Simply Afraid

[Mithalwen]

There are few straightforward happy endings in Tolkien - it isn't a "happy ever after" fairytale... for all the "fantasy" it is much more like our own world where also there are also few simplistic happy endings ... maybe this is why it is so beloved and those of us who read it as teenagers keep it close by decades later.... there aren't facile happy endings but there are compensations for grief, and parting and sacrifice ..... separation is supported by friendship, there is healing to be found and hope....and a kind of fulfilment. Gandalf was right - not all tears are an evil......