We sort of touched on this in the "Wrong Kind of Details" thread of many moons ago.
The short answer to the question is "yes, I think the glimpses are one of the best qualities of the works." It is important they be
glimpses and not expositions for a few reasons. First, the glimpses help maintain that air of mystery and excitement. Second, and more important from a storytelling perspective, you don't want full-on expositions of unnecessary background information distracting you from the main story.
On the other hand, if I were satisfied with just these glimpses I probably would not be here right now.
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did it destroy that magic (for you) that is established in The Lord of the Rings?
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That has never been my experience. Obviously my interest in Tolkien's work waxes and wanes over the years but I've never found them to be less magical the more I've come to understand them.
And there will always be material about which we cannot arrive at a definitive answer.