Well, wherever this "old chestnut" crops up, I guess you should expect some conker fighting [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
Applicability is, to me, in many ways a far more acceptable term than allegory.
Firstly, because it is
inclusive of a readers' own sensibility and culture - it does not suggest an exclusivity of meaning related to a particular faith, or
ownership of tenets, symbols or indeed truth.
Secondly, because it more closely aligns with the conscientious and considered intent and understanding of the author, as expressed in his various contextual writings. As far as possible I would rather consider his words in good faith than re-interpret them to suit my particular views
And finally, because it more accurately reflects the vast scale, scope and ambition of his works, and the eclecticism of his mythos, symbolism and references beyond any one specific cosmology.
The important quote from Tolkien posted above by mark 12_30 includes the key phrase -
Quote:
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... far greater things may color the mind in dealing with the lesser things of a fairy story
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Now this is in fact quite a subtle and ambiguous phrase, and I think important. Is Tolkien saying that readers are making broad deductions based on minor narrative elements? And if so, is he approving of that or merely citing it as something that people tend to do? Or, is he speaking as an author, saying that his faith and worldview inevitably emerge 'between the lines'? And there are other questions one could infer ... perhaps all of them are valid, and co-exist [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
I am reminded also of the explicit and straightforward notes in LotR, where the author says that it is not necessary to read the appendices, and not to consider the work as related to his specific experience of World War I (or II), and that he offers up his masterpiece as no more (and no less) than a story, to divert, move and entertain.
Estel (who has made possibly the briefest contribution I have ever seen above) and others have elsewhere posted authoritatively on the conscious Christianity (and Catholicism) or otherwise in Tolkien's works, and their revisions. And the essence of the author's faith and its presence in his work is NOT summed up neatly in easy symbols/metaphors/allusions etc., like some sort of puzzle or game that you solve in order to find the satisfying proselytising meanings ("preaching to the converted"). The fact is that a range of interpretations and weighting of the importance of different elements - spiritual, cultural, academic etc. - is possible, credible and, I would suggest, inevitable. And equally, that there are contradictions, ambiguities and indeed inconsistencies.
Isn't it really the case that the real universality and power of LotR is as an epic narrative in which the reader actively participates through their imagination and empathy?
Peace [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
Kalessin
[ January 07, 2003: Message edited by: Kalessin ]