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Originally Posted by SpM
It seems to me that there is one aspect of "traditional" Faerie that is conspicuously absent from Tolkien's works - moral ambiguity/amorality.
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Hm, it is my understanding that on this thread we are judging the "fairy" quality based on Tolkien's definition. As far as I am aware, the moral aspect was quite important for him in defining a story as such:
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Originally Posted by On Fairy-stories
The stories of Beatrix Potter lie near the borders of Faerie, but outside it, I think, for the most part. Their nearness is due largely to their strong moral element: by which I mean their inherent morality, not any allegorical significatio.
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Taking that into consideration, we must bear in mind that the apex of the story, on Mount Doom, relies heavily on the morality of several acts done previously - by Frodo and Bilbo in particular. If only for this, LotR fulfills, Imo, this criterion.