[Lalaith]

The author talks about a 'shift' which he says he finds fascinating. I agree that the essay is complex - perhaps, as Morthoron argues, unnecessarily and pretentiously so. But I followed it pretty well as far as the Nietzsche stuff. Certainlly, the author clearly admires Tolkien, so I don't think that fans need to get defensive about it.
I think that the style and tone of Sil and CoH is different to LotR, particularly the Fellowship part of trilogy. This writer seems to prefer the tone of the Sil, that is his right.
Another thing - these are works of literature, not religious tracts, so to discuss conflict/shift/discrepancy within the books is to highlight what is interesting about them, and to praise the range and skill of the author - it is not to attack them. For example, I could write an essay about the shift in tone between the brutal/gothic opening and domestic/romantic ending of Wuthering Heights. This shift in tone makes WH in my opinion a more, not less, interesting novel.