No matter how much time passes, The Lord of the Rings continues to be loved by many. Likewise, The Chronicles of Narnia retains faithful readers who plod through the series each year. What might surprise some casual fans of both high-fantasy tales (but will certainly not be news to any die-hards out there) is that authors J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were longtime friends. Tolkien was influential in Lewis’ conversion to Christianity, and the pair often discussed stories at length. As members of “The Inklings,” they read their own material to each other often, receiving notes and feedback. Consequently, there was plenty of crossover in terms of theme between their respective works. However, on one particular occasion, that crossover went far beyond theme itself…
C.S. Lewis Referenced Númenor in His Iconic ‘Ransom Trilogy’

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About a decade before The Fellowship of the Ring first hit bookshelves, Lewis first teased the world of Middle-earth in the third installment of his infamous Ransom Trilogy (sometimes called the Space Trilogy or the Cosmic Trilogy). Titled That Hideous Strength, the 1945 novel is “a modern fairy-tale” and a dystopian thriller filled with plenty of science fiction and fantasy elements that offer a unique supernatural bent. Unlike the other novels in Lewis’ Ransom series, the final installment takes place on Earth rather than on another planet (Out of the Silent Planet is set on Mars, while Perelandra takes place on Venus). The book also delves fantastically into Arthurian legend, blending genres in a way that feels particularly inspired for the time. Of course, elements of the author’s Christian faith heavily influence the story as well, a feature heavily criticized by 1984 scribe George Orwell in his own review… however, the series is a masterwork.
In That Hideous Strength, during the heat of the earthly conflict with the demonic National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E.), the Wizard Merlin (yes, that Merlin) evokes the name of the fallen realm of Numinor. You read that right. The very same Númenor referenced in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings was first named in published print here, though Lewis misspells it due to having only ever heard it spoken and not actually seen on the page. As Tolkien once noted in Letter 267 (as collected in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien), “Lewis was, I think, impressed by ‘the Silmarillion and all that’, and certainly retained some vague memories of it and of its names in mind.” In fact, Tolkien claims that certain words and elements from the other Ransom novels also originated from his Middle-earth adventures — a story that Lewis urged his friend to finish in the first place.
Additionally, the trilogy’s namesake, Elwin Ransom, is thought to have been based on Tolkien himself, as the word “Elwin” can mean “Elf-friend” in Anglo-Saxon. Tolkien often used the “Elf-friend” term in his own legendarium, particularly with the character Elendil, and the Elendili, who hailed from Númenor. When asked by Merlin what Numinor even is, Ransom notes that it is simply “the true West,” a term loaded with meaning that echoes ideas expressed in The Return of the King. In the preface to That Hideous Strength, Lewis teases that, “Those who would like to learn further about Numinor and the True West must (alas!) await the publication of much that still exists only in the MSS. of my friend, Professor J. R. R. Tolkien.” It wouldn’t be for another decade before The Lord of the Rings would be published, and the true Númenor finally revealed.

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Could the ‘Ransom Trilogy’ Take Place in The Same World as ‘The Lord of the Rings’?

Image via New Line Cinema

When speaking to Ransom about N.I.C.E. and their ultimate plans for the domination of the human race, Merlin takes some convincing at first. Yet, he soon recognizes the demonic threat behind the pseudo-scientific hive. “If they put forth their power,” the wizard explains, “they will unmake all Middle Earth.” Not only does this sound like something Gandalf might say, but here Lewis’ use of the infamous term used to describe Tolkien’s entire body of fantasy literature feels deliberate. The inclusion of “Middle Earth” as a concept, paired with several references to “Numinor,” may lead some to speculate that the world of Lewis’ Ransom Trilogy is one-and-the-same with Tolkien’s.
This theory is only further supported when we remember that Tolkien himself considered the Middle-earth saga to take place in Earth’s distant past. In Letter 165, the professor notes that, “though I have not attempted to relate the shape of the mountains and land-masses to what geologists may say or surmise about the nearer past, imaginatively this ‘history’ is supposed to take place in a period of the actual Old World of this planet.” Likewise, in a 1958 letter (Letter 221), he expresses that our world is in either the Sixth or Seventh Age, if the Middle-earth timeline is to be followed. It’s clear that, in his view, there was always meant to be a loose connection between our reality and the world of Hobbits and the One Ring.
Of course, it’s unlikely that Lewis’ Ransom books were truly intended to directly connect to Tolkien’s high-fantasy epic (and its surrounding materials) beyond sly references. However, considering that Lewis inserts himself as a character in the Ransom Trilogy, one who writes the story of his colleague Elwin Ransom, one may conclude (if only in one’s own mind) that these worlds are actually one. If you add Lewis’ multiversal concept of the Wood Between the Worlds to the mix, you may even draw a line between The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia.
‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ Tackles Similar Ideas to Tolkien’s Númenor

It turns out that C.S. Lewis enjoyed the idea of Númenor so much that he explored similar themes of a fallen society in The Chronicles of Narnia prequel, The Magician’s Nephew. In this story (chronologically the first in the timeline), the home world of the White Witch (aka Jadis), called Charn, was annihilated in a manner thematically similar to that of Númenor. No, it wasn’t a giant flood that swept them away, but their own hubris ultimately leads to their destruction (here through the mystical “Deplorable Word”). Much like the people of Númenor, they fell because they rejected goodness and truth. As a result, the world was cursed and forgotten, living on only as a distant memory throughout the Narnia universe. While both Tolkien and Lewis shared plenty of similarities as far as themes were concerned (albeit through differing expressions), it was their friendship and Lewis’ deep appreciation for Tolkien’s legendarium that bound their works together.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Release Date

December 9, 2005

Runtime

143 Minutes

Writers

Ann Peacock, Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely