For example, he explains that although the divine gift of human freedom was always a central theme for Tolkien, In his chapter on humanity, Freeman offers a powerful meditation on the distinctions between Men and Elves that takes into account some of the changes Tolkien made to his legendarium over the years. Rather than try to provide an overview of all 12 chapters, I’ll focus on three of the chapters that expanded my own vision of Tolkien’s legendarium. Though he writes as a Reformed evangelical, Freeman remains fair to Tolkien’s strong Catholic beliefs and practices, explaining and clarifying them without ever criticizing, parodying, or patronizing them. He stays true to his promise.įreeman is a lecturer at Houston Christian (formerly Houston Baptist) University and a classical school teacher who holds a PhD from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. In his aptly titled “Prolegomena,” Freeman makes clear his goal: “To set out as accurately as possible what Tolkien thought, without letting my or other people’s views intrude upon the matter” (17). Though informed by the copious secondary material on Tolkien, Freeman’s work is firmly and faithfully grounded in the depth and breadth of the primary material.īroken into 12 chapters that explicate Tolkien’s views on God, revelation, creation, humanity, angels, the fall, evil and sin, Satan and demons, Christ and salvation, the church, the Christian life, and last things, Tolkien Dogmatics takes a deep dive into the theological convictions that grounded, inspired, and guided the maker of Middle-earth. Tolkien Dogmatics: Theology Through Mythology with the Maker of Middle-Earth painstakingly assembles, collates, and cross-references Tolkien’s legendarium, academic essays, and letters to construct a systematic theology. In this spirit, Austin Freeman has given a gift to Tolkien scholars and aficionados alike in a work I didn’t think could be written. Tolkien Companion and Guide to Karen Fonstad’s magisterial Atlas of Middle-Earth, from Peter Kreeft’s comprehensive Philosophy of Tolkien to Holly Ordway’s meticulously documented Tolkien’s Modern Reading, Tolkien scholars imitate his thoroughness, his love of detail, and his passion for subcreating a secondary world that’s almost as rich and multilayered as the primary world. Tolkien, from Scull and Hammond’s encyclopedic, three-volume J. He wanted ‘a place for everything and everything in the right place.’ Distinction, definition, tabulation were his delight.”įrom Christopher Tolkien’s massive 12-volume History of Middle-Earth to Humphrey Carpenter’s lovingly, if frustratingly, expurgated Letters of J.

He was an organiser, a codifier, a builder of systems. Lewis defines that trait with characteristic precision: “Medieval man was not a dreamer nor a wanderer. In the first chapter of The Discarded Image, C. Tolkien attracts readers who share a personality trait with him-one he also shared with the medievals he so loved.

The atlas of tolkien's middle earth