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In 2003, Christian History & Biography dedicated an entire issue to John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (J.R.R. Tolkien) in an effort to uncover "The Man Behind the Myth." 

For many people, the name Tolkien brings to mind the three film releases of The Lord of the Rings installments. Through Oscar-winning Film Editing, Costume Design, and Visual Effects among other categories—you name it, the film won it—director Peter Jackson certainly did his part to push Tolkien's epic fantasy into the limelight. Yet, with all the high-tech movie-making magic, modern audiences may be tempted to overlook the historical richness of Tolkien himself. 

From an early age, Tolkien showed a gift for language. David Doughan of the Tolkien Society writes of the young man: "[Tolkien] was...showing remarkable linguistic gifts. He had mastered Latin and Greek...and was becoming more than competent in a number of other languages....He was already busy making up his own languages, purely for fun." 

Similarly, Tolkien critic Tom Shippey describes in "A Feeling for Language" the importance of philology to Tolkien's work: "Tolkien believed strongly that to study language without literature was ultimately sterile, to study literature without language was just amateurish." Aaron Belz adds, "Whether or not Tolkien had etymologies consciously in mind as he wrote (and it's clear that in many cases he did), he was so familiar with the ancestral tongues that he couldn't help but make Middle-earth a place of names and languages that really existed, or might have, in an unrecorded past. And all this works its magic on readers who have never conjugated an Anglo-Saxon verb. They feel in their bones the authenticity and coherence of Tolkien's language." Belz highlights the reason Tolkien has fans from nearly every walk of life—he knew how to bring fiction to life, and we're all searching for the heavenly truth that Tolkien eloquently laces through his adventures (with such power that writers have long since imitated his style).

While The Lord of the Rings and its "predecessor," The Hobbit, may be Tolkein's best-known works, Tolkien also wrote numerous stories, letters, and works of literary criticism: Farmer Giles of Ham, The Silmarillion, Letters from Father Christmas, and Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics. Beowulf was of particular importance to Tolkien, as he often lectured on the masterpiece and, according to an article by writer Ralph Wood, "Like the anonymous seventh-century author of Beowulf whose work he had mastered, Tolkien infuses his pre-Christian epic fantasy with Christian convictions and concerns."

Tolkien was influenced by two important relationships: his relationship with God and his relationship with friend and literary sparring partner, C.S. Lewis. 

Tolkien and his brother, Hilary, were raised in the Roman Catholic Church and "remained devout Catholics throughout their lives."  Tolkien's faith informed his writing.  As Thomas Howard writes, "Tolkien claimed that all of his work was massively influenced—nay determined—by his Catholicism."  This assertion may come as a surprise, as Tolkien said his stories were not allegorical in any sense.  While many of Tolkien's contemporaries (Dorothy L. Sayers, Flannery O'Connor, and T.S. Eliot, to name a few) struggled to bring an overt faith to their work, Tolkien settled for writing readable stories that people could enjoy—yet he couldn't help but incorporate his faith into his work, even if at a subconscious level.

By contrast, C.S. Lewis wrote more overtly of faith. Lewis was an atheist when he met Tolkien, and partly through Tolkien's prompting, became a theist and then a Christian. Colin Duriez writes, "After Lewis's conversion, he filled his fiction with enduring images of God, our humanity, and reality transfigured by the light of heaven. In compelling essays, he persuaded many of the truth of the Christian claims."

Over their 40 years of friendship, Tollers and Jack (Tolkien and Lewis) would regularly meet with The Inklings, a group of writers who convened at The Eagle and Child Pub in order to "drink beer and discuss their books in process." Lewis proved an invaluable literary "accountability partner," as he prompted Tolkien to finish and publish both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Behind the hobbits and wraiths stands Tolkien, a brilliant and profound artist, a diligent and compassionate friend, and a deeply committed Christian.

—Mary Lasse is Senior Customer Care Representative for Christianity Today International and a regular reviewer for www.ChristianityTodayMovies.com.