# J.R.R. Tolkien, the Christian West and the Temptation of Nordic Neo-Paganism

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-theology-pugcast-696088/j-r-r-tolkien-the-christian-west-and-the-temptation-of-nordic-neo-paganism
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-theology-pugcast-696088/j-r-r-tolkien-the-christian-west-and-the-temptation-of-nordic-neo-paganism.md
Podcast: [The Theology Pugcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-theology-pugcast-696088)
Published: 2026-03-09T08:18:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-theology-pugcast/episodes/J-R-R--Tolkien--the-Christian-West-and-the-Temptation-of-Nordic-Neo-Paganism-e3fimid
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/930b87c/podcast/play/116004877/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-1-25%2F418775651-44100-2-7834e9b305ed7.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-theology-pugcast-696088/episodes/j-r-r-tolkien-the-christian-west-and-the-temptation-of-nordic-neo-paganism
Duration seconds: 3598

## Resource

Glenn introduces the Pugsters to David Engels, a conservative Belgian historian and philosopher who focuses on a revival of Western civilization. Using one of his articles as a jumping off point, the guys discuss the marriage of ancient pagan virtues with Christian ideas of the Good, a combination which produced the chivalric ideal embraced by Tolkien in Middle Earth. But as usual, they cover a wide range of topics ranging from history to philosophy, to theology, to story, and others besides. It’s a fascinating discussion of the good in ancient paganism and the failure of neo-paganism to uncover what they think they are looking for. Article: https://davidengels.substack.com/p/jrr-tolkien-the-christian-west-and Support the Theology Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8 Learn more about First Pres. Battle Ground: https://www.solochristo.org/ Connect with WileyCraft Productions: https://wileycraftproductions.com/

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-theology-pugcast-696088/episodes/j-r-r-tolkien-the-christian-west-and-the-temptation-of-nordic-neo-paganism/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-theology-pugcast-696088/j-r-r-tolkien-the-christian-west-and-the-temptation-of-nordic-neo-paganism.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.