Tolkien’s Faith: A Rumination

Early this morning, about 5 AM or so, I finished Holly Ordway’s book Tolkien’s Faith: A Spiritual Journey. After I’d read the last fifty pages of the book proper (there were quite a few well-researched appendices to go, but the story was over), I paused a silent moment before a weighty realization hit me. I suddenly felt that I understood Tolkien at last.

I had been reading biographical material about him since at least middle school, even before the standard book on his life by Humphrey Carpenter published in 1977. There have been numerous books about various aspects of his life, from his military experiences in WWI to his deep academic knowledge about language. Before now, this had been my recorded opinion: 'Matthew Arnold wrote a sonnet on Shakespeare, that begins: "Others abide our question. Thou art free. / We ask and ask: Thou smilest and art still,/ Out-topping knowledge.' I have always felt that about J. R. R. Tolkien; I have read book after book about him and his work, but there always seem to be something elusive, uncatchable about him. It was something of a revelation to see him on film, to see him walk and talk, but in a way, it only deepened the mystery.” But now I think I know.

It seems to me as if I had been only looking at the outer edges of a puzzle; now, the center pieces have fallen into place. Tolkien’s religion had been mentioned before, of course; you could not say anything about Tolkien without knowing he was Catholic. But the fact had only been touched on briefly. Ordway skillfully brings together many strands of biography, autobiography, and history to weave a profoundly documented account of one man’s spiritual journey, a journey that impacted every aspect of his life from the inside out. Along the way, she produces, not a hagiography (the life of a saint), not an apologetic screed, but the plain facts about Catholic practices and doctrines that affected him, what made Tolkien Tolkien. One could come away from this volume, not just with a deeper insight into the man, but a working knowledge of what Catholics believe.

Holly Ordway is fast becoming one of the most profound scholars on Tolkien, Fantasy, and Imagination, and how they intersect with Christianity. This book has deeply affected me. It has strengthened and confirmed my own faith at a time when it appeared to have hit a plateau. An author that can do that with just bare facts is rare indeed.