[goldwine]

Thanks for the interesting link Esty. I think that Tolkien would have appreciated the comparisons to Beowulf and contrasts to Milton, but I wonder if the Jung parallels would have sat as easily. We are really not talking about intention, as you mentioned Esty. And yet as the following quote points out many of the elements found in LOTR were appreciated by Tolkien in Beowulf:
"In the essay on Beowulf, Tolkien especially appreciates the balance and "opposition of ends and beginnings, the progress from youth to old age in the hero, and the satisfaction that comes from perceiving the "rising and setting"[12] of a life."
While on many levels I found it confrontational, I really appreciated some of the points that were brought out.I loved this quote:
"Examples could be multiplied, but Tolkien plainly enough indicates throughout The Lord of the Rings that on some profound level a traditional providence is at work in the unfolding of events. And in a world where men must die, where there are no havens, where the tragedy of exile is an enduring truth, the sense, never full, always intermittent, of a providential design, is also a glimpse of joy." I will look forward to reading everyones thoughts!