Estel's assertion that Tolkien was referring to Bilbo or Frodo when writing about "the author of The Lord of the Rings" is not necessarily so. I remember having read Carpenter's biography, and also the Letters many years ago, and it was my distinct impression that Tolkien was, in the 60s and later, referring to the person he had been when he wrote LotR. Hence, he spoke of '30s-'40s Tolkien in the third person. Thus, we're not talking about feigned history, but about Tolkien's later thoughts about his own creative process and self 20 and more years previously.
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