You say 'Faeries' & I say 'Fairies'

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by davem

But this is straying off topic....

Since when has that stopped you?

Originally Posted by davem

The question, perhaps, is which did Tolkien set out to do - 'baptise' Faery, or 'baptise' the human imagination?

(Oh, of course, the other question is, did he succeed in whichever he set out to do?)

I think, the human imagination. How could he do that to Faery? He only was a type of Smith, just like the rest of us, and made beautiful things in his smithy, greatly influenced by Faery.

Originally Posted by davem

Faery, for me, 'underlies' the world we experience with our physical senses, it is the 'archetype', the perfect 'unfallen' world from which this one devolved.

That makes it synonymous with Eden for me, but I suppose that's just one of many myths with a once-upon-a-time unfallenness. But your view of Faery seems a tad idealized to me.