Quote:
Originally Posted by Mithalwen
The big question is what you mean by believe. For myself, what I love about Tolkien and possibly why I am not much interested in other fantasy, is the detail and plausibility about it, but it is necessary to remember that Tolkien was deliberately creating a mythology (for England). Also that he was throughout his life a devoted and devout Catholic and that he commented that some of his fans were involved in his works in a way that he wasn't. I think he loved his world but he knew it was a creation - or subcreation at a fundamental level.
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Tolkien's motives in creating the mythos were discussed by him in
Letters # 211.
Quote:
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May I say that all this is 'mythical', and not any kind of new religion or vision. As far as I know it is merely an imaginative invention, to express, in the only way I can, some of my (dim) apprehensions of the world.
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So Tolkien "believed" in the world he had made only in the sense that it was a reflection of his own thoughts and beliefs. The fact that many of my own ideas seem to fall in line with his is an important factor personally in my affinity for his work.