September 27, 2003

Chrissy
Mr. Underhill

Hello Chrissy, I believe that you are mistaken on several points in your article.

First of all, Tolkien has stated many, many, many times that LOTR is not allegory. We have had several long debates over here (none of which I have taken part in ;-) ) about this. There are several Christian themes in this story: this is true. But it is not an allegorical work. I would be inclined to take the author's own word for it on this issue.
I invite you to compare LOTR to The Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis, which is most definitely allegorical, and note the differences.

Secondly, sorry to disappoint you, but JRRT was born a Catholic, (he was raised by a priest) and remained so until his death. In fact, a rift grew between him and his friend and colleague C.S. Lewis when CS converted from Atheism to Anglicanism. JRR was a little peeved that C.S. did not become Catholic.

Thirdly, I did not appreciate your statement, "He was a devout Catholic before he converted to Christianity." I have been a 'devout Catholic' all my life. If you are saying that makes me something other than a Christian, then you are totally and definitely incorrect. I really don't want to debate you further on this, because I don't want to get off the topic of Tolkien-Movies. (or Books) But I did want to let you know that your supposition is not correct, and I'm sure that most if not all the Catholics on this forum found your article offensive.

Sorry for this long article, and sorry for getting off the topic a little, but I felt that your article needed a response.

I remain as always,

Underhill... my name's Underhill