Hello, StormWillow! Welcome! I think there are lots of other people that agree with you when you say Lothlorien is one of your favourite spots.

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And she was named Elwing,which is Star-spray,for she was born on a night of stars,whose light glittered in the spray of the waterfall of Lanthir Lamath beside her father's house.

Banners by Arwen. Thank you so much, Arwen!

yes. Tolkien's works were probably influenced by his religion. But I don't think he wanted to create a fantasy-Bible. Nope. He wanted probably to create a mythology of his own. And I wouldn't be surprised to hear there were sometimes elves, hobbits, wizards, and orcs in our planet..

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I revisited AU on Jan 14th after an almost 10-year break! The nostalgia..!

I know some of Tolkien's works were influenced by his faith. The Lord of the Rings I know for sure was. You're probably right, though, Eärlinde Elensar. Tolkien probably wanted to creat a world and fantasy of his own.

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And she was named Elwing,which is Star-spray,for she was born on a night of stars,whose light glittered in the spray of the waterfall of Lanthir Lamath beside her father's house.

Banners by Arwen. Thank you so much, Arwen!

I agree with you both. While Tolkien was definitely a dedicated Christian and many if not all of his stories have a Christian theme, I don't believe he was trying to create a new Bible. I like to think that Mmiddle Earth was like the place inside of his head. That special one that you go to when you dream sometimes, or when everything gets to be too much, or even just to visit. Tolkien was just able to make his come out on paper. But maybe I'm not making any sense.....
While many of the values in Tolkien's works were Christian, Christian values are often merely the values of a good person. Bravery, honor, compassion, love. These are not just the marks of a Christian, but the marks of a person with a truly good heart.

yep. and Middle-Earth is (for me) like a place to go to when all seems to go wrong, and I just can't keep on going, if you know what I mean. It's a place I visit in my dreams, in my head, and a place I'd like to live in. I'm glad someone like Tolkien invented it for me.

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I revisited AU on Jan 14th after an almost 10-year break! The nostalgia..!

Very well put, Tinuviel's Tears. I agree with you.

I think we're all extremely grateful and thankful that Tolkien created Middle-earth in the way that he did. If he hadn't, I don't think many of us would be here (on this website, I mean).

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And she was named Elwing,which is Star-spray,for she was born on a night of stars,whose light glittered in the spray of the waterfall of Lanthir Lamath beside her father's house.

Banners by Arwen. Thank you so much, Arwen!

Thanks very much Elwing! It's just kind of a thought that's been floating around in my head for awhile now.

You're right as well. We all have to be grateful for the way Tolkien created Middle Earth. He created it just the way it was meant to be. And none of us could be here today if it wasn't for that amazing man with an amazing vision. Tolkien rocks!

I love Lothlórien .. .*sighs dreamilY* what i wouldnt give to live there...

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Gee.... I wonder why you want to live there? It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that that's where Haldir lives, could it? It is beautiful though. I'd love to live there as well, although, probably not for the same reasons as Haldir there. again.

what on earth are you talking about, Tinuviel?? *hides* ... mmmm who is this Haldir you speak of? *hides stalker photo album*

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Haldir, you're funny. But you can't fool me. The Haldir banner, the avatar, the thing in your siggy proclaiing your marriage to Craig Parker! I can read the signs......... .

~T.T

omgosh dont jump to conclusions! having a haldir banner, avatar, pictures, name and being married to craig doesnt mean im obsesed with him!

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Oh I see. I won't jump to conclusions any more then. From now on, I'll just assume that having haldir everything and being married to Craig means that you despise Haldir, shall I? Rabid fangirls are funny sometimes.
But I think maybe we've been a little off topic lately, so perhaps we should try to steer back onto the course...
Lothlorien. Is awesome. Shiny. And Beautiful. End.

I might have mentioned it before somewhere, but I don't like the idea of Middle-earth being squeezed into a certain cultural or religious frame. Everyone is inspired from everything and anything, and Tolkien naturally draws on all his experience, memory and thought... he would most likely havve been inspired by Christianity (Catholicism) as well as other world mythologies.
I fully agree with you T.T and Elwing and Eärlinde... (yea I'm so boring, not much to discuss here). But I like your thoughts on the topic, so very true they are!

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>>Be the change you wish to see in the world<<



Banner credit: Shadowcat & Nurrantiel Mashiara

Thanks Ea! And you're not boring at all! I love readin your posts!Especially when they say nice things about me! just kidding.
I dislike LOTR being put into a religious category as well. It's like you said, inspiriation comes form everything, from life, from living. It's not that I'm not a very religious person, because I am, but I don't like people categorzing LOTR. LOTR is it's own category. It's a world apart from everything else.

*nodnod* But also we as readers will interpret others' work from our own culture or beliefs. Black is evil and white is good... in most cultures, but somewhere on the globe it might be the opposite...
As I mentioned earlier, I think Lotlórien could be like a haven to the reader. And each will add his/her own interpretation to Tolkien's description when reading about it.

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>>Be the change you wish to see in the world<<



Banner credit: Shadowcat & Nurrantiel Mashiara