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Originally Posted by davem
Point being, there is never a point in the Legendarium where Tolkien refers us elsewhere (to the Bible, the Eddas, Beowulf, the Mabinogion, the Kalevala,) for an 'explanation' of something in the story. He explains who every character, from Eru down, is. There is no need to draw on external sources to be able to understand what's going oin in the story. Eru behaves in a loving, compassionate way, he is all knowing & all powerful & so is God (if you're a believer) but Eru is perfectly understandable as a character without reference to, or knowledge of, God. God may intervene to stay one's hand, Eru intervenes to stay Bilbo's hand. That does'nt make them the same being. A reader of LotR who knew absolutely nothing of the Bible would not find themselves flummoxed by anything in the Legendarium.
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This can be reversed. A reader who knows nothing about the Eddas, Beowulf, the Mabinogion, the Kalevala, will also be able to understand LOTR as it is. Are we then to believe that the Eddas, Beowulf, the Mabinogion, and the Kalevala had no effect or affect on LOTR, that there are no parallels, that the works were not part of the 'compost' out of which the legendarium grew, and that they should not be discussed here on the Downs?