[Nuranar]

Adamathamariel, are you indeed referring to hidden meanings Tolkien deliberately placed in his poems?

I know the battle of the allegory [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] has been thoroughly thrashed out elsewhere. Even if that's the line along which you are thinking, I still believe there is something beyond mere allegory in those lines.

There are overarching themes, archetypes, great truths if you will, that permeate the world. When one expresses ideas such as faith and hope, they will inevitably apply to many situations. Tolkien probably wasn't thinking of World War II when he wrote those verses. However, the concepts and the promise he wrote of can be significant of a number of circumstances.

I would not take Strider's Riddle as an allegory for any war. However, I congratulate you for seeing the themes it expresses and how they are true outside of the framework of Middle-earth.