[cialesxtr]

here's an interesting piece by jay weidner:

tolkien at the end of time: alchemical secrets of the lord of the rings

it seems a simple story.

at first glance it appears to be nothing more than a very long fairy tale about good and evil. peopled with elves, dwarves, wizards, monsters and more, j.r.r. tolkien's lord of the rings was not considered a great work of literature when it first appeared in 1954. now it is hailed as the book of the 20th century. what is it about this book that caused it to be such a sensation? why does it create such a warmth and resonance in the hearts of its readers? our answer to these and other questions to be discussed in the course of this article is that tolkien was aware of the hidden esoteric history of humanity and the powerful influence of the great work of alchemy on european culture.

http://www.jayweidner.com/jaytolkien1.htm


also interesting to note is that tolkien's abandoned novel the notion club papers contained a reference to 2012. it is a space/time/dream travel story, written at the same time as the lord of the rings was being developed.

http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/the_notion_club_papers