Campbell and the Inklings—Tolkien, Lewis, and Williams

Abstract

As a comparative mythologist, Joseph Campbell charts the myth of the hero to develop his concept of bliss and to explain the place of sacrifice in myth. The myth of the hero, bliss, and sacrifice are dominant in the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Charles Williams, as they are in Campbell’s comparative approach. The creating of myths, that mythopoeic faculty that Campbell studied and that the Inklings practiced in fiction, seems to be inherent in the human life process, answering a basic human need. Most significant for Campbell is the way that myth stimulates the creative artist to produce works which move profoundly because of their mythic qualities. According to Campbell, the real function of literature in human affairs is to reanimate myth’s ancient and primal endeavor to create a fruitful living place for humanity in a world that is at best oblivious to it and, at worst, malevolent toward it.