Tolkien’s Legacy

The death of Christopher Tolkien as a nonagenarian ends a legacy, for it was this youngest son of the great J.R.R. that took – pardonnez le pun – good care of his father’s inimitable work. And imitated it has been, many, many times over, all to paler effect. For unlike the fantasy genre to which the philologist unwittingly gave rise, Tolkien’s own work had that near-indefinable quality of resonance. That is, he did not just write a book, but created a world, the work of a lifetime, as the twelve-volume history of Middle Earth – which I did not know even existed until today – put together by his son Christopher, attests. The trilogy, along with the Hobbit and the Silmarillion, have a rich, textured quality, a realness to the characters, to their language, speech, history, culture. And the world is a much richer place for it.

The Lord of the Rings was very nearly not written. J.R.R. had penned The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, for children, with some vague idea of a longer story for adults. But he was bogged down, and discouraged, and it was C.S. Lewis of all people, Anglican and whose own Narnia series Tolkien thought too ‘obvious’, who urged the author to complete the story of Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Strider, Gimli, Legolas and companions. We may wonder now what we would do without them, for almost seem more real than real people. Tolkien pulled off what seemed impossible: To write a deeply Catholic book that is in no way explicitly religious, and that even the most die-hard, supercilious, tree-hugging, agnostic can enjoy, in which they can immerse themselves and their children and, even without knowing it, becoming a little more Catholic themselves. For Tolkien loved the woods and the trees, the rivers and streams, the mountains and hills, not for what they were in themselves, but what they were to us; and perhaps others may learn some little of the same Christian hierarchy of goods.

Christopher never liked what Peter Jackson and Hollywood did with his father’s books, even though they likely raked his family nearly a Smaug-esque treasure trove. He said that Jackson turned them into ‘action films for 15 to 25 year olds’, which has more than a ring of truth – witness Legolas snowboarding on his shield, and Gimli the dwarf being ‘tossed’, amongst any number of other such kitsch. But how does one do justice, even in a six-hour film, to the full epic that is the Ring trilogy? Best to read, and use one’s imagination, far better and more satisfying than any movie.

Christopher was the youngest son of J.R.R. and his wife, Edith (Bratt). His eldest brother was a priest, and he has a surviving younger sister. We owe him a great deal of gratitude in keeping his father’s legacy alive and well, and offering so much to so many. Requiescat in pace, Christopher, and may you join your father and brothers in a true fantasy that never ends.

Carney’s Amoral Majority

After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→

Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress

This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→

A Tale of Two Benedicts

A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→

My Name is Bernadette

April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→

Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully

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The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus

As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→

Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów

We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→

Saint Gemma Galgani

On this April 11th, in 1903 – the same year that the Italian Guiseppe Sarto was elected Pope later that summer as Pius X – a lovely, young Italian woman died, by the name of Gemma Galgani. She lived a brief life of 24 years, as did a number of other young saints, including Pier[…]Continue reading→

An Ideological and Improper Translation

I noticed something odd with the psalm reading at Mass the other day. Our bishops’ conference here in Canada has decreed that the Mass in English – Novus Ordo – use the ‘NRSV’, the ‘New Revised Standard Version’, an ‘updated’ translation of the original RSV, first published in 1952. This ‘new translation’ has the tendency[…]Continue reading→

Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle: A Teacher for Teachers

Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (1651 – 1719), a French nobleman, ordained a priest, founded the first order in the Church’s history entirely without priests, and this came about almost by accident. I say ‘almost’, for, of course, there are no accidents with God. Destined for ordination from an early age, Jean-Baptiste never looked back, even[…]Continue reading→