby once
sent Tolkien a paper by a professor in New South Wales
that argued, "At every point, the human dynamics of
The Lord of the Rings are drawn from the tradition
ascribed to Christ's redemptive activity." Tolkien
wrote back to Kilby that this was true, though not
always conscious on his part. Later Tolkien wrote to a
friend of his, a priest, "The Lord of the Rings is of
course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work;
unconsciously so at first but consciously in the
revision." 

[...] The fairest way to put the relationship between
Tolkien's fictional writings and his Christianity may
be this: In the characters and situations of his "new
myth," Tolkien naturally reflected the Christian grace
he had experienced in his own life as a devout Roman
Catholic.

[...] Bradley Birzer, a professor at Hillsdale
College, Michigan, and a Roman Catholic with a deep
fondness for Tolkien's work, has written a fascinating
inquiry into how Tolkien's sacramental faith infused
his writings. J. R. R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth
argues that Tolkien believed the best of the pagan
world—for example, the noble Nordic virtues of
"courage and raw will"—should be welcomed and
sanctified by Christians.

In this, Birzer argues, Tolkien was working in the
tradition of Augustine of Hippo, who once wrote, "[If
philosophers] have said aught that is true and in
harmony with our faith, we are not only not to shrink
from it, but to claim it for our own use from those
who have unlawful possession of it." Tolkien believed
the author of the old English story of Beowulf had
done just this sort of thing, melding ancient
Scandinavian myths with Christian insights. [...] 


see also:
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1882926846/christianitytoda/102-4880813-4390546>


...enjoy!

-Doug






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