[JenB]

Exactly; it's got so many shades of "Oedipus" and similar Greek tragedies... Tolkien is, IMO, at his best when drawing on the "Northern" mythologies as opposed to the "Southern" stories.

Speaking of north/south... (cue bad segue music) in answer to Corin, I used to live in the DC suburbs. I have been told that there are both hills and trees in VA, but the fact remains, I never saw a raccoon in a trash can until I moved to PA.

[Corin Stormhands]

I used to live in the DC suburbs.

Trust me, as a native Virginian, I can assure you that the DC suburbs (I lived in Arlington for 8 years) are nothing like the rest of Virginia. When you made the comment about trees, I guessed that's what you meant.

There's a lot more to Virginia than Metro DC.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

I never saw a raccoon in a trash can until I moved to PA.

We had a pair of raccoons in our fire place a few months ago. All the time I lived in an actual wilderness area (Michigan's Upper Peninsula) I never saw a raccoon; now that I live in Austin proper, we get them in our fireplace. (sigh)