Its certainly inevitable that in any great piece of work, you dont have to look very hard to find symbolism or parallels - even if the author didnt realise. Tolkien was very influenced by the ancient norse and other similar languages that he studied and he himself said that some middle-earth languages are loosely based on these. Is it impossible that his characters have been similarly based on other things? Absolutely not. Inspiration came in flashes to tolkein (as Im sure it does with most great writers) and whatever he had been thinking about at the time may well have affected his work. This is not to say, however, that he copied things: it can take a great mind to mould a character from an experience, place, or other person from their memory - his work was definitely his own.
Bombariffic
PS sorry lush, guess I was a bit hasty. Just get a bit touchy when people get condescending and self important due to age - i misunderstood what you said. What you say is definitely valid in this room - no hard feelings I hope.
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The 'hum' generated by an electric car is not in fact the noise of the engine, but that of the driver's self-righteousness oscillating at a high frequency.
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