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The '''Ransom trilogy''',<ref>''[[The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis: Books, Broadcasts, and the War 1931-1949]]'': Volume II, "To Sister Penelope CSMV (BOD)" (1944)</ref> commonly known as the '''Space Trilogy'''{{Fact}} is a series of novels by [[C.S. Lewis]], [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s friend and fellow [[Inklings|Inkling]].

The story of the first book, ''Out of the Silent Planet'', shares a common genesis with Tolkien's unfinished ''[[The Lost Road]]''. The two men had a conversation about the shortcomings of Science Fiction literature and Lewis remarked that "there is too little of what we really like in stories", suggesting they try their hand at the genre "as amateurs":<ref name="Letter294">{{L|294}}</ref>
{{blockquote|We... meant each to write an excursionary 'Thriller': a Space-journey and a Time-journey (mine) each discovering Myth.|[[J.R.R. Tolkien]]<ref name="Letter24" />}}
Lewis' 'Space-journey' became ''Out of the Silent Planet'' and was published in [[1938]] by The Bodley Head. Lewis initially tried to interest [[Allen & Unwin]] in the work, but despite the [[Letter 26|positive review]] Tolkien gave the publishers they passed.

The work belongs to the obscure subgenre of "Theological/Christian Science Fiction". The last part is much darker and occult in tone, similar to such works of fellow Inkling [[Charles Williams]], who had some influence on Lewis.

An alternate version of the preface to ''[[The Screwtape Letters]]'' (1943) includes references to Ransom, Malacandria, and Old Solar.<ref>{{webcite|author=Breton Dickieson|articleurl=https://apilgriminnarnia.com/2016/05/26/a-cosmic/|articlename=A Cosmic Find in The Screwtape Letters (Preparing for Taylor)|dated=26 May 2016|website=[https://apilgriminnarnia.com/ A Pilgrim in Narnia]|accessed=27 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{webcite|author=Breton Dickieson|articleurl=https://apilgriminnarnia.com/2020/10/19/cosmic-shift/|articlename=My Paper, “A Cosmic Shift in The Screwtape Letters,” Published in Mythlore|dated=19 October 2020|website=[https://apilgriminnarnia.com/ A Pilgrim in Narnia]|accessed=27 February 2025}}</ref>

Tolkien noted that some of his onomatopoeia influenced names in this work, including [[Numenor|Numinor]] (''That Hideous Strength''), [[Eldar|Eldil]] (''Out of the Silent Planet'') and [[Tuor|Tor]] and [[Idril|Tinidril]] (''Perelandra'').<ref>{{L|276}}</ref>

==Elwin Ransom==
The protagonist of the trilogy is Dr. [[Wikipedia:Elwin Ransom|Elwin Ransom]], sharing the name with [[Elwin]], one of the characters in Tolkien's contemporary ''The Lost Road''. The modern form of [[Alboin]]/[[Ælfwine]], the name means "[[Elf-friend]]", a frequent motif in Tolkien's [[Legendarium]].

Dr. Ransom is apparently modelled in part on Tolkien (as well as Lewis himself and [[Charles Williams]]): he was born in [[1898]] (like Lewis, Tolkien's junior by 6 years), fought in [[World War I]] and [[Battle of the Somme|the Somme]], he is a philologist at an Oxbridge university (Tolkien was at [[Oxford University]]), and has a special interest in languages. Lewis himself [https://the-silent-planet.fandom.com/wiki/C.S._Lewis_(Character) appears as  a character] in the books, as a friend of Ransom's.

Tolkien played down this similarity on multiple occasions, admitting it only in that both were philologists.<ref name="Letter24">{{L|24}}</ref><ref name="Letter77">{{L|27}}</ref>

{{Seealso|Professor Rashbold}}
{{references}}

==External links==
*{{WP|The Space Trilogy}}
**{{WP|Out of the Silent Planet}}
**{{WP|Perelandra}}
**{{WP|That Hideous Strength}}
*{{WP|Elwin Ransom}}
*[https://the-silent-planet.fandom.com/ The Silent Planet] Wiki
**[https://the-silent-planet.fandom.com/Dr._Elwin_Ransom Dr. Elwin Ransom]
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[[Category:Books by C.S. Lewis]]
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