J.R.R. Tolkien helped influence C.S. Lewis’s conversion through conversations about myth and Christianity.
Lewis and Tolkien became colleagues at Oxford and friends through literary discussions. Tolkien, a Roman Catholic, argued that myths could communicate profound truths and suggested that the Christian story fulfilled patterns found in earlier myths. Their discussions, especially with Hugo Dyson, contributed to Lewis’s movement toward Christian belief.
Tolkien was not the only influence on Lewis. Lewis’s reading of writers such as George MacDonald and G.K. Chesterton also mattered, and his own intellectual questions developed over several years. Still, Tolkien is the best-known answer because their friendship directly connected literary theory, mythology, and faith.
The two men later belonged to the Inklings, an Oxford discussion group that also included Charles Williams and other writers. Their relationship was intellectually productive but not free of disagreements, particularly about Lewis’s literary preferences and his approach to Christian fiction.