The Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture started off their annual Catholic Literature Series with a bang on Tuesday, September 4. DeBartolo 155 was almost filled to capacity to witness the series, featuring the life and work of JRR Tolkien in anticipation of the upcoming Hobbit films, begin with a lecture by David Fagerberg, Professor of Liturgy at Notre Dame. Fagerberg contextualized Tolkien’s work within the general theme of romantic theology and the literary group, the Inklings. He began his lecture in a surprising way by stating that he does not like literature, and is not well-versed in either Tolkien or the Lord of the Rings.
“Having discredited myself three times, what do I have to say?” Fagerberg asked the audience. He answered that he wished to orient Tolkien within the Inklings, a literary group which met at Oxford University. It began as an undergraduate club, with Tolkien and fellow author CS Lewis as unofficial sponsors. This unofficial club turned into regular meetings of literary enthusiasts who would gather on Tuesday mornings in a pub, and Thursday nights at Lewis’ house, to discuss a variety of complex subjects. There were many different members of the Inklings, but Fagerberg focused on the four most notable: JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Owen Barfield, and Charles Williams. These four, he said, would regularly read parts of their respective project manuscripts to each other, and critique them, frankly and sometimes disapprovingly.
Fagerberg focused his lecture around the central theme that each of these authors sought to write a type of ‘romantic theology.’ Charles Williams defines this term using the example of Dante and Beatrice from the Divine Comedy. Dante is drawn forward by the beauty and goodness of Beatrice, and these emotions should become a part of daily life, Williams wrote. Romantic theology is the idea that “another person can become a grace of reality,” Fagerberg said. This idea is directly related to the Incarnation, as the divine was actually made human, and another person allowed us to be led to salvation.
CS Lewis also addressed this theme in his writings. He viewed romanticism as an intense longing and desire that is prized, even if there is no hope of ever gaining the object of desire. Epics and fantasies have a special way of sparking this desire, which can only be grasped through the imagination, and not the intellect. In creating one’s own fantastical world, the author becomes a sub-creator with God. In glimpsing other worlds, one is able to see things from a new angle, and perhaps gain some insight into the actual world in which one lives. Tolkien demonstrated this concept by creating the word “mooreeffoc,” which is “coffeeroom” spelled backwards, thus giving a new perspective.
These themes can clearly be seen in Tolkien’s writings, Fagerberg noted. Sam and Rosie, the beloved hobbits who eventually marry at the end of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, embody the romantic notion of grace mediated through another person. Rosie and their family enable Sam to come back home after all he has been through. The themes of death and immortality are central to the Lord of the Rings; the characters experience a desire for deathlessness that can never fully be realized, and yet that desire spurs the characters onward, pulling them forward in spite of their trials. Fagerberg concluded the lecture by focusing on Tolkien’s work as an enrichment of creation, both in the sense of his own richly-woven world, and the service his works have delivered to the real world.
The lectures take place every Tuesday in September at 8 PM in 155 DeBartolo Hall.
Liz Everett is a junior PLS and English major. She retains her grace and charm even when unkindly friends compare her to New York Knicks basketball players. She can be reached at eeveret1@nd.edu.
