[Child of the 7th Age]

This is a good poll, though I wish "none of the above" or "all of the above" occurred in a few instances. I will fudge in a few cases and put more than one answer.


l. Tolkien said C,Death and immortality, and I agree this is very important. But if forced to pick only one answer, I would say B, the conflict of good and evil.

2. Secondary themes--I have to pick two: C, death and immortality and D) power of the small and weak

3. Yes, the Scouring of the Shire was the most obvious to me, but I don't think this was Tolkien's main intention in writing this. I think he wanted to show something about the vulnerability of an innocent people and how Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry had gone beyond theit innocence to a new realization of the presence of good and evil in life as well as a new level of responsibility in their community.

4. NONE OF THE ABOVE. I really don't like the wording of these choices. Nostalgic, or a, is a longing for things, persons or situations that are not present. There is definitely an element of that, but I think it is too narrow a definition to be seen as the primary one. I'm not sure what label I'd be comfortable with. (I think Tolkien would have disliked terms like contemporary or forward-looking. ) If forced to put on a one or two word label, I might use "mythic" rather than "nostalgic". This implies more than person, place or thing--it gets into ideology and archetypes.

5. C, through myth icons would be primary

6. I have to put more than one answer here. This is ranked from highest to less high (I can't say lowest because nothing is low to me): e. sense of the vanishing past; c. Sam's disquisition on web of story b. Gollum's failure to repent (perhaps better phrased as Sam's interrupting Gollum making it impossible for him to repent!) d. endless untold stories

7. Again, I have to put more than one, from high to less high: c. moving and e of deeper relevence

8. 14 years old (in 1963!) (the Hobbit) followed by LOTR at age 15

9. Definitely, and I guess this is one question I have more of a perspective on than many posters. Tolkien's writings are like an onion. You peel back one layer to find exciting things that are meaningful to you. Then, months or even years later, some other theme or idea hits you very forcefully beause you yourself are going through different life experiences. the layers and shades of meaning are amazing. This is particularly true now that we have access to the Silm and the histories of Middle-earth.

Thanks for the poll! sharon, the 7th age hobbit