I myself am a Catholic, but to be honest, the books did not at all affect me in a religious way. In answer to your question, it is certainly possible to understand Tolkien's writing in an emotional sense without knowing the background. For me, personally, LOTR affected me purely on an emotional level. I did not think much about the historical background or Tolkien's experience, which shaped his writing, as i read the book. If i had, it wouln't have changed the way I percieved his story. Now, after having read the books, i see a lot of religious relevence in them, rooted in Christianity. But these things are not completely necessary, because i know i'd still love and appreciate Tolkien for his story itself. Tolkien's wisdom shines through no matter what context or circumstances you look at it in. This leads me to the next question you brought up:
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Finally, do some well-meaning readers go "too far" in drawing Christian/religous analogies so that the diversity of Tolkien's world is lost in the desire to look for an overarching framework or point of view?
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I believe that the answer is yes. I dislike allegory too, because when you think that the story has to "say something" about modern day life and society, you are not fully appreciating the story for its own sake. For example, i really like the book
A Separate Peace by Knowles (its still 1 of my fave books), but when we studied it in english class, we studied the allegorical function of it...and then it just became overwhelming. Although i liked the allegorical meaning of the book and found it extremely interesting, the excessive symbolism and everything took away from the story itself. When you know a book is an allegory, or think that its suppose to be one, you spend the whole time pondering and analyzing every little thing, because you assume that it has to have a "deeper meaning," and then you have no time left to just enjoy the book. I like how Tolkien knew the value of being able to appreiciate and respect a story for its own sake.
I apologize if any of this has been said before. I am pressed for time, and i have yet to read this entire thread. I might have more to say later. This is a great topic! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] (growing very quickly too--i'll have to try to keep up, like with Kalessin's Valid Criticisms thread [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] )