Many of us were amazed when we read The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis. It was a really great story that brought us to a different world. In the first book, Lewis told us the story of a young boy, Digory Kirke, who became Professor Kirke, and his friend, Polly Plummer, discovered different worlds using Uncle Andrew’s rings. Some of these worlds are Jadis’, who was later known as “The White Witch”, past home and Narnia which was created by Aslan in front of the two children. JRR Tolkien, the writer of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books, was a friend and co-worker of CS Lewis. They were both part of the English Unit in Oxford University and the informal literary group called the “Inklings”. It was said that they talked about writing novels that take place in a different space or time. They both agreed and decided that Lewis will use “space travel” (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Tolkien will use “time travel” (The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and other related novels). This showed that these two are not just acquainted but close friends.


If you look at the life of Tolkien, you can see that it has so many similarities with the life of Lewis’ character, Digory. Here is the list why I think that Tolkien was Lewis’ inspiration for Digory:

1. Tolkien and Lewis are close friends, meaning they know each other well. They also have the same workplace and is part of a same group. Somehow, you can imagine that they are like ‘best friends’. You can imagine these two being together for a long time everyday.         

2. Tolkien and Digory both became professors. Tolkien was a professor at the Oxford University (the same with Lewis) and in the second book of Narnia (The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe), Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie were sent to the countryside to live with Professor Kirke because of war. 

3. Aslan is Jesus in Narnia. The two both believed in Jesus. Tolkien clearly believes in Jesus but Digory’s belief is seen when you read between the lines. Digory believed in Aslan even when he was already old, which symbolizes him believing in Jesus despite his age.

4. Both of them created a new world. Tolkien created Middle-earth. Aslan may have been the one that created Narnia but Digory helped in creating it. The lamp post came from the steel that Jadis took from our world. It was because of Digory that she was brought into our world. It was also because of him that the wardrobe, which was used by the Pevensies as a portal, was made. It was because of him that Jadis was awakened when she was under a spell back in Charn. He was the reason that there were humans in Narnia.

5. Tolkien and Digory both have wild imaginations. They are both smart. Because of their imaginations, they created a new world and shared it with others.

6. Digory and Tolkien both grew up without their father but with other people. Digory Kirke’s father was said to be in India. He grew up with his Uncle Andrew, Aunt Letitia and sick mother. Tolkien’s father died when he was three years old. He lived with his mother until her death. Father Morgan, who was a close friend of Tolkien’s mother, was then assigned by her to take care of her sons.

7. Tolkien and Digory both became a bridge to children’s adventure. Tolkien became a bridge to children by writing The Hobbit (which was actually intended as a children’s story), while Digory was the reason Lucy rediscovered Narnia. They were both 12 years old when they both had a sick mother, then around 40 years later, Tolkien wrote The Hobbit while Narnia was rediscovered or the world Digory somewhat created was found.

8. Last but certainly never the least, Tolkien and Digory both have a sick mother named Mabel. Tolkien’s mother, Mabel Tolkien, died of cancer when he was 12 years old. Digory’s mother, Mabel Kirke was said to be ‘dying’. It was the reason why Digory, 12 years old at that time, brought home some apples from Narnia. 


I am not sure if Tolkien was Lewis’ inspiration for his character Digory Kirke, but I do think so. Hope you learned something in this blog. I had fun researching and writing this blog and I hope you have fun reading it. If you have any comment or reaction about this blog, you can go to the “Contact Me” page and contact me. Thank you for reading this and God bless.