[MatthewM]

Thanks, and thank you to everyone who has contributed to this topic. All the posts contain something interesting. There is definitely something autumanal about Tolkien's work. Child of the 7th...I've never thought about that, the whole life/death idea relating to Tolkien. It makes a lot of sense. Autumn is represented as a "new beginning" in a lot of different things- I will cite the example that comes to mind as I have experienced it. A dream of Autumn if you believe in silly things like "Dream Dictionaries" (which I really don't, but this is interesting) usually means a re-birth, or a new beginning. When I dreamt of Autumn once, and I won't get into the details because it is very close to me, a change away from the norm was about to occur in my life. It wasn't a preminition, because I knew this was coming. But once it happened I felt revived, like a new life was about to open up to me. At the same time, I was forced to let go of something I held dear. But in the end it was best.

That can be compared to many characters in LotR, and it would take all day---but most notably I would say it pertains to Frodo, sacrificing what he had in the Shire for the ultimate fate of the world. And although he never recovered, it was for the best as he sailed away at the Grey Havens. As a unit, like Child mentioned the passing of the Elves and the dominion of Men.

Some of my conclusions (with the ideas of others) that I believe contribute to the feeling of The Lord of the Rings in the air of autumn/winter-

-The story itself and the journey of The Fellowship (and the whole story really) takes place in autumn/winter, and we get such amazing descriptions of the crisp fall landscape from Tolkien as the Company travels.

-The clothing of all the characters is that of colder weather.

-Child's idea of life/death present in the seasons (in specific, autumn).

-Spirit of adventure

-The magic of Tolkien

Any more input?