greetings, littlemanpoet - you spoke directly to my mind. Must be telepathy, because I thought about the providence theme in Lotr a lot lately, especially in connection to Gandalf's remark that Frodo was meant to bear the ring. Indeed that suggests a divine entity that would provide you with a starting point, and leave the rest up to you. The fact that pity is the feeling that puts the divine help into practice is a very Christian approach, and I believe it is also what Tolkien had in mind.
Bethberry, greetings. I understand your point. Tolkien really wanted to detach himself from the 'blood thirsty' fairy tales and create something more humane.
But, I have to stick to my idea that some forms of pity are more malefic then benefic.
for instance, sometimes my pity for Gollum would not content itself to sparing his life like Bilbo did, but even give him the ring just for him to stop whining and get back to his cave. No one would find him there, right? [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]
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And no one was ill, and everyone was pleased, except those who had to mow the grass.
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