Tolkien, Lewis & Theology - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Nerdanel · 09-13-2002, 02:49 PM

Hello All!

I am new here and was just perusing through the messages. I have enjoyed this thread as an avid fan of both Lewis and Tolkein, as well as one of the "erudite" "Born-again" ilk.

I too find that Lewis' points are less subtle and more firmly based on scriptural passages than Tolkein's. But, if you look closely, Tolkein's passages often read like Psalms - for example, in ROTK, at the end of "The Ride of the Rohirrim". Read this and compare to Psalm 130. Reading of the seige of Gondor and the coming of the Rohirrim with the morning light gives me a visual image of what it is like to wait for dawn "like the watchman who waits for the morning." While Lewis gives me firmly based points to feed my need for logic, Tolkein gives me beautiful imagery to feed my need for emotion.

Just my two cents! Too much "Christianese?"

09-13-2002, 02:49 PM	#1
Nerdanel Pile O'Bones Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 11	Hello All! I am new here and was just perusing through the messages. I have enjoyed this thread as an avid fan of both Lewis and Tolkein, as well as one of the "erudite" "Born-again" ilk. I too find that Lewis' points are less subtle and more firmly based on scriptural passages than Tolkein's. But, if you look closely, Tolkein's passages often read like Psalms - for example, in ROTK, at the end of "The Ride of the Rohirrim". Read this and compare to Psalm 130. Reading of the seige of Gondor and the coming of the Rohirrim with the morning light gives me a visual image of what it is like to wait for dawn "like the watchman who waits for the morning." While Lewis gives me firmly based points to feed my need for logic, Tolkein gives me beautiful imagery to feed my need for emotion. Just my two cents! Too much "Christianese?"