[Raynor]

He is good and bad.

Well, personally, I find the idea a bit of a stretch, that Odin would be the source of both Gandalf and Sauron

I think its much better to think of Jerusalem as a metaphor for the concept of a city or a state of mind, as Blake did.

I will have to look up what he said

And on death, I don't think Tolkien viewed it as a blessing, but as an inevitable. He showed that those who could accept it as an inevitable and resign themselves to it could find some comfort in that when the time came (e.g. Theodens words about going to his forefathers), compared with those who resisted it and could not accept the inevitability (and even tried to stave it off!). By no means all mortals found death to be a 'blessing', some of the best even lingered, e.g. Arwen.

I would disagree:

Originally Posted by Letter #212

A divine 'punishment' is also a divine 'gift', if accepted, since its object is ultimate blessing, and the supreme inventiveness of the Creator will make 'punishments' (that is changes of design) produce a good not otherwise to be attained: a 'mortal' Man has probably (an Elf would say) a higher if unrevealed destiny than a longeval one. To attempt by device or 'magic' to recover longevity is thus a supreme folly and wickedness of 'mortals'. Longevity or counterfeit 'immortality' (true immortality is beyond Ea) is the chief bait of Sauron - it leads the small to a Gollum, and the great to a Ringwraith.

And, both in the Silmarillion and in the Atrabeth, seeing death as something terrible is something attributed to the marring of Melkor.

Originally Posted by Of the begining of days, Silmarillion

But Melkor has cast his shadow upon it, and confounded it with darkness, and brought forth evil out of good, and fear out of hope.

Originally Posted by Atrabeth Finrod ah Andreth

Nay, death is but the name that we give to something that he has tainted, and it sounds therefore evil; but untainted its name would be good.

Unfortunately (for me ), I am going away for a few days. You all take care