What draws you to the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien?

He was a scholar – held a professorial chair at the University of Oxford – and yet he had other commitments in his life. He was a devoted husband and father; he was a devout Catholic or in other words a man of faith and reason; he cared for his country, the English way of life, its countryside, history, language, and people (and fought for England in World War I); he enjoyed a good story. He fused these interests in his fictional writing. His writing allowed him to express these elements of his personality. His epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, is his vision of an aesthetic-ethical union.

In the Introduction, you state that discussions of the influence of Christianity on Tolkien’s work have “sparked intense discussion and debate.” Why do you think this topic produces such an intense reaction?

I tried to answer this in my own contribution to the volume. Tolkien was a devout Roman Catholic. Does this mean that his writing is necessarily better understood from a Christian point of view? Some see his writings as the place he went when he wanted to escape orthodoxy. Others see that view as an attempt to distort the contribution of a great writer. In some ways it would seem as if the at times heated nature of the discussion owes itself merely to Tolkien’s global popularity. But I think it is more than that. The Lord of the Rings makes certain demands on those who read it. Sometimes scholars roll their eyes at what they perceive to be the scriptural tone of the language, yet that is only an outward manifestation of a work that is meant to be taken seriously for its traditional morality and ethical claims. We expect serious moral claims to be made by Dante, Milton, or Shakespeare, even a Schiller, but of a twentieth-century work, one that is read across the globe? If Christianity frames and informs this morality, then Tolkien has found a way to refresh Christianity for new generations.

What affect, if any, do you believe Peter Jackson’s well-known films to have had on the public’s response to The Lord of the Rings?

The films have sparked renewed interest in Tolkien’s major work, led people to revisit The Lord of the Rings or read it for the first time. In my next volume, edited with Sandra Miesel, Light Beyond All Shadow, also with Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, two of the contributors take up the issue of in what ways Jackson’s film versions might clash with Tolkien’s literary vision on precisely the point of religion.

Tolkien is said to have written The Lord of the Rings “as a personal satisfaction.” What sense of satisfaction have you gained from editing The Ring and the Cross?

As a professor who has the privilege of teaching students, I believe that it is important to examine evidence, put forward arguments, and reason together. And I hold that this is possible to do with civility and respect. The Ring and the Cross features an array of serious scholars who take differing positions on a vexed question. I enjoyed working with the contributors and seeing how carefully they crafted their articles. I also found satisfaction in writing the Introduction, as it provided the opportunity to help readers survey chronologically the varying scholarly responses to the question of Christianity and The Lord of the Rings over time. There is also a deep personal satisfaction in investigating a question that has been on my mind for some time. My advantage was that I was able to mobilize some of the best minds on the subject and am now happy to be able to share the evidence and the arguments that constitute our conversation on this topic in The Ring and the Cross.

—Kathleen Shultz