The Lord of the Rings and the Fall-Winter Seasons

[Child of the 7th Age]

I don't know quite how to say this, but the one thing to me that is different about autumn is that I have a vivid sense of something beginning (in that we're heading for colder weather and winter) but also something ending. There is so much beauty with the trees turning, yet I am also constantly reminded that this is a time of endings and death. I feel that this dichotomy, life and death and the impermanence of things, stands at the heart of the story. It is both beautiful and sad, the kind of bittersweet feeling I have when I turn the last page of the book.

It is logically true that each season is a time of beginnings and endings, but to me autumn is the one that best symbolizes those two things. Autumn seems like a perfect match for a story that is talking about the passing of Elves and other magical things and the new dominence of men. So much is gained and so much lost.

Great topic!