[Aiwendil]

Mister Underhill wrote:

The second, as davem has observed, smacks of Tolkien trying to reassert control over his work -- to answer his critics and the analysts who had hijacked it over the years. I don't think the book needs anyone to defend it or to tell us how we should or shouldn't think about it. Including the author.

I certainly understand and sympathize with this sentiment. There is something very nice about the first foreword - both in its light-hearted fun and in its lack of the stern words found in the second. But when I think about it, I cannot agree that the book doesn't need anyone to defend it or tell us what to think about it. We must not lose sight of the fact that the book was generally (and still is) seriously misinterpreted as being a real allegory by many in the literary establishment (by those that deign to discuss it at all). Tolkien actually meant something when he said that the book is not an allegory, and I think it is good that he said it. It really has been read as being entirely about World War II. I do not think that it is intrusive or domineering of an author to announce what his intention was and was not.

As for finding any parts boring or contemptible on my first reading - alas, my first reading was so early in my childhood that I don't remember it very clearly at all. I do have a vague recollection of finding Book IV somewhat sluggish - though I would certainly not say "boring". To be honest, it remains my least favorite book out of the six, thought I think I have come to appreciate certain aspects of it more fully.

Firefoot wrote:

I think it would be interesting to know which parts Tolkien originally meant to be the 'moving or appealing' parts. My guess is that quite frequently, it would be different than what people would think. Many of the deeply moving parts are for me in RotK. There are very few specific examples I can think of from FotR or TTT that are moving. Appealing, yes, very much so, but moving? not nearly so much.

This doesn't directly answer your question, but there is a letter (and I'm afraid I don't have time to search for a citation at the moment) from after the book's publication wherein Tolkien says that the parts he found the most moving at that time (i.e. after finishing it) were Aragorn's departure from Cerin Amroth in Book II and the coming of the Rohirrim and dawn in Book V. The latter is one of my favorite moments in the book, if not my absolute favorite. The former, I must admit, doesn't affect me all that much. I've never been a huge fan of the Aragorn-Arwen romance; to me it's always felt like a much flatter and more lifeless replica of Beren and Luthien.