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Originally Posted by Sauron the White
Since we both agree that we both speak English .... there can be different meanings to the same term. DEDICATED TO (the phrase used by JRRT in his Waldman letter) can be intrepreted different ways.
One way would be that Tolkien is honoring England by dedicating his mythology to it in the same way that one would dedicate a book to honor someone. It seems - and correct me if I am wrong - that is the way you are intrepreting this phrase.
DEDICATED TO - can also mean that a certain work has been set aside for a specific purpose.
I could use this phrase... "I am going to write a book dedicated to the early years of the work of Mozart." Clearly I am not saying I am honoring Mozart but am saying that I am writing about his early years of work.
I think that one can read the statement of Tolkien and come to the exact same conclusion that Carpenter did in the Authorized Biography TOLKIEN.
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One can come to that conclusion being the operative word. As that is a very singular way of using English.
Just think for a moment how that might appear. "I am going to dedicate a work to the purpose of England." The purpose? And is England a purpose in itself? I suppose it might be if you are of that mind, but it doesn't really make any sense as it would be a hanging sentence. You may complete it of course by adding a purpose to the England referred to in the sentence, but then of course you would be putting words into the mouth of the man who wrote the sentence.
No, I am afraid that is rather a little more forced than a packet of Mentos stuffed into a coke bottle and might explode just as spectacularly if given more than a light shaking.
Of course, if dedicate in this context means
set aside for the specific purpose of (and we are not going to include the word 'purpose' in our sentence but instead have it as a definition outside of the actual words spoken) then that would mean Tolkien's work was provided specifically for England only and lots of people the world over ought to hand in their books right now.
On the other hand it is much easier to simply read what was written and not try and force the meaning into something else. Even at the risk of making the delightful (for he was) Carpenter look like he made a slight error, which would be a fruitless trifle (mmm) to worry about anyway as he made others.