Status Updates From The Philosophy of Tolkien: ...

“This is the strategy of the storyteller: to creep past the “watchful dragons” that guard the couscous reason that eludes these things as unbelievable; to open the back door of the heart when the front door of the mind is locked; to appeal to the wiser, deeper, unconscious mind.

The fundamental theme is Death and Immortality.

“…our civilization is in crisis because of the war between these two kinds of magic. One … Enchantment, is our healing, and the other - the kind exemplified by the Ring - is our destruction.”

“An author succeeds if we recognize ourselves in each character; but Tolkien aims higher: we recognize parts of ourselves in each species.”