Markos examines how Tolkien's Middle-earth stories influenced Lewis's own writing, particularly in his Space Trilogy and The Chronicles of Narnia . Lewis was deeply impressed by Tolkien's creation of a fully realized, detailed world, and he sought to emulate this in his own fiction. Markos argues that Lewis's Narnia, like Tolkien's Middle-earth, is a mythopoeic creation that conveys Christian truths through imaginative storytelling.
Markos also explores how Tolkien's stories guided Lewis on his own spiritual journey. Lewis, a skeptic and atheist until his mid-twenties, was converted to Christianity in part through his reading of George MacDonald and other Christian authors. However, Markos suggests that Tolkien's stories, with their richly imagined world and heroic quests, helped Lewis to deepen his understanding of the Christian faith and to see it as a mythopoeic narrative that spoke to the deepest longings of the human heart. On the Shoulders of Hobbits - Louis Markos.epub
On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Middle-earth and the Undying Lands of C.S. Lewis Markos also explores how Tolkien's stories guided Lewis
Louis A. Markos
Markos begins by describing the close friendship between Tolkien and Lewis, two professors at Oxford University who shared a love for mythology, literature, and Christianity. The two men frequently met for discussion and debate, and their conversations often centered on the power of storytelling to shape our understanding of the world and ourselves. Tolkien's stories, particularly The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings , had a profound impact on Lewis, who was already drawn to the idea of a "mythopoeic" imagination – one that could create new worlds and convey deeper truths about human nature. On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to