ENG 446: Fiction of Lewis & Tolkien

Tolkien and C. S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship is the first book to focus on the friendship between these two extraordinary writers.

Professor and author Louis Markos takes us on the road with Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, with looks at selected classic works of literature as well, to show how great stories bring us so much more than entertainment. They inspire and convict, imparting truth in unforgettable ways. Rediscover the virtue of great storytelling and the power of fantasy to transform our reality.

This text clarifies the unities of thinking among two Inklings, J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, and their forerunners, G. K. Chesterton and George MacDonald. The Great Tower of Elfland examines these authors' worldviews through five general categories: literature and language, humanism, philosophy of the personal journey, philosophy of history and civilization, and their Christian mythopoeia.

Complemented with original illustrations by James Owen, Bandersnatch offers an inside look at the Inklings of Oxford--and a seat at their table at the Eagle and Child pub. It shows how encouragement and criticism made all the difference in The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and dozens of other books written by the members of this literary group.

"Is Man a Myth?" asks the title of one of Mr. Tumnus's books. It was apparently an open question in Narnia during the Long Winter, and it has become so again for us. In Mere Humanity, Donald T. Williams plumbs the writings of three beloved Twentieth-Century authors to find answers that still resonate in the Twenty-First.

Includes relevant chapter: "Of Treebeard, C.S. Lewis, and the Aesthetics of Christian Environmentalism"

This important study challenges the standard interpretation that Lewis, Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, and the other Inklings had little influence on one another's work, drawing on the latest research in composition studies and the sociology of the creative process. Diana Glyer invites readers into the heart of the group, examining diary entries and personal letters and carefully comparing the rough drafts of their manuscripts with their final, published work.

Includes relevant chapter: "Tolkien and Lewis: The Literature of Political Despair"