[The Saucepan Man]

OK. In light of all that I have seen from Tolkien’s Letters, the extracts from his essay ‘On Faerie Tales’, davem’s quotes above etc, I am happy to accept that, in his writings, Tolkien intended to expose his readers to his own (“TCBSian”) values and beliefs in the hope that they might find them applicable to their own lives. And I can accept that he sought to do this by offering his readers enchantment, the possibility of what he called “Eucatastrophe” and thereby a glimpse of what he saw as the “Truth”.

The real issue for me is that this simply does not happen for millions of his readers. Indeed, I am willing to bet that the majority of people who have read and enjoyed the Hobbit and LotR (certainly in the UK) have not glimpsed this “Truth” that Tolkien believed in and was trying to show them. They may well have felt the enchantment. They may well also have experienced intense joy and sadness. Yet they have not found this elusive “Truth”. If Tolkien were to address them via one of davem’s “conversations across time”, what would he say to them? Would he tell them that they hadn’t followed his instructions properly? Would he dismiss them as being unready to accept the “Truth” or disinclined to do so? Or would he blame himself for not having given proper instructions?

If his response was that they hadn’t followed the guidance which he had included for them in his text, does that not denigrate their reading experience? It implies that the reader has failed if they do not see in the text exactly what the author intended them to see. It suggests that they have read the book “wrongly” in some way, even though they may have enjoyed it immensely, been incredibly moved by it and perhaps even found it applicable to them in a way that the author did not intend (interpretations such as those by Stormfront and their like aside).

Similarly, if he dismissed them as not being ready, or inclined, to accept the “Truth” that he intended for them to see, does that not also denigrate their reading experience? Perhaps they don’t need to find it. Perhaps they have found their own truth within the text, which is sufficient for them.

And if he blamed himself for not giving adequate guidance, then I think that he would be being unduly harsh on himself. Whatever their faith, beliefs or values, many millions of people derive immense enjoyment from LotR. In their eyes, it is a wonderful book, and they do not need to find this encoded “Truth” to feel this way about it.

No. I do not think that Tolkien would have responded in any of the ways that I have outlined above. I think that, unless he found their interpretation personally repellent (per Stormfront), he would have been happy that these readers had found in it what was right for them (whether that be spiritual guidance, enchantment, applicability, or just plain old enjoyment). To do otherwise would involve undervaluing either their reading experience or his own skill as a story-teller.

Edit: Cross-posted again with Aiwendil who raises the same valid issues that I have sought to raise.