Quote:
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When those whose advice and opinion I sought corrected little hope to no hope
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That allegedly refers to Allen and Unwin and their reader. But Tolkien knew not that reader haven't seen what was sent to publisher, by and large, but only portion of Lay of Leithan (or maybe some other lay, but some lay it was for sure). So, there probably was a bit of misunderstanding there - no knowing what would have happened if the reader was to see all of the paperwork provided. There is no conjuctive mood to history, it is said, and one of my mostly beloved quotes of Tolkien is 'things might have been different, but they could not have been better', but sometimes I feel inclined to muse over things, I do