What did Tolkien really mean ....

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Lal

If he had wanted his readers to take his work in that way then he would have made a public statement after the fact; however he did not, and as such we must be careful.

I'm not so sure he would have made a public statement if that is how he wanted his readers to take his work. There is an option which this argument misses.

Perhaps he was content to avoid such dogmatic assertion. Perhaps he was happy to leave a story that allowed readers actively to come to an awareness of that presence or not, according to their own lights. He was not, after all, a hectoring teacher but instead strove to guide his students to experience literature for themselves. The worth of the tale lies not in the end 'meaning' but in the journey itself.

oh, and, allegory and symbolism are not synonymous. One can exist without the other.