Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography
Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography
by Holly Ordway
Couldn't load pickup availability
“An essential volume in Tolkien studies.” —Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull
Tolkien described The Lord of the Rings as “a fundamentally religious and Catholic work” and declared, “I am a Christian (which can be deduced from my stories).” Yet he insisted his writings were not allegories, and Middle-earth is loved by millions who do not share his religious beliefs.
How were his faith and his fiction related? Holly Ordway answers that question biographically, focusing on Tolkien’s spiritual development, a dramatic story that previous accounts of his life have left largely unexplored.
Here we find that Tolkien’s faith was hard won. His Anglican upbringing was overturned when his mother converted to Catholicism. Soon afterward, she died, leaving Tolkien under the guardianship of a Catholic priest, who forbade him to see his Protestant girlfriend, whom nonetheless he eventually married. The Great War, in which most of his close friends were killed, deepened Tolkien’s reliance on his faith, but then for a decade he “almost ceased to practise” his religion. Friendship with C.S. Lewis and success with The Hobbit were followed by another war and by turmoil in the Church that sternly tested Tolkien’s commitments.
The challenges and triumphs in his religious life are reflected in his masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, that epic tale of endurance against the odds. As Ordway shows in her expertly researched and richly illustrated study, Tolkien’s faith and Tolkien’s fiction are intimately related, though in subtle and complex ways. This long-overdue spiritual biography gives new insight into his works by shedding fresh light on their author’s deepest-held convictions.
Details
Details
Shipping & Returns
Shipping & Returns
When will my order ship?
- When items are in-stock, orders placed before 8am CT should ship out that same business day from our Illinois warehouse.
- Depending on your shipping address and the shipping method you select at checkout, in-stock items should arrive between 7-10 business days.
- If your order contains a preordered/backordered item, no items in your order will ship until the preordered item becomes available (i.e. your order will ship all at once.)
Do you ship internationally?
- We offer two international shipping methods, Passport and DHL. Passport has all taxes and duties included in the shipping cost. DHL is delivered duties unpaid, and you may be responsible for taxes and duties when your package is delivered.
- International orders are subject to unpredictable delays by customs, and are subject to security mandates, duties, and other fees upon receipt.
- Please allow international orders a significant amount of flexibility in timeframe to receipt.
- We do accept international returns, but we are unable to generate return labels for international shipments.
Can I make changes or corrections to my order?
- Please contact us as soon as possible—ideally within 2 hours of placing your order—at 866-928-1237 or sales@wordonfire.org with your order correction details. We’ll work quickly to see if any edits to your order are still possible.
- Once an order has shipped, we are unable to cancel it.
Return Policy
For non-damaged, standard returns:
Our products may be returned if they were purchased within the last 90 days, are unused, and are still in their original packaging. Original shipping costs are already collected by the shipper, and therefore the original shipping costs are not refundable.
We will provide a pre-paid return label to you. The maximum shipping cost covered will be $20. If the return shipping costs in excess of $20 to ship it to us, that will be deducted from the refund amount. (Meaning, if one orders 30 bibles and changes their mind after receiving them, it would not be good stewarding of our donor-provided funds for the ministry to cover that return shipment.)
Exceptions and limitations:
- Bulk books (evangelization pricing): Books sold in pre-boxed quantities are evangelistic in nature and priced as low as possible, and we cover the original shipping cost. For that reason, we are unable to cover return shipping costs for bulk books. If you choose to return a bulk book, return shipping will be the customer’s responsibility in that case.
- Seasonal titles (including Advent and Lenten Gospel Reflections): Seasonal titles are final sale and are not eligible for returns or refunds.
For damaged items:
For damages to the item that are significant in nature, such as missing pages, large gashes in the cover, major creases in the cover, or dents, etc, please email us at sales@wordonfire.org for a no-cost replacement. For minor damages, like a nick or otherwise tiny blemish, or a slightly bent inward corner, or a slightly flaked embossing, these returns may be accepted but the return shipping will not be covered in order to be good stewards of the donor provided funds that make our non-profit ministry possible. For items that are shipped in protective packaging, such as the Leather Bible, note that the outer box is meant to absorb damage in shipping, and the box should not be considered the product itself, and the box is not replaceable.
How can I set up my return?
Please email us to set up your return at sales@wordonfire.org.
Your order record will be retrieved by the system based on the email address you used to make the purchase. For this reason, please have the email address or the order number (example: Q######) handy when beginning the return process. We are able to accept international returns, but we are unable to generate return shipping labels from countries outside the United States.
Share
Table of Contents
What People are Saying
“Holly Ordway’s Tolkien’s Faith: A Spiritual Biography demonstrates how much more there is to know about Tolkien as a Catholic, and a Christian. . . . But it is her scholarship, and the depth and breadth of her research, which most recommend her work as an essential volume in Tolkien studies.”
—Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, authors of The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide
“Holly Ordway brilliantly illuminates the life of faith that was vital to Tolkien as an individual and as creator of Middle-earth. Besides giving rich insight into the implications of his belief, Tolkien’s Faith reveals the everyday rhythms of his religious life and opens up new and busily peopled vistas in the familiar biographical landscape. This is an enlightening and highly readable biography, meticulously researched and measured in judgement. I’ve learned far more reading it than I even realized I needed to learn, and I commend it to anyone who wants to understand Tolkien in the round.”
— John Garth, award-winning author of Tolkien and the Great War and The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien
“Tolkien’s Faith is the first systematic, book-length exploration of the influence and importance of the Christian faith in Tolkien’s life. It should establish that his Catholicism, as a fundamental and pervasive presence in his life, works, and concerns, was at least as significant as were his professional pursuits and war experience, and that recognizing and exploring this influence in detail is at least as illuminating.”
— Carl F. Hostetter, editor of The Nature of Middle-earth by J.R.R. Tolkien
“To understand Tolkien fully, it is necessary to grasp all aspects of his life and personality, regardless of one’s own preferences or beliefs. Ordway’s detailed yet accessible book will soon become an essential compass for anyone who has the desire and courage to deepen their relationship with the author of The Lord of the Rings. Instead of excluding or exploiting his religious commitments, this biography, journeying to the foundations of his humanity, neither censors Tolkien’s faith nor idealizes it.”
— Giuseppe Pezzini, Fellow of Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford; Tolkien Editor, Journal of Inkling Studies
“What a privilege to read this extraordinary work; I savored every word. Ordway’s research, prose, and argumentation are excellent. This is truly a book to be celebrated, worthy of Tolkien himself.”
— Bradley J. Birzer, Hillsdale College, author of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth
“The elephant in the room—Tolkien’s devout and lifelong Christian faith—has at last been fully examined: trunk, tusks, ears, tail, memory, and all. Soberly, with expert attention both to fine points and the big picture, Ordway explains Tolkien’s religious beliefs and explores how they shaped his life and work. I feel like Sam felt when he finally beheld the Oliphaunt. I see now! This is what the rumours were about!”
— Michael Ward, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford; co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis