Literary Criticism
What did Tolkien say of his own work?
Religious, Freudian, allegorical, and political interpretations of the trilogy soon appeared, but Tolkien generally rejected these explanations. He said The Lord of the Rings was conceived with, "no allegorical intentions...moral, religious, or political" (Tolkien). He also denied the trilogy was a work of escapism. "Middle Earth is not an imaginary world...The theatre of my tale is this earth, the one in which we now live." (Tolkien). Tolkien also said his story was, "fundamentally linguistic in inspiration", "a religious and Catholic work" whose spiritual aspects were "absorbed into the story and symbolism." Tolkien concluded that "The stories were made...to provide a world for the languages rather than the reverse."
How did Lord of the Rings affect pop culture?
References to The Lord of the Rings appeared in music (some wondered if it had a deep affect on music) and materials related to the psychedelic drug scene (1960s-1970s). Renewed interest arrived in The Lord of the Rings in early 21st century when movies were made.