Although 2026 isn’t a significant anniversary year for J.R.R. Tolkien, there has been more attention paid to the author recently than most deceased authors get when it’s their centenary. Firstly, D.J. Taylor published his critically acclaimed quasi-biography of Tolkien, The King Under the Mountain, which is the first serious attempt to examine the writer and his legacy since Humphrey Carpenter’s authorised life in 1977. And now, as if in serendipity, Westminster Abbey has announced that there will be a new memorial to the Lord of the Rings creator in Poets’ Corner, to be designed by artist Stephen Broadbent.

There will be those, including this writer, who feel conflicted about Tolkien’s literary merits

There will be those, including this writer, who feel conflicted about Tolkien’s literary merits

If the thought of a dedicated Roman Catholic being venerated in an Anglican institution raises any eyebrows, then Tolkien fans should be reassured that several of the writers who are similarly honoured, most notably Philip Larkin, practised no religious faith whatsoever, and yet find themselves in this elevated company. Certainly, those who complained that Tolkien’s friend and........

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