Paul E. Kerry is an associate professor of history at Brigham Young University, research associate at Corpus Christi College and visiting fellow at the Woolf Institute, Cambridge.

• Chapter 1 Introduction Part 2 Part I: The Ring Chapter 3 The Pagan Tolkien Chapter 4 The Christian Tolkien: A Response to Ronald Hutton Chapter 5 The Entwives: Investigating the Spritual Core ofLord of the Rings Chapter 6 "Like Heathen Kings:" Religion as Palimpsest in Tolkien's Fiction Chapter 7 Confronting the World's Weirdness: J. R. R. Tolkien'sThe Children of Hurin Chapter 8 Eru Erased: The Minimalist Cosmology ofThe Lord of the Rings Chapter 9 The Ring and the Cross: How J. R. R. Tolkien Became a Christian Writer Part 10 Part II: The Cross Chapter 11 Redeeming Sub-Creation Chapter 12 Catholic Scholar, Catholic Sub-Creator Chapter 13 "An Age Comes On:" J. R. R. Tolkien and the English Catholic Sense of History Chapter 14 The Lord of the Rings and the Catholic Understanding of Community Chapter 15 Tracking Catholic Influence inThe Lord of the Rings Chapter 16 Saintly and Distant Mothers Chapter 17 The "Last Battle" as a Johannine Ragnarok: Tolkien and the Universal

As a contribution to a—if not the—polemical area of Tolkien studies, The Ring and the Cross is commendable not only for looking at both sides, but also for reflecting those many shades in between where most opinions fall. The collection’s civility and single-volume format more than likely belie the true friction and disparity of opinions on its topic, but the willingness to publish together is at least a willingness to engage one another, and that can never be a bad thing.

Paul E. Kerry is an associate professor of history at Brigham Young University, research associate at Corpus Christi College and visiting fellow at the Woolf Institute, Cambridge.

• Chapter 1 Introduction Part 2 Part I: The Ring Chapter 3 The Pagan Tolkien Chapter 4 The Christian Tolkien: A Response to Ronald Hutton Chapter 5 The Entwives: Investigating the Spritual Core ofLord of the Rings Chapter 6 "Like Heathen Kings:" Religion as Palimpsest in Tolkien's Fiction Chapter 7 Confronting the World's Weirdness: J. R. R. Tolkien'sThe Children of Hurin Chapter 8 Eru Erased: The Minimalist Cosmology ofThe Lord of the Rings Chapter 9 The Ring and the Cross: How J. R. R. Tolkien Became a Christian Writer Part 10 Part II: The Cross Chapter 11 Redeeming Sub-Creation Chapter 12 Catholic Scholar, Catholic Sub-Creator Chapter 13 "An Age Comes On:" J. R. R. Tolkien and the English Catholic Sense of History Chapter 14 The Lord of the Rings and the Catholic Understanding of Community Chapter 15 Tracking Catholic Influence inThe Lord of the Rings Chapter 16 Saintly and Distant Mothers Chapter 17 The "Last Battle" as a Johannine Ragnarok: Tolkien and the Universal

As a contribution to a—if not the—polemical area of Tolkien studies, The Ring and the Cross is commendable not only for looking at both sides, but also for reflecting those many shades in between where most opinions fall. The collection’s civility and single-volume format more than likely belie the true friction and disparity of opinions on its topic, but the willingness to publish together is at least a willingness to engage one another, and that can never be a bad thing.

Paul E. Kerry is an associate professor of history at Brigham Young University, research associate at Corpus Christi College and visiting fellow at the Woolf Institute, Cambridge.

• Chapter 1 Introduction Part 2 Part I: The Ring Chapter 3 The Pagan Tolkien Chapter 4 The Christian Tolkien: A Response to Ronald Hutton Chapter 5 The Entwives: Investigating the Spritual Core ofLord of the Rings Chapter 6 "Like Heathen Kings:" Religion as Palimpsest in Tolkien's Fiction Chapter 7 Confronting the World's Weirdness: J. R. R. Tolkien'sThe Children of Hurin Chapter 8 Eru Erased: The Minimalist Cosmology ofThe Lord of the Rings Chapter 9 The Ring and the Cross: How J. R. R. Tolkien Became a Christian Writer Part 10 Part II: The Cross Chapter 11 Redeeming Sub-Creation Chapter 12 Catholic Scholar, Catholic Sub-Creator Chapter 13 "An Age Comes On:" J. R. R. Tolkien and the English Catholic Sense of History Chapter 14 The Lord of the Rings and the Catholic Understanding of Community Chapter 15 Tracking Catholic Influence inThe Lord of the Rings Chapter 16 Saintly and Distant Mothers Chapter 17 The "Last Battle" as a Johannine Ragnarok: Tolkien and the Universal

As a contribution to a—if not the—polemical area of Tolkien studies, The Ring and the Cross is commendable not only for looking at both sides, but also for reflecting those many shades in between where most opinions fall. The collection’s civility and single-volume format more than likely belie the true friction and disparity of opinions on its topic, but the willingness to publish together is at least a willingness to engage one another, and that can never be a bad thing.