[Child of the 7th Age]

Thank you for the link. When I first saw that the author was going to investigate the analogy between Tolkien and Jung, I had a sinking feeling that I might want to go running in the opposite direction. My fear was that he would reduce the book to a series of strict archetypes with no room for any other interpretations or views. Too often, I have seen this happen--a closed mind set on the part of a critic with no ability to look outside a very narrow set of boundaries.

I actually found the essay more enjoyable and insightful than I had at first anticipated. I was most impressed with the fact that the author did not claim his own interpretation as the sole prism for understanding Tolkien's characters and writings. He fully acknowledges Tolkien's views on Christian heroism and sub-creation. Moreover, his own discussion of Frodo, Gandalf, and Aragorn and their relation to the Jungian archetypes was quite interesting. I skimmed the article quickly, and I would have to go through it more carefully to say anything more specific than that. I agree with the earlier poster that Tolkien might not feel comfortable with this type of analysis, and yet I feel that there are some real points of interest here.

One other question. Wasn't there another book written in 1979 which also used a similar methodology? I think it was Timothy R. O'Neill's The Individuated Hobbit: Jung, Tolkien, and the Archetypes of Middle Earth. I don't have the latter book and have never had the chance to read it. Has anyone else read this book? How does it compare with the essay? I can't find any references to this volume in Grant's footnotes and I'm wondering why this is so. Maybe it is there and I'm not seeing it. It is REALLY late and I am almost falling asleep
Hope this post is semi-coherent! sharon, the 7th age hobbit