AS well as theological writings that remain hugely influential, the fertile imagination of CS Lewis gave birth to the much-loved The Chronicles of Narnia series of children's books.
Lewis is inextricably linked with Belfast and the Ulster of his birth, but his Narnia creations are now going to be immortalised on the walls of a 900-year-old parish church in Yorkshire.
St Mary's Church in Beverley has commissioned a series of stone carvings of 14 characters from the books.
It isn't perhaps as strange a development as it first sounds...
"The precedent of animal and character carvings in churches stretches right back to medieval times," explains St Mary's heritage learning officer, Dr Jennie England.
"Amongst our roof bosses we already have countless wooden carvings of animals, real and mythical, and the misericord carvings under the seats in the chancel feature an elephant and a pelican."
The church also features a carving of a 'pilgrim hare', thought to date from 1330 and to have been the inspiration for the White Rabbit in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
"For centuries there were carvings in these spaces on the outside walls but over time they have weathered away completely," said Roland Deller, the church's director of development.
"We don't have any pictorial evidence to show us what was there, so have no way of reconstructing the original carvings.
"And so we decided to commission something new, to reflect more recent times."
As well as Mr Tumnus, the other characters featured in the new carvings will include the White Witch, Reepicheep the mouse, Fledge the winged horse, Glenstorm the centaur, and Aslan the lion.
Lewis's remarkable legacy extends beyond the Narnia books. His apologetics remain essential reading, particularly on the problem of pain, for example.
His memorial at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey features a characteristic quote: "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else."
