LotR - an allegory? No, not WW2 this time, I promise... ;)

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

Again, it could just be my own sense of the word, but "allegory" seems more applicable to a single work, whereas "theme" seems more appropriate to a body of works, and also sidesteps the issue of whether this is the author's planned browbeaten topic.

While I agree with your explanation of allegory as a one for one pointing, with the pointing being the main purpose, it could be argued that allegory is not limited to one work alone. Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress was a two-parter, with the first book Pilgrim's journey and the second his wife's. (By the way, a 1778 edition of PP includes a fold out map of the places to which Pilgrim travels. Shades of LotR's maps!). Spencer's The Fairy Queen was first published in three books and then re-released in six. Spencer's letter to Raleigh actually outlines plans for 24 books. Now these works might have more thematic purpose or unity than Tolkien's works, but they do suggest that allegory need not be limited to one work alone.

I like this clarification, athough it would be fun to discuss the nature of dragons in Tolkien, none of which, I just remembered, exist in LotR.