: : Now I don't mean this to get too personal, but how does Tolkien apply to your life? We all know Tolkien's aversion to allegory, and how he favored stories that allowed readers to draw their own conclusions and lessons.

: : Which lessons have you drawn?

: : I spoke a bit (and very vaguely) about how Tolkien affects one aspect of my life, my political activism (I didn't expand on it here because I get the impression I shouldn't; which is a shame, because I think Tolkien's words reach out into the farthest corners of human experience, even politics).

: : How do you apply his words and tales to your life? Do you at all? Do you just take it as a story? Or do you see yourself as a character? Why? Or do you pull all the threads and themes of his work and live according to those ideals? Or do you take it literally (c.f., the religious discussion below)?

: : Respond however you feel is appropriate.

: : Dave C-Q

: It isn't.
: Don't get me wrong :I really love Tolkien's works, I've read it more then 10 times, I'm very interested in it's land, peoples, and histroy and I can discuss it for hours with other people.
: Tolkien wrote a magnificient work, a very large and interesting story, but other then loving it as a story, a story with many deep and interesting ideas in it, I don't think it should affect my, or anybody else's, way of life.

I think because it is such an intricately woven story with complex characters and decisions of "global" importance that it can be applicable in almost anybodies life.

Whatever decision you're facing or psychological problem you're having there should always be some way in which somebody acted or something somebody said in LotR that pertains to that problem or decision.

I think part of what makes a great story is the fact that in can apply to everyday "real-life."