You can get Fr Michael's book here: https://bit.ly/4b8hAvs

What did JRR Tolkien believe? And how did his Catholic faith inform his great work, 'The Lord of the Rings'? These questions are explored at length in this live podcast and book launch for Fr Michael Halsall's new book, ‘A Light from the Shadows: The Spiritual Heart of JRR Tolkien'. The book is available now from CTS.

Chapters
0:00 Intro
3:41 Tolkien & The Great War
4:44 Tolkien's best work
6:20 The Films & Adaptations
8:14 Tolkien & C.S. Lewis
12:00 The Gospel in The Lord of the Rings
15:24 Do Fantasy and Faith go together?
17:25 The Desolation of War
19:07 Creating a Mythology of England
24:00 Tolkien's view of Good & Evil
28:40 What is The Ring?
30:48 Virtue in Tolkien's Characters
33:50 Samwise Gamgee & The Hobbits
36:50 The Afterlife & The Grey Havens
40:47 Galadriel & Mary
44:22 How Tolkien can inspire Catholic creatives
46:53 The Racism criticism of Tolkien

About Fr Michael
Fr Michael Halsall is a priest of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, and presently serves as Episcopal Vicar for Vocations & Formation, covering England, Scotland, and Wales. His recent book - 'Creation and Beauty in Tolkien's Catholic Vision' - explores the philosophical themes in Tolkien's crafted creation narratives, alongside those of the Christian tradition. His newest book is, ‘A Light from the Shadows: The Spiritual Heart of JRR Tolkien'.

About the book
This is not a biography of JRR Tolkien. But, ‘no author writes in a vacuum’ (as the author of this book, Fr Michael Halsall reminds us), so there are abundant biographical details in this considered commentary on the demonstrably Catholic framework of Tolkien’s writings: his experiences as a scholar, an army officer, and a husband and father. All these facets of a life are keys to unlocking Tolkien’s perspective on his own work.