The Ring and the Cross

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

I don't think there's anything wrong with pointing out Christian elements; that's not the same thing as making out the whole book's a tract or allegory, though.

That's not limited to LOTR. I've seen people ascribe the meaning of Orwell's 1984 as everything from merely anti-communist, to a warning against the dehumanization of mankind, to the claim that "the point of 1984 is that a productive and free society cannot help but be luxurious and self-governing". Maybe it's none of the above, or all of them at once. People are going to read into works whatever meaning they like.