[Child of the 7th Age]

Davem,

The specific points you are making in regard to Tolkien and the Catholic influence on his writing are certainly valid. Few would dispute that Tolkien's religious sensibilities are indirectly reflected in much of his writing. And all the examples that you've given -- the figure of Galadriel, lembas, the "hymns" to Elbereth, the similarities between some of the poetry and the Psalms--are wonderful instances of this kind of feeling percolating up from underneath.

A number of years ago, Littlemanpoet and I went at it hammer and tongs in a thread where we tried to find such examples and consider how these related to the varying drafts in HoMe, i.e, whether or not the "Christian" elements were indeed the product of later revisions as Tolkien maintained. And I am quite sure that as we go through the book, chapter-by-chapter, there will be many intriguing examples put forward of this type. I honestly don't think anyone is suggesting that this process isn't important.

Yet, in the end, I must concur with the assessment that SpM has given:

Whatever other (unexpressed) motives he may or may not have had in writing the book seem to me to be irrelevant in any analysis of the Foreword. What really matters is the message that it conveys to his readers. And that is simply that he wrote the story with the intention that they should enjoy it.

In terms of the second foreward itself, Tolkien has clearly stated the following:

I much prefer history, true or feigned, with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse 'applicability' with 'allegory'; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author.

The italics are my own. These words are critical because they underline the fact that Tolkien is not asking us to respond to the text in the identical way that he did. He is asking each of us to come at things from our own background and experience. I am not a Catholic, nor am I a Christian. While I may have an intellectual understanding of Catholicism and Christianity, I can not replicate the exact mental and spiritual approach that Tolkien took to his material. My personal motives in approaching the text will not be the same as Tolkien's. Nor is the author asking me to do this. He has stated in the foreward that I can deal with the story on my own terms, prompted by my own individual motivations.

Yes, it is always helpful to understand how the author approaches something, whether this is a question of Christian influences or the many other type of personal beliefs and values that are so clearly evident in LotR. For many of us, those glimpses of Tolkien's persona will indeed merge with what is in our own hearts so that the "overshadowing" placed there by the author (either consciously or subconsciously) will become part of our own emotional and intellectual response to the text. In some cases, where our personal background or preferences merge with those of Tolkien, this will be one means by which we can perhaps see over the "wall" and catch a glimpse of faerie, almost as if we were medieval men, small in stature but standing on the shoulders of the "great ones" that came before us.

Similarly, there are certain images and values that I see mirrored in LotR, which have special meaning for me: namely, Tolkien's mistrust of the machine and his intense desire to protect the environment. In one of the few interviews with CT regarding his father's work, his son flatly stated that his dad had identified these as among the most important themes within the book. I am very aware of "overshadowings" of this type in the text, probably because there are aspects of my own past experiences that resonate with that. For this reason, I will probably place greater stress on such ideas than another poster might.

The problem does not lie in my identifying such themes and examples as important. Rather, the problem would come if I insisted that this was the only way to see and interpret certain things. If I was to do that, I would thrust aside the very thing that Tolkien was praising: "the varied applicability to the thought and experience of the reader."

I am not saying you are doing this. Indeed, you clearly stated that you don't feel others should feel compelled to accept your own interpretations. By the same context. however, I honestly don't think that SpM is saying that we should ignore the religious or Catholic aspects we see in the text, which is what your own first paragraph implied. (SpM -- If I have misinterpreted you, please correct me.)

Rather, the core message of the second foreward is precisely to praise that diversity of backgrounds and responses: for indeed it mirrors the incredible diversity of goodness we find in Middle-earth itself. We are not locked into one way of looking at things, but can each approach the story from our own vantage point and, in so doing, find enjoyment and entertainment. Tolkien openly states that he hopes this story will at times "deeply move" us. To me, those last words say it all. The most profound meaning, the most intense learning, take place when we are touched in our inner soul. Tolkien is not saying or defining exactly how that will happen--whether through love of trees, love of our fellows, or love of God. He leaves that to our own imagination and ways of approaching things. But he does hope that somehow, someway, that kind of valuable one-on-one interaction between reader and text will occur.

P.S. SpM -- It took me so long to hack this out, that you and I managed to cross-post!