The works of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien are frequently considered the best modern examples of Christian fantasy. However, despite the two men’s close association with one another, as well as that made between them by readers, their methods of and reasons for including Christian ideas in their writing were considerably different.
By the time he began to write The Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis already was a well-known apologist, and in Narnia, Christian elements are often fairly obvious; Aslan’s death as a substitute for Edmund, Jadis’s theft of a significant apple, the eschatological scenario of The Last Battle. Interestingly, although Narnia is frequently labeled an allegory, Lewis stated that it was not, but rather “suppositional.” In a letter to a reader, he wrote that Aslan was not an allegorical figure, but “an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, ‘What might Christ become like, if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?’ ”
On the other hand, when he began to compose the history of Middle-earth, Tolkien had no such inspiration. He admitted to a friend that The Lord of the Rings was “of course a fundamentally religious” work, but also said that “the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism.” The tales sprang from his fondness for inventing languages and his desire to create a mythology native to England; his beliefs, he felt, would naturally appear in them as he wrote. After finishing an account of how men “fell” by putting themselves under the control of the evil Morgoth, he commented that it came too near to being “a parody of Christianity,” and he disliked The Chronicles of Narnia, criticizing their fairly overt approach as being too heavy-handed.
In Lewis’s fantasy, Christian themes are highly personal, as seen through his characters’ interactions with Aslan and their realizations of how well he knows their hearts; for example, in his appearance to Lucy inside the magician’s house and his conversation with Jill Pole shortly after she first enters Narnia. Tolkien’s themes, however, tend to be carried out in the framework of wider cultures, such as those of the Elves or the Númenoreans. While movements resembling those of Providence are apparent in situations such as the Ring’s descent to Frodo, the creator of Middle-earth, often known simply as “the One,” is almost unapproachable, holding direct communication only with the angel-like Ainur. Monotheism and adherence to a moral code are mainly a general background to the lives of those peoples not “under the Shadow,” rather than being part of a relationship with Deity.
In spite of the differences between their two approaches, both authors provide valuable models for the Christian writer. Whether he wishes the reflections of his values to be more explicit or less, he may see how to effectively incorporate them in his works, rather than exclude them from his storytelling or make them a mere didactic veneer. From the halls of Cair Paravel to the towers of Minas Tirith, Lewis and Tolkien brought universal truths to imaginary worlds.
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