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Originally Posted by Raynor
A good example of using applicability, though too lightly if you ask me.
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This is where I would argue you are completely wrong &
factually wrong too. One of Tolkien's intentions for the Legendarium, in fact a principle one, was to try & recreate the ancient myths & Legends of North-Western Europe (See Shippey). Tolkien (rightly or wrongly) believed that there had once been a coherent body of myth which had once existed but that over the millenia it was forgotten or lost for various reasons leaving only fragments. His intention was to attempt to recreate that lost mythology by constructing a body of myths into which those fragments could be fitted. Shippey's essay on Light & Dark Elves in Tolkien Studies vol one is an examination of how he approached the problem of the existence of 'Light' & 'Dark' Elves (the exact nature of which, along with their story & oorigin, has been lost). Tolkien's account of the High Elves who saw the Light of the Trees & the Grey & Dark Elves who remained in M-e is the account he produced to explain how there could be two (or more) different types of Elves.
Hence, we are not dealing here with 'applicability' at all, but a deliberate use by Tolkien of ancient myths, as he attempted to get at the 'real' story behind the legend.
Tolkien's claims of orthodoxy for LotR are often his attempts to prove a point, confirm his Catholic credentials if you like - often in response to readers who questioned that. One cannot use the letters (written after the event in most cases) to prove his 'good' intentions. He also stated on numerous occasions that he was not inventing anything at all, but rather attempting to discover 'what really happened'. He stated that the events at the Sammath Naur were dictated by the logic of the story at that point.
Tolkien's statement that the Secret Fire 'is' the Holy Spirit is not something that should simply be accepted without question. Tolkien also referred to men using chainsaws on trees, & in one case a young man riding a motorbike, as 'Orcs'. The Secret Fire is a very clever literary device, but I can't see any exact match between it & the Holy Ghost of Christian theology. Similarities perhaps - but that's the point. Many elements, from Christianity, Paganism, botany, biology & many other things were taken up into the secondary world but once there they took on new & unique forms & were no longer the same thing.
Anyone who has read HoM-e will find it difficult to accept Tolkien's statement that the story was 'consciously Christian in the revision' because the revisions are all there to see & they all follow logically from the dynamic of the story, none from a desire to 'Christianise' the thing. That said, I have no doubt that Tolkien believed what he said.
Finally to the Athrabeth. I have to say that the whole thing about Eru entering into Arda to heal it felt completely false to me - mainly because I agree with Tolkien's opinion on the Arthurian legends - that the prominence of Christian elements is an essential weakness. Its a flaw in one of Tolkien's greatest works & is as out of place as the whole 'Dome of Varda' fiasco.