In the Market with Janet Parshall Hour 2: The War For Middle Earth
Oct 29, 2025
Dr. Joseph Liconti, a New York Times bestselling author and director of the Rivendell Center, delves into the profound friendship of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis amid the chaos of war. He explores how their experiences in World War I shaped their literary voices and pushed them to counter the disillusionment of modernism. Liconti highlights their unique approaches to faith in storytelling, from Lewis's allegory to Tolkien's subtlety, and discusses how they redefined heroism through the ordinary yet extraordinary hobbits. Their works continue to resonate, offering a revival of virtue and truth.
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War Shaped Their Literary Vision
- World War I deeply shaped Tolkien and Lewis, quickening Tolkien's imagination and launching Lewis's spiritual quest.
- Their wartime losses produced a lasting melancholy and a determination to counter modernist nihilism through mythic storytelling.
Countering Modernism With Myth
- Modernism's cynicism and fragmentation provoked Tolkien and Lewis to resist cultural relativism.
- They deliberately used imaginative literature to reintroduce truth, beauty, and virtue to a disillusioned public.
Tolkien's Providential Conversion Role
- Tolkien explained Christianity as "the great myth that became fact," which convinced Lewis intellectually and spiritually.
- Lewis credited Tolkien (and Hugo Dyson) as the immediate human causes of his conversion to Christianity.
