Did J. R. R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis really fall out? Today I look at the most famous literary friendship of the 20th century, and what broke it.
Tolkien and Lewis met at Oxford, became close friends, and helped each other become better writers. But by the 1950s the friendship had cooled.
In this video I go through what actually happened, including Tolkien's problems with Narnia and Lewis's layman theology, the deeper Catholic versus Ulster Protestant tensions, Lewis's intense friendship with Charles Williams, and Tolkien's disapproval of Lewis's marriage to Joy Davidman.
I also cover the positives: how Lewis urged Tolkien to finish The Lord of the Rings, their shared love of myth, and why their mutual respect remained till the end.
Lots of people get this wrong, so I go into detail and extract the facts, with reference to a wide range of sources. You simply will not find this level of autism elsewhere.
Listen to the audio version above, out check out the video below.
Best,
Nick
