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I didn't mean to zing you for being off-topic; I only meant to articulate what interests me about the thread. You're right that it hasn't been, over the years, a smash hit of Canonicity proportions, but I daresay there's quality -- if not quantity -- here that rivals some of the more analytical threads of recent times.
As an artist, I'm very interested in thinking about what effect or impact my work can have on other people. What is possible beyond mere entertainment? As a reader, LotR is one work I can definitely point a finger at and say, "Well that did something." So I mean, in answer to your questions, I can't say whether young readers get more value in general out of LotR than older readers, or whether LotR activates some philosophical predisposition in readers or actually helps form the philosophy from the ground up. I can't even answer those questions definitively for myself, let alone for some hypothetical group of readers.
Let me ask you this: at what age did you first read Tolkien? What impact, if any, do you think he had on your Weltanschauung? I'm also interested in the replies of people who say, no, no book has affected or is likely to significantly affect my worldview, if that's your experience.
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