C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Myth
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2014
- This lecture sets the stage for discussion on the mythopoeia of Tolkien, Lewis, and the Inklings. We examine Tolkien and Lewis' idea of 'true myth', and how fantasy or fiction literature can be used to communicate the faith.
For the best books on Tolkien and his background check these out:
Tom Shippey's biography: amzn.to/2dChoJu
Classic biography: amzn.to/2dCh5hY
The Road to Middle Earth: amzn.to/2dCikOb
For the best books on C.S. Lewis and his background:
George Sayer's biography 'Jack': amzn.to/2hHlUJQ
Alan Jacob's book 'The Narnian': amzn.to/2gNeFy8
Michael Ward 'Planet Narnia': amzn.to/2hyhJx1
Ryan M. Reeves (PhD Cambridge) is Associate Professor of Historical Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Twitter: / ryanmreeves Instagram: / ryreeves4
Blog: blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/...
This is Lecture 6 in the course 'Lewis and Tolkienl'. All material is copyrighted.
For the entire course, see the playlist: • Lewis and Tolkien
The magnitude of JRR Tolkien's work that changed the face of humanity to this very day, from all the lives impacted from entertainment industry, childhood memories of being read the hobbit on those dark cold winter nights before bed time, to MMO games such as lotro where people live their dream world and meet like minded people in game, to all those hired to design and craft extended chapters to Tolkien's story lines, to those who found their calling through Tolkien's books discovering their natural ability in literature that opened up minds to new adventures to tell and so much more. .... all of this because one man put his thoughts down on paper. Truly the pen is mightier than the sword.
Wow, thank you for your post. For every million posts that drag down peoples mind, there is one gem of a post that elevates men's minds.
Yea there’s something about the Middle earth world that makes ppl return to it in the winter months. I watch the movies every year around Christmas time
I’ve consumed hours and hours of your lectures and it’s nice to see finally what you looked like.
Thank you so much for putting these lectures up. It's good quality Tolkien analysis and you've made it practically free. Thank you, it's fascinating.
I wish there was a Discord group like the Inklings. I would so love to be able to talk to people about literature and learn from them
You could make your own! I would join instantly.
Mindblow: The aparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe to Juan Diego, made so much more sense to the pagans who believed in aztec gods. Because they were prepared for the gospel through their myths. I wonder if Tolkien and Lewis knew the story.
Also to mention the catechism confirms what they say about other religions, but I'm sure it can apply to pagan cultures. See CCC 841
Guadalupe also presented herself as a mestiza, which made this new European religion more palatable to the Native Americans and served as a unifying force for them
@@logantaylor4387 all non-christian religions are pagan.
I am grateful for these studies you have presented so eloquently. My only wish is that I found them sooner.
very interesting lecture. The poem is inspiring as well.
Thank you very much for uploading.
Excellent lecture, and thanks for posting.
Anthroposophy was not just a random word for some kind of New Agey spirituality. It was a specific movement started by Rudolf Steiner, and based partly on the already established Theosophy. Williams' beliefs came partly from the Theosophical 'tradition' and partly from earlier Western occultism. New Ageism did not begin until after all of these movements and the period of the Inklings, sometime in the 50s or so. It was mostly started by channeller Alice Bailey, who was another ex-Theosophist.
Matthew McVeagh // Hey Matt. I think we are on the same page, though the slippery way I describe it to new students to the material could make it sound different. I was reaching for an analogy, especially given how some New Age spirituality comes from those who had been previously part of the Anthroposophy. The main point here (albeit with a touch of hyperbole) is to point out that the Inklings are not a Christian group, per se, but rather a literature group that had Christians and others. But the history you say here is not something I would deny or try to paper over. As with most things, chalk it up to the problem of giving a survey class on subjects that are quite complex. :)
Ryan Reeves OK. BTW What happened to the Tolkien and Philology lecture that got deleted? And is there a numbering system for your series on Tolkien and Lewis?
Matthew McVeagh // The philology lecture was strangely corrupted and had audio-video sync issues. I am checking on the render and then will restore it.
The playlist has the videos listed in order here: ua-cam.com/play/PLRgREWf4NFWYkdjziCtks-Gws5YIdN0Fi.html
Ryan Reeves OK thanks.
I have been watching your presentations on Tolkien related subjects, and I am really enjoying them. Thank you for posting these!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed them.
I have to object to your inclusion of Owen Barfield as a member of the Inklings. Barfield lived in London while the Inklings lived in Oxford. Barfield and Lewis met in 1919 and the height of their relationship, the period at which they exercised significant influence over each other, predates Lewis' association with the Inklings. Lewis came to the Inklings already familiar with Barfield while the other Inklings only knew Barfield by reputation, but not on the level that they knew each other. Barfield himself did not attend Inklings meetings at their height in the 1930s and only attended very sporadically during the Second World War by which point Inklings meetings themselves became very sporadic and their attendees became more and more ephemeral due to wartime difficulties. Barfield estimates that he attended less than ten percent of Inklings meetings and could not tell when the club began or ended. He considered himself more of a guest than a member.
Barfield's thought certainly loomed large among the Inklings through his friendship with and profound influence on C.S. Lewis and much of Barfield's thought was introduced to a wider audience through Lewis' fiction than through his own writings, writings which only reached a wide audience through his association with Lewis. Barfield's ideas in Poetic Diction also influenced Tolkien but those ideas were refined through Lewis's regular meetings with Tolkien and less so than through Barfield himself. In fact, Lewis wrote to Barfield to express that Tolkien was taken with Barfield's ideas (which were incorporated into Tolkien's fiction).
I also think that the position of Charles Williams should be clarified. Williams was indeed a member of the Inklings, but his connection to the group was not an organic connection as you imply. While the Inklings more or less coalesced rather than formally began, Williams came into the already established group when the war forced Oxford University Press (where he was employed) to relocate from London to Oxford. Lewis and Williams had already had a correspondence, having written each other to express admiration of the other's work, but his introduction into the already established Inklings had a profound effect on the group. Williams presence led to a cooling of Tolkien's relationship with Lewis as well as significant impact on Lewis' fiction. That Hideous Strength, ostensibly part of the Space Trilogy, reads more as a Charles Williams novel written by C.S. Lewis. At any rate, Williams' sudden death in 1945 marked a turning point in the Inklings which had far evolved from its heyday in the 1930s and eventually petered out (though this is not to imply that Williams was responsible for this). But the changing nature of the relationship between the core of the Inklings (Tolkien and Lewis), complicated by the presence of Williams, brought the era to its close.
You said about Charles, that he was a bit of a strange bird and the photo you used of him illustrates that exactly, I think. 20:14
That intro tho. Thank you!
GO INKLINGS! GO INKLINGS!
Inkling Boy You are my hero! 😂
Might be good to add in the title or description: Introductory for mostly aliterate [or mono-literate] first year students.
Would love to hear you speak to a different audience.
Why not require more of your students?
You are misleading regarding what CSL later came to through Til We Have Faces.
I'm sure Charles Williams would have considered himself very much a christian. Other than that a very well informed lecture. Thank you!
yes... he dabbled in Rosicrucianism, but over time moved away from the "dark" powers of magic. I think he was a staunch member of the Anglican Church, and was seen as a sort of charismatic preacher who had many "disciples" or followers. His lectures were super charismatic, and he was I've read, a magnetic personality. Not that any of that makes him any more Christian! But the book "The Oxford Inklings" by Colin Duriez says a lot more about Williams.
I try to take Tolkien and Lewis's approach to reading European Pagan myths and apply to how much I enjoy Japanese entertainment media. But I've found to many Christians have a clear Western Cultural bias when it comes to this subject.
Just be a weeb for western culture
Intriguing.
Fiction contains truer trues than every day life bc some things are true across time even if it never really happened.
Trues of life.
Human nature and the like.
9:20 or so.
The realization that high stakes make high drama is not something invented by the bible. Nor is using backgrounding or psychologically potent themes, of which adults are already aware of, famaliar with, or knowledgeable about. Repetition of culture doesnt necessarily make it more valid or right. But it does make those ideas and themes more acceptable and subconciously availiable.
I wish more people could be introduced to the behind the scenes, not usually shared technigues of drama/fiction.
The way a story is told is equally as important as the content of a story. The same notion as performance magic. Its often about using (narrative) tricks that the observer doesnt conciously notice yet completely affects the outcome.
Its not my field but I've conversed with enough writers to hear some of their "secrets".
a nerd club of Oxford dons!
Go read "Tolkien's Failed Quest" by E. MIchael Jones. Or listen to the podcast he did with tekwars. Then go read all of orthodoxy
Anthroposophy is not a 'random word' (can there rightly be said to be such a thing, or is it a matter of perspective and context?) Neither is it a 'new age' term or movement! Rudolf Steiner founded Anthroposophy and was deeply devoted to Christ and the Christian Mysteries. His entire philosophy came to be rooted in such.
Inkling girls are for ____
Not just Christian. The one and only apostolic and Catholic faith. JRR Tolkien was an original Christian. Anyone that claims to be a Christian and isn’t Catholic, is spitting in Jesus’ face and is a heretic. May God have mercy on your souls.
Clearly you haven't read church history to see how drastically the teachings of the Roman Catholic "church" (pagan cult) have changed over a thousand years.
This is a very poor analogy. You quote from a man who puts God in child like terms. If he says that we are old and tired and do not find joy in what he considers the mundane then this is a truth for him as an individual and not for humanity as a whole. If we are old and God is younger than we it would refer to God living outside of the flow of our time and reality and still being part of it as a creator. We are intrinsically bound with the world and universe around us. It is our reality. If you believe in God as a creator of all then you must in turn understand that we advance as a species due to an innate ability to question why and change things. To some this may seem as boredom of circumstance and time but I see it as a grace given to us to rise above the level of our cave dwelling ancestors. We find joy and expression in our sub-creation of the natural world around us and our ability to change and grow. If we have a fault it is in the misguided need for change in a destructive manner.
Brad Jackson omglob. Calm down. It was poetic.