The Mything Link

[stahrwe]

I have a question for the BT crowd;

Do you know, or know of someone who knows, more about mythology than J.R.R. Tolkien?

[Chris OConnor]

No. Why do you ask?

[DWill]

Sir James George Frazer of The Golden Bough fame might be one who had a more comprehensive knowledge, but not knowing how much Tolkien knew about world, as opposed to Anglo-Saxon or Norse, mythology, I can't be sure.

[stahrwe]

Anyone else care to comment?

My question was intended to be more generic than a specific mythology. I meant mythology as a genre, a type of literature,

JRR Tolkien wrote what some have called the greatest book of the 20th century and others have called the greatest book of the 2nd millenia.

[Dexter]

Joseph Campbell?

Assuming you're not looking for someone that's alive.

[DWill]

Is it LOTR you're talking about as the greatest book of the century or millenium? It wouldn't be The Hobbit, I assume. I guess everyone is free to think of any book they like as the greatest ever. If it's literary critics' opinions you're talking about, I'd be surprised if any named Tolkien's works as the best of the century. There's an assumption that realistic fiction is the mainstream from which the greatest book candidates would be chosen. I still don't understand why you asked the question about Tolkien's knowledge of myth.

[stahrwe]

why? you ask.

I have been assailed by the claims of many skeptics and non-believers that Christianity is a myth. I fought against that claim but with little gravitas of my own, and a majority professing the company line I made little headway. Though riddled with logical flaws and misrepresentations the writings of Murdock, Wright, Campbell and others were preferred and defended. Since being banned from BT I have delved deeply into many topics and dealt with other atheists and groups which have nearly identical approaches.

Additionally, I have been part of a group forming a local chapter of the American Chesterton Society and have had the privilege of meeting and discussing Chesterton's works with experts and scholars including one who did postgraduate work at Oxford. That particular scholar is also an expert on C.S. Lewis. His knowledge of Lewis and Tokien is encyclopedic and when I am around him I keep my mouth shut and listen (a testimony to his brilliance as I love to opine as many of you know). The inevitable interconnection of Chesterton-Lewis-Tolkien led to my discovery of what Tolkien had to say about mythology and Christianity.

I have attached a Youtube video of a reenaction of a key meeting and conversation between the atheist Lewis and Catholic Tolkien. The conversation was a key event in Lewis becoming a Christian. The re-enaction is fairly accurate as recorded by Lewis in various writings.

As I object to videos without transcripts I have attached a pdf file of the youtube clip.

In the video Tolkien proposes Christianity is indeed a myth.

The video is about 8 minutes long.

I hope you will watch it and that it will generate some discussion.


The True Myth

[ant]

Thanks for the link.
I have a question about C S Lewis that is not related to the discussion on the video:

Understanding a person's biography requires careful consideration of their life's context.
Understanding Lewis' context is valuable when considering his reasoning that lead to his conversion from militant atheism to Christianity.

Having said that, how might the trauma of Lewis' childhood (death of his mother) and the trauma of his wartime service played a role in his conversion to Christianity?

[DWill]

A quibble perhaps, but what evidence do you have for the adjective "militant" before "atheist"?

[ant]

What prompted this question in this topic of discussion?

It's a fairly easy question to address. Of course it's entirely perspectival.