[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Yes, redemption and salvation! But, it also shows that one must desire redemption, and the consequences of refusing it... oh, wait, what I'm thinking about was in Return of the King, wasn't it... uhm...

Oh, yeah, Finnish stuff! Have I ever mentioned there was a Finnish family in the town I grew up, named Koivenen? Suspiciously close to the early forms of Cuiviénen, the Waters of Awakening! And what about that line, "...Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue," that was a dead giveaway!

And the Ents... why, they were just thinly veiled representatives of the early environmentalist movement! Why, it's obvious!

Wait, maybe I've got it wrong...

Uhm, mine!

[JenB]

Koivenen... sounds like one of the heroes in Kalevala. The one who was the model for Turin Turambar, maybe? And yes, it's obvious that Numenor = Atlantis. The Valar are clearly representative of most pantheons (Greco-Roman and Norse at the very least)

Mine!