[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Raynor

Ok, so what do you think are the referrences to Eru/God in LotR which Tolkien mentioned in his interview?

I have no idea. I have no doubt that they are there if Tolkien said that they are. Quite possibly, he simply meant the oblique references to Eru in terms of fate, providence etc. Or he could have been referring to the phrases that you have identified. Even if this was the case, however, it does not follow from their use of such phrases that Hobbits would have had any conception of Eru as God. Child, I think, has made out a good case for the proposition that they did not.

Originally Posted by Raynor

Tolkien was a religious person, he intended his work to reflect his principles and convictions - I don't see how he can achieve that by portraying an atheist world with atheist heroes.

I am not saying that Hobbits were atheists, in the sense that they actively denied the existence of Eru. Rather, since Eru had little direct relevance in their day-to-day lives, I don’t see them as really giving much, if any, thought to the matter. It was simply not important to them. Much like my own general approach to the question of God’s existence.

Originally Posted by Raynor

He did say that various interpretations that downplay the existence of God/religion in LotR "annoy" him and given who he was and what he believed in, I think it is understandable.

Well, it may have annoyed him, but it was not something which he could control. Indeed, by excluding any direct reference to Eru in LotR and minimising the references to his existence and role in the tale, it might be said that he allowed his readers to overlook his own interpretation of his work as an implicitly religious one. I don’t doubt that the references are there, for those who are inclined to pick up on them. But, for those who are not, they are not a necessary aspect to one’s understanding and enjoyment of the story. When I first read LotR, long before most of the additional material now available had been published, I had no conception of Eru and gave little, if any, thought to the role of religion in Middle-earth. These things were simply not necessary to my enjoyment of the story. Indeed, had overt reference been included, such that I could not have blithely overlooked them, it might well have put me off, as I dislike being preached at. First time round (aged 14), I gave up on reading the Silmarillion in consequence of the overly biblical nature of its opening chapters.

It’s not a question of denying or downplaying the author’s intentions, but rather of being given the freedom to react to the work in a way that is appropriate and relevant to me. Having since read the Silmarillion and the other available materials, I am obviously aware of, and understand, Eru’s place in the story. But it does not follow from this that this fictional God has any particular relevance to me outside the fictional world that he presides over. And nor does it incline me to alter my view that the Hobbits of the Third Age were not particularly religious beings.

Edit: Cross-posted with Macalaure, whose thoughts are along similar lines to my own.