Following the 50th anniversary of the death of J.R.R. Tolkien, Dr. Holly Ordway talks about her latest book, Tolkien’s Faith, a spiritual biography of the famous Inkling.
S6E48: “Tolkien’s Faith” (Download)
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Show Notes
Introduction
Drop-In
Quote-of-the-week
Out of the darkness of my life… I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament. . . . There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth…
J.R.R. Tolkien (Letter 43)
Biographical Information
Dr. Holly Ordway is a former guest-of-the-show. She is the Cardinal Francis George Professor of Faith and Culture at the Word on Fire Institute and she is visiting Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University. She is the author of several books including Tolkien’s Modern Reading, and the book which we’re discussing today, Tolkien’s Faith: A Spiritual Biography.
Dr. Ordway also lives a couple of miles from David’s home, and so he can personally assure you that she brews a mean pot of tea!
Guest Biographical Information
Chit-Chat
- Tomorrow is Hobbit Day. Dr. Ordway will be celebrating it by giving at keynote at a conference in Steubenville
- David has been reading Dr. Ordway’s other newly-released book, As Kingfishers Catch Fire: Selected and Annotated Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins
Toast
- David was drinking Yorkshire Gold tea
- Dr. Ordway was drinking some water
- They toasted The Professor!
Discussion
1. “Why another biography?”
Q. Let’s begin with the most obvious question – why does the world need another biography of J.R.R. Tolkien?
- Tolkien by Raymond Edwards
- J R R Tolkien A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter
- The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community by Dr. Diana Glyer
- Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth by John Garth
- The Tolkien movie
- Oratory of Saint Philip Neri
2. “The Research”
Q. Now, my wife and I have had the privilege of hearing about your adventures researching this book for the past year or so, but would you mind sharing with our listeners what was involved in producing this book?
3. “Mother and Martyr”
Q. The first thing which I think readers of your book will find eye-opening relates to Tolkien’s mother, Mabel, her conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism, and the realities of life for Catholic converts in the early 1900’s. Would you mind just sketching that out for us?
4. “Catholic in England”
Q. Because of his mother’s conversion, Tolkien was raised a Catholic, but how did his faith change over the years, particularly as it tried to weather the various difficulties and tragedies he encountered (The death of his mother, being a religious minority, World War One etc.)?
5. “The law of Undulation”
Q. Because of his mother’s conversion, Tolkien was raised a Catholic, but how did his faith change over the years, particularly as it tried to weather the various difficulties and tragedies he encountered (The death of his mother, being a religious minority, World War One etc.)?
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6. “Tolkien and Vatican II”
Q. Tolkien lived through one of the most important events in recent Catholic history, namely the Second Vatican Council. What was this Church Council, and how did Tolkien respond to it?
7. “Faith and Legendarium”
Q. Where do we see his faith in his Legendarium?
8. “Christian Scholarship”
Q. Moving from his fiction, was there much overlap between Tolkien’s scholarly work and his Christianity?
9. “Father Figures”
Q. Many people know about Tolkien’s guardian, Fr. Francis, but he was one of many father figures in Tolkien’s life. Who were some of the others?
Train up a child in the way he should go,
Proverbs 22:6
and when he is old he will not depart from it.
- John Henry Newman
- St. Philip Neri (“Apostle of Joy”)
- Tolkien’s Monogram
