The Structure of The Lord of the Rings

[Lalwendë]

LotR sends us back into our own world with a fresh appreciation and hunger for those things the story revealed to us as beautiful and worthwhile

lmp - I do agree with you there. Thinking back to when I first read LotR one of the profoundest effects on me was that I viewed the world around me with new eyes. I don't think I was alone as many environmentalists and outdoors enthusiasts seem to have derived their interest from reading LotR. I did already have a keen interest in history before reading LotR but I also gained a deeper interest in archaeology and ancient history - and a thirst to know about how the past affected us, and still affects us.

What I mean when I say we have to resort to literature to find the comfort of place is that LotR is familiar. It is a book and hence the setting does not alter (unless it is affected by new input to our own imaginations from visiting new places), unlike the world about us which is ever changing and being lost.