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Originally Posted by SpM
I would describe myself as an agnostic, and this has not affected my appreciation of LotR. Indeed, until recently, I was unaware of Tolkien’s faith and did not pick up on the religious undertones in his works at all. Having said that, I am familiar with Christian ideals and so perhaps there was a degree of connection there, even though I did not appreciate it at the time.
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When I read, I tend to separate my mindset from that of the so-called real world without even realizing it. And not having a Christian view from the beginning, I never made any kind of connection in that sense. Of course, I read at the beginning of FotR that LotR is a "fundamentally Christian work," but that had little effect on my reading. I generally accept books as their own little contained worlds, just appreciating the stories in and of themselves, and it's not until I have read them several times over that I begin to make deeper sorts of connections. It was this forum that actually alerted me to the actual depth of LotR. But even knowing about the presence of this "applicability," it doesn't overwhelm me when I read; it usually doesn't cross my mind. The few exceptions are where there is supposed to be intervention from Eru, which I originally interpreted as pure chance, ie: 'There goes Gollum... it would have done Sauron some good if he'd installed guard rails in Sammath Naur.'
Religion doesn't define one's ability to enjoy LotR, and I think the same goes for geography too. I've never seen anywhere like the Shire with my own eyes (or
hendu, for my fellow Quenya students
), but I can certainly imagine it. And there are other parts of Middle-earth that I
can relate to familiar places. The Misty Mountains could easily be the Adirondacks; Fangorn is any dark and looming wood. I think everyone can associate something they know with somewhere (or even someone) in LotR. And, there are many ideas and ideals presented in LotR that are nearly universal: loyalty, friendship, courage, mercy, love. As long as people hold these as positive ideals, there will be appreciation for the book.