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Despite the risk, I will attempt some clarification.
By real I do not mean literally factual.
By real I do mean being about reality. More helpfully, I consider LotR to be "real", that is "about reality", in that it deals with perseverance, sacrifice, duty, love, hate, good, evil, life and death. Et cetera. Is there an aspect of it that is "real" in terms of place and time? Tolkien says that it partakes of our own history. The story is about us. In other words, it's real. It may not have literally happened, but it's real. It's about reality.
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