C.S Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien

[surabhi279]

Did anyone know that C.S Lewis author of The Chronicles of Narnia and Tolkien of Lord of the Rings were really good friends??
If two young professors had not met at an otherwise ordinary Oxford faculty meeting in 1926, those wondrous lands would still be unknown to us. If it hadn't been for the friendship between Tolkien and Lewis, the world would likely never have seen The Narnia Chronicles, The Lord of the Rings, and much else!!
Personally, they had both read and enjoyed such stories as they were growing up, in collections by the brothers Grimm, Andrew Lang, and others. Lewis had also heard Celtic myths—his nurse had told him some of the folk tales of Ireland.
Professionally, they studied and taught the literatures of medieval romance and, in Tolkien's case, the background of Norse myth. And they realized that it was only quite recently that such stories had become marginalized as "children's stories." Through much of history these were tales told and enjoyed by grown-ups. Even strong warriors enjoyed them, rejoicing in their triumphant moments, weeping at tragic turns of events. These stories told them important things about life—about who they were and what the world was like, and about the realm of the divine.
It dawned on both men that there was a need to create a readership again for these books—especially an adult readership. Lewis's space trilogy came out of this same impulse to write the sort of stories that he and Tolkien liked to read. He felt he could say things in science fiction that he couldn't say in other ways. And Tolkien had been expressing this sense already for years when the two men met—ever since World War One he had been writing hundreds of pages of a cycle of myth and legend from the early ages of Middle-earth. This, it would later turn out, would provide the "pre-history" for The Lord of the Rings, some of which was published after his death in The Silmarillion.
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[Pappy]

There was actually a little community of writers that both belonged to that would inspire and egg on eachother, constantly reading and critiquing eachother's works.

I believe (and could be completely wrong about this) that the word "Nekronomicon" came from this group and was borrowed by so many authors that now some people believe it's real since it's mentioned so often.

[Tracey Neal]

I really love Celtic myths..folklore and medieval romance. I'm part Irish!! But yeah I love and admire both C.S Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien I have a Frodo doll!! Haha! Not that it means a whole heap, but I do!! I have a two cats..one Frodo..one Gandalf...and of course Clovis from Stephen King's Sleepwalkers My poodle Bilbo Baggins passed
Very great authors in my opinion

[Sheila]

I heard that Tolkein did not approve of Lewis's Narnia series because he mixed mythologys in it. Did anyone else hear this?

[Dori]

Yes, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was good friends with C. S. Lewis, well, at first they were, but their relationship went downward after a while. Both were a part of the Inklings, a group in which met to discuss literature, whether it was their own or not. However, I don't think the lands of Middle-Earth would be nonexistant without his friendship with Lewis, or even Narnia for that matter. It's hard to say though. I'm positive that I read somewhere that Tolkien wrote for himself, perhaps I found that in a biography on him.

[booklover123]

This is kind of random (I may be totally wrong), but I think that the movie company that made the Lord of The Rings movie still owes J.R.R. Tolkien's family 6 billion dollars! That's a LOT of money and I just hope they give the money to the Tolkien family soon because otherwise, I heard that company may not be able to make anymore movies and I think they are one of the companies with the chronicles of Narnia. Please don't go spreading that around until you know if it's true or not and if you do find out, could you tell me because I really want to know. Someone I know did a project on that and that's why I think it's true because otherwise he was lying to a teacher.
Sorry, I kind of babble a lot like I'm doing right now so I'll wrap this up.
Always read with a smile!

[kuldkajakas]

Actually, what you said about the movie company owing money to Tolkien's family is true. Tolkien's son is trying to stop the company from producing a film after "The Hobbit", but they haven't payed even for the Lord Of The Rings movies.

[Belenus]

I am sure that Lewis and Tolkien, being members of the Inklings, had many discussions about their respective opus magnus (i.e. LOTR and Chronicles of Narnia). However, as friendly and respectful as they were to each other, they had very different personalities and writing styles which - on the one hand, led to two great series of books; but on the other, may have led to their estrangement as Tolkien deeply resented Lewis' being a Christian apologist and his (alleged by Tolkien) antipathy toward Catholics.

[blue_doona32]

Did you know that Tolkien and Lewis were in WWI together and the battles that they fought together were actually inspiration to Tolkien's LOTR. It is also common knowledge (or at least common knowledge in my family cause we're just nerds like that ) that the writing of LOTR and CON was actually a competition between both friends to see who could write a better children's book.

Personally, I think that Lewis won between the two series, but I'll always put The Hobbit before the CON books any day!

There is also a great book that came out last year, I believe, that are about these 2 authors plus two more out of the Inklings Club. Its a fictional story, of course, but its a fascinating story of how the authors came to write their stories and where they got their inspirations. Its called Here, There Be Dragons, and the secong book is called Search For the Red Dragon by Clive Owens.

These are the beginnings of an enchanting series of some of the most beloved authors of all time. I greatly recommend them!

[Sheila]

It does sound interesting I will check it out thanks. It will probably get people who had no interest in those writers work before to pick up their books. Anything that gets people reading is wonderful.

[blue_doona32]

I always thought the story of Tolkien and Lewis's friendship was always fascinating. They've been two of my favorite authors since I was about 6.

Any book having to do with them, I think, are really interesting. If anyone is as enthusiastic as I am about these authors, I think they'd like Here, There Be Dragons

[thisislissa]

the writing of LOTR and CON was actually a competition between both friends to see who could write a better children's book.

Personally, I think that Lewis won between the two series, but I'll always put The Hobbit before the CON books any day!

There is also a great book that came out last year, I believe, that are about these 2 authors plus two more out of the Inklings Club. Its a fictional story, of course, but its a fascinating story of how the authors came to write their stories and where they got their inspirations. Its called Here, There Be Dragons, and the secong book is called Search For the Red Dragon by Clive Owens.

These are the beginnings of an enchanting series of some of the most beloved authors of all time. I greatly recommend them!

Lewis wrote the better children’s book for sure. LOTR stops being for children after The Hobbit. I’ve been re-reading Narnia lately and it’s pretty disappointing, it captured my imagination as a child, but not anymore alas. With LOTR on the other hand one is constantly uncovering some new nugget that was previously missed.

A novel about the Inklings sounds cool indeed . . .

[JonnyV70]

I would have to agree that C.S. Lewis wrote the better children's book. But has anyone read any of his other stuff? I can't remember off the top of my head if he wrote any other fiction, but some of his non-fiction books are pretty deep.

[crystalflower]

Most of Lewis' other work is Christian Theology. Heavier than most things available today. His best, I feel was The Screwtape Letters.

[baconpatroller]

Tolkien came up with some really great ideas but I can't stand his writing style.