Lewis, Tolkien, & Friendship | John Hendrix

Lewis, Tolkien, & Friendship | John Hendrix

From The Veritas Forum by The Veritas Forum

February 19, 2026 · Season 16

About this episode

The episode discusses the significance of friendship through the lens of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis's relationship.

On today’s episode, our speakers discuss the topic of friendship: what it looks like on a practical level and why it’s so important in our culture today.   You’ll hear from John Hendrix, an author, illustrator, and art professor at Washington University in St. Louis. This forum focuses on John’s new graphic novel titled The Mythmakers, which tells the story of the friendship of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. In this conversation moderated by Pepperdine professor April Marshall, they explore how Lewis and Tolkien’s friendship fueled their greatest works and the importance of community in our daily lives.   This forum was held at Pepperdine in April 2025. Thank you to the student planning team for making this event possible. As a heads up, there are a few visual aids in today’s episode that rely on John’s illustrations from his novel. To see them, watch the YouTube video here . Find additional resources and quotes from this forum here .

People in this episode

Host: April Marshall

Guest: John Hendrix

Topics covered

  • friendship
  • community
  • literature
  • Tolkien
  • Lewis
  • graphic novels

Keywords

  • friendship
  • Tolkien
  • Lewis
  • graphic novel
  • community
  • John Hendrix

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Washington University in St. Louis, Pepperdine

Books & works: The Mythmakers

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