Excellent topic, Squatter, and well worth discussing! You've addressed several aspects, but as I have only a brief moment, I'd like to reply to Foolofatook's point about the age of fans. The age at which a person is introduced to the LotR is subject to so many different factors that it can't be used as an argument to prove much of anything. I encountered the book when I was no longer a teen, and in addition, was (and still am! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] ) female. I loved it instantly, reading it a second time immediately after finishing it the first time. And I'm no exception; anyone who reads the forum attentively will realize that there are at least as many girls and women here as there are males. Perhaps that says something about Tolkien's understanding of human nature? ...with no divisions into genders.
Child, excellent points you make there - yes, not only literature, but also criticism must be seen within the framework of its time. The verdict on LotR has changed by now - and I shall have to read the copy of Defending Middle-earth that's waiting on my book-shelf...
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'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth.. .'
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