The Tolkien Coming of Age Club

[littlemanpoet]

I can't stand to see this thread wither on the vine. And I found Mark/Helen's inspiring set of questions.

A question I'm fond of asking: how has Tolkien's works affected your world view and your framework of belief? Tolkien has said that he setout to write a myth, and his concept of myth was a vehicle to let the truth shine through. Have any of you experienced that, and to what degree?

To put a completley different twist on the question, is there something from Tolkien's work that you always wished that you could do or be (maybe you role-play it even now) and what about that reflects what you want or wish for, or strive for, or pursue?

Does that reveal something about Tolkien, something about you, or both?

My world view? I come from a protestant Calvinist tradition which is constantly talking about "world view", but its discussion of it is always tied to the limited sphere of theology. Tolkien (and Lewis) breathed life into what otherwise would have been a rather deadish world view.

Tolkien's stories baptized my imagination, and the way that he did so was to introduce "incarnational reality". I could go on and on.

I'm out of time, for now.