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I think that Oroaranion makes a valid point (well, actually 2 valid points). Tolkiens stories are about Good v Evil and all the triumph, tragedy and difficulty involved in life. A lot of writers and stories use these basic themes. I’m sure there are a lot of similarities between some of Tolkiens writing and Shakespeares writing. Could Turin be compared with Macbeth? I’ve never read any of The Chronicles of Narnia (yet!), but I suspect they also delve into these topics and themes.
From what I know of ‘Das Rheingeld’ there seem to be a few similarities with The Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately, I don’t know as much as I’d like to about Wagner’s masterpiece.
For me, I never really picked up on the religious symbolism that people are talking about. I was more interested in the strong anti-war symbolism (the battle of unnumbered tears, the dead marshes, etc.) and the symbolism used to show his feelings about nature against industrialisation. The way he describes the machinery and fires of Sauron and Saruman and their destruction of nature compared against Gandalf and Tom Bombadil, who are more closely in tune with nature. At some crucial points in the story nature and the natural world are very important in the eventual triumph of the ‘good guys’; the assistance received from Treebeard (and the Ents and Huorns) and from the eagles.
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