And Eru Smiled

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by davem

My understanding of the process of 'applicability' is that having been in the secondary world we may bring out our memories of it & apply them to things in the primary world, which process may actually give the primary world an air or 'echo' of the enchantment we experienced in the secondary world. But, it doesn't work the other way - if we apply our 'memories'/knowledge of the primary world to the secondary world while we are 'in' there, the enchantment will not work. This is because the primary world, by its nature is not enchanted, but mundane. Experience of the secondary world may 'enchant' our vision so that when we look on the primary world again it will seem to have an enchanted air, but if we carry things from the primary world into the secondary they will make it seem mundane by association.

I'm going to set aside the God/Eru problem for now, since there's little more to be said about it. I've stated why I think one can make the connection of Eru=God, should the reader feel it necessary, and why it remains as a legitimate connection in regards to the author's own intentions.

But Davem's said something here that I wonder about... The bolded portion.

IS this primary world of ours not enchanted, but mundane? I, personally, feel that this is hardly the case. Our world is very much enchanted. I can look out at the Rockies from our house on a clear, sunny day, and see the sharp, snow-capped peaks rising into a clear blue sky. Or perhaps seeing the thrill in a young kid's eyes as he or she is looking at the animals in a zoo.

These enchantments are just as real to me, if not more real, than those found in a book. And they are the products of the real world. And is not the enchantment of the books a part of the enchantment of our own world? If we did not have this world to refer to, would the enchantment of the books be there?

Isn't the book a product of the mind of someone in this world?

Maybe for some people this is a world of the mundane, but for myself, it is a world with plenty of enchantment, just waiting for someone with the right frame of mind to walk around the corner and find it.