[Lyra Greenleaf]

I think this sort of theory sounds very interesting, and yes it may seen a little odd that these coincidences arise, but one of the things i always hated with doing english lit was that the teacher would say "this represents this, and this represents this" which I dont agree with.

An example, very unrelated, is Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson. In order to please my teacher and the examiners I came up with an elaborate description of the fact that the smells of the harbor represented decay and that the trees on the shore were showing how characters were trapped in their lives- "We cannot get out!". Personally I think Guterson was just describing his image of a place, but hey!

Sorry, back to lotr.

Im sure tolkien was influenced subconsciously or consciously by a lot of his experiences and knowledge, but when an author says that there is three of something, is it possible that that is all there is to it?

You can find many, many theories of what things mean or represent, they can't all be true!

Tolkien himself was always very definite that lotr did not intentionally represent either WW1 or WW2, although of course there were ways in which they were similar.

Such a huge work as lotr is bound to overflow with possible symbols, allegories, etc. I mean, if there had been 10 Nazgul and 8 palantirs, as well as 4 elven rings (for example) Im sure there would be conclusions to be drawn from that too.

I really admire people who spend time actually thinking of such complex theories, I just dont agree. Sorry!

PS: I hope that was a better answer than 'No'

[ January 25, 2003: Message edited by: Lyra Greenleaf ]