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Tolkien’s Faith: A Spiritual Biography
Word on Fire Academic
2023
Why does Tolkien still matter and why a review on yet another book on the Inklings,
that literary circle that included J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis? Simply put, Tolkien’s
Lord of the Rings has sold 150 million copies and The Hobbit 100 million putting both
in the top ten best selling books of all time. That Tolkien was a committed Christian
makes him significant for the Church and its history. At the beginning of her book,
Holly Ordway cites a Tolkien quote that serves as her thesis: “The Lord of the Rings
is, of course, a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first,
but consciously in the revision.” For Tolkien, orphaned at an early age, it was a
Catholic priest in Birmingham, Father Francis Morgan, who shaped his early life and
set it in a Christian direction. As a newly married man and a student at Oxford,
Tolkien’s life was interrupted by World War I and the Battle of the Somme. His
experience of trauma in the trenches profoundly shaped his writing, even if
unacknowledged by the writer. Most of his friends died in battle. One such friend, in
a last letter, urged Tolkien: “Yes, publish! You I am sure are chosen, like Saul among
the children of Israel…” Unlike Saul, Tolkien remained a humble man and was not
overcome by fame but was sustained by faith. Ordway points out Tolkien’s respect
for the mystery of life, his disposition to mercy, and that his life was consciously lived
within the “communion of the saints.” Several days a week he attended morning
prayer and the Eucharist, was especially appreciative of prayers of praise to God, and
“he exercised forgiveness,” even when this was difficult as he could be “contrarian
and pedantic” and even “volcanic.” He remained faithful to his wife Edith and was a
loyal and present father, even if flawed. At times Tolkien the person is obscured by
extended passages on Catholic doctrine and practice but Ordway usually succeeds in
circling back to show how these Christian beliefs shaped his writing. The book was a
labour of love, which saw Ordway travel extensively on both sides of the Atlantic,
hunting down all things Tolkien. We are in her debt.
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