Actor Robert Hardy recalls learning from C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien at Oxford

July 25, 2011 Paul Martin C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien 40

Actor Robert Hardy is probably best known for the role of Cornelius Fudge in the Harry Potter film series, but what you may not know is that he had at one point called both J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis his professors.  That would be incredible.

From Hollywood Jesus:

He was a student of both Tolkien and Lewis while attending Oxford, and related his experience meeting Lewis, whom he thought was the gardener when he first saw him. Hardy describes the famous Narnia author as “absolutely wonderful, humorous, joyful…”

The five and a half minute video can be viewed at the following link: BBC Radio Oxford’s Phil Gayle speaks to Robert Hardy.

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40 Comments

  1. Oxford is beautiful! Wow. And C.S. Lewis his tutor. Wow. That would be awesome.

  2. Amazing! Who would have guessed? Both C.S. Lewis AND Tolkien as professors! *Here, we also have three of the most popular Christian fantasy works – Lord of the Rings/the Hobbit, Narnia, and Harry Potter*. Brilliant 🙂

    • Um… Harry Potter is NOT a christian fantasy work/film. In fact it shouldn’t have anything to do with Christians.

      (It’s not only my opinion; the Bible says so also!)

      P.S. Please don’t big deal out of what I said either!

      • Not entirely, but it has Christian elements, whether you want to admit it or not. Anyway… let’s not provide bait for arguments, anyone.

        • You know, if you want to split hairs about this, you might be reminded that Narnia refers many times to various types of magic–the deep magic, etc. and, of course, there is magic all over the place in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit, so HP is just another way of combining our fascination with fantasy, science-fiction, magic and so forth (I mean, what kid DOESN’T love that stuff?)to create a very fun allegory for young readers. And yes, HP, does have a lot of the same themes as the other–learning to recognize and overcome evil through choices and courage, resisting temptation, learning that things are not always as they seem, the power of real love, and sacrifice, etc. even overcoming death…

          • I will just say this, what you let your mind open to is what you will become.
            If you want to believe that HP is all good, fine.

            But Narnia is differnt, the magic isn’t really magic at all, it is the power of God.
            Now with the exception of the witches (Jadis) wand and the Serpent power(which is witchcraft, but is saying: DONT MESS WITH IT!); that is evil/witchcraft.

            (Sorry there are grammar errors).

            Just because HP has christain elements doesn’t mean it is good. I think of it as Satan-twisted trash that is out to dicieve christains. And since no one wanted to watch the video, in it there was a part of childern/fans put a lighting bolt simble on there heads and in the Bible/revalation it speaks about a beast that has forced others to put a simble on there heads, that another beast shows the people signs and wonders, but they are all done in evil….
            Honostly, HP has the ‘same themes’or ‘ life lessons’done in the wrong way.Using evil for evil, it won’t work.

            Good and evil are plainly differnt and can’t be togther and never work with each other, so how can HP;a story that promotes witchcraft; point to christains when we aren’t to do ANYTHING with it at all!

            How can christains think that just because HP has one good thing in it, that its okay to watch it? That it is okay for Christains to submit themsevles to good and evil at the same time?! WWJD?(What Would Jesus Do?)Would he submit himself to HP and say, ‘Oh, yes You can watch it, it has witchcraft, but I will let this one pass. Don’t worry you can watch the withcraft, because it has a few christain elements’.
            If Jesus would say that, he would be going against himself, his own word. God always keeps his word.
            If I offend you or hurt anyones feelings, sorry, but if you won’t watch the youtube video I posted, then I guess the only way to show you is to tell you.
            I really didn’t want to have to say it this way and I don’t mean to start anything.

            This is all I am saying.

            I hope everyone will go see Soul Surfer! If you have, thats awsome!I also hope everyone will think about the things I post before acting.
            (Man….this took longer than I though!)LOL

          • “That is all I am saying.”

            That is a lot. We’ve been down this road before. You know how I feel about these arguments on my website. I don’t believe Witchcraft to be a good thing, but I also believe there comes a time when you give a book too much power by believing that it has that much power. I’m walking proof that watching the films (at least) cannot draw you into that world.

            Take a look at this article: http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Movies/The-Chronicles-Of-Narnia-Prince-Caspian/How-Narnia-Made-Me-A-Witch.aspx

            I have to warn you, though: It may damage your perception of the magic in Narnia forever.

      • No offense, but who cares if any one makes a big deal out of what you said? Sure that’s your opinion but some people might actually think otherwise, look your right when it comes down to the fact that according to the Bible it does say that There shall be of no witchcraft, but What I think God intends is we should never use witchcraft for evil. Besides I am pretty sure if magic was indeed real then perhaps that’s what God really means. But No offense Harry Potter is religious try reading the books again and read them at a slower pace, I am sure you will find plenty of religious examples in Harry Potter. I rest my case.

      • He just mentioned what role this actor was known for to this date. To you it may not mean anything, but Potter fans like me it is an interesting fact Paul has pointed out. I don’t see why you have to make big stink on a simple mention of the roles Robert Hardy has played.

      • I guess the ‘don’t make a big deal’ thing I posted was just ignored….Can’t any of you just ‘turn the other cheek’? (And yes I apoloigize to all you peeps out there.)I didn’t mean to start anything. I was just saying I don’t believe it is a christain work/film….okay?

    • Too bad I don’t have professors like them today. That would be interesting though. “Professor Lewis I have a question” “Professor Tolkien when is the next exam?” I couldn’t agree more with you. The more I learn a little about Christianity or my own religion I can’t help but see the relation in all three of those works. Lord of the Rings I’m still struggling to see it, but Narnia and HP are the big two I can clearly see it.

    • I can’t believe that I’m hearing (no, seeing) this. HP is WITCHCRAFT!!! When God said no witchcraft, that means NO WITCHCRAFT! None at all. Witchccraft is powered by satan. How can you use satan’s pure evil for good? And trying to make a wizard or witch or anything like that look good is like trying to make a terrorist or demon look good. Just does not work.

    • There’s no doubt that Robert Hardy studied English at Magdalen College, Oxford, when Lewis was the resident Fellow in English at Magdalen. It would actually be surprising if Hardy hadn’t been one of Lewis’ students. Tolkien was not at Magdalen, but his Oxford Professorships involved lecturing for the benefit of Oxford’s English students in general, not just those from Tolkien’s own College, so again there’s nothing the slightest bit surprising about Hardy recollecting being taught by Tolkien.

  5. 1. The story has also been covered by The Oxford Student, the campus paper for Oxford University. They would have access to things like student and faculty records.

    2. Mr. Hardy attended Oxford. He’s even listed among notable alumni on their page.

    3. The information of him having both men as tutors is also mentioned in the number of biographies available on the actor, all of which were written before this article or interview was ever conducted.

  6. Oh, I know this is not relative and it is random, but I just got my copy of Voyage of the Dawn Treader for my Birthday. Hey, I’m so excited! Now I just have to wait till the day I get a blue-ray player so I can watch that version.

      • I have know a few friends who play video games, but I’m not certain if it is PS3. I only XBOX and GameCube, but thanks for the tip.

  7. Thanks for sharing, Paul. ^_^
    While I’m not an HP girl, I don’t object to it as vehemently as some folks do–and hearing about Lewis firsthand from anyone is delightful.

  9. I look at Robert Hardy more and he does look like Cornelius Fudge. Man, I found Fudge so annoying as a character. Anyways it is nice to know that Robert Hardy was one of many who was lucky to have known both those authors. Guess Disney is right about that: It’s a small world.

  10. I think the most interesting thing we could learn from knowing that Robert Hardy was at Oxford and studied with these two literary giants and scholars would be “What did Robert Hardy learn from them, and what are his favorite memories from his interactions with them and in what ways (if any) did those experiences inform his life and career?” That would be the MOST relevant aspect of all of this!

  11. I just want to say… what do they mean by “Hollywood Jesus”… I hope that isn’t mockery.

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