What was the debate between C.S. Lewis and Tolkien?

Question

I'm writing an essay for school on C.S.Lewis' life, and I've finished it, but I'm stumped about the debate between Lewis and Tolkien. (And I HAVE looked in the library plus online, too, Lol)

Anyways...C.S. Lewis was the famous Oxford professor who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia & the Space Trilogy series. Tolkien was the author of the Lord of the Rings. My friend said that there was a debate between those two and that Lewis wrote his series to counteract Tolkien or something like that. I dug up a few things in research about their friendship, and that they were very good members of the Inkling club but I found nothing about debates.

If you have a link or book to refer to, I'd appreciate it!

Answer 1

I doubt that their relationship would be characterized as anything as formal as a debate, or even a deep-seated rivalry. But there were differences which were probably exacerbated in the 1950s.

Tolkien was Catholic; Lewis was Anglican. Tolkien was an introvert, reserved, enjoying solitude, and the quiet company of as small group of associates, as in the Inklings; Lewis was an extravert, somewhat loud and boisterous. Lewis was known to have made comments about women as "the weaker sex"; Tolkien may have been uncomfortable with these comments,whether or not he was with the sentiments. Lewis wrote a number books on Christian apologetics that became "evangelical," something that Tolkien would not have done, or perhaps approved of altogether.

In the 1950s, Lewis's Narnia books became very popular bringing him a lot of pubic attention, including reading his works on the radio; Tolkien's works had not yet come to such public prominence. As erudite as they both were, Tolkien was probably a more serious and meticulous scholar than Lewis; Lewis, a more articulate critic than Tolkien. Then Lewis left Oxford for Cambridge. Lewis had been a bachelor for most of his life; Tolkien was married and a family man. I have heard hints that he may not have approved of Lewis's eventual marriage to Joy Davidman, a divorcee.

None of this--even if it is all true--would have constituted a "debate" or "rivalry."

I suspect that Tolkien was not as appreciative of the Narnia series as Lewis would have been of, say, The Hobbit. For three reasons: (1) Lewis obviously designed the Narnia books to be more popular with readers, less demanding than Tolkien's; (2) Lewis made more eclectic use of his mythic sources, including Greek, Roman, Christian, as well as Anglo-Saxon whereas Tolkien was more narrowly "English" with careful attention to their Celtic and/or Scandinavian sources; (3) the Narnia books were obviously Christian in content, perhaps even allegorical: Tolkien's were not. In fact, though the LotR series appears to many readers to reflect (somewhat allegorically) on the evil of Hitler and Nazism, Tolkien insisted that that was not his intention.

If there was tension between the two authors, probably it stemmed from Tolkien's lack of enthusiasm for the popularity, mythological eclectism, and Christian allegory of the Narnia stories. Simply reading The Hobbit and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe together will, in fact, demonstrate these differences in their style, stories, and consciousness of their readers.

However, unless biographers have come up with lesser known details of their relationship, I suspect that the distance between them had more to do with Lewis's change in position and marital status than with any open disagreement or rivalry. I feel certain that none of their fiction was written in a spirit of debate with one another.

Answer 2

Well, Tolkien's elvish languages are supposed to be based on a few of the Norse languages (he studied old languages, I believe). Other than that - the stories mirrored what Tolkien saw in his time with industry (Saruman) taking over the countrysides of his beloved Britain and the World War he survived through. As for Lewis, His works seem to heavily mirror religious stories. Which is more realistic? Well, all fantasy aside, I would say Tolkien.

Answer 3

yeah that's what they say ....suppoudsedly the debate was that The Lord of the Rings was better than The Chronicles of Narnia......C.S.Lewis started writing the Chronicles, and when he was in about book two, The Lord of the Rings started geting published and stole the light from Mr Lewis so supoudsedly Mr Lewis got mad at Mr Tolkien telling him he shuold have waited a little longer to publish his books so blah blah i dont believe any of it because I've read The Chronicles of Carnia, The Space Trilogy, and The Lord of the Rings, and I am starting the Screwtape Letters by C.S. lewis, and that book was dedicated to Mr Tolkien. so i dont think we should believe stories told my people who didnt like that Mr C.S. lewis showed the Christan faith to Mr Tolkien

Answer 4

Cs Lewis Debate

Answer 5

I asked the same question many times, and didn't get an answer

Answer 6

This is bugging me as well