We are quite in agreement. I never meant to imply that enthusiasm for - or as much the case is with Lewis and Tolkien repect for - a particular work is inherently evil or wrong.
However Tolkien's Great Trilogy is such an amazing accomplishment that it is easy for some to become so imersed they tend to ingore reality. In the case of The Silmarillion the absorbtion can reach the point where it replaces The Scriptures upon which the work is based.
I find that tragic, and certainly not what Tolkien would have ever intended.
I also recall a passage, from perhaps the same letter quoted above, wherin J.R.R.T. responded to the question of why he wrote TLOTR. He replied he wondered whether it would be possible to write a fiction of heroism and mythology that would enrapture and adult reader.
He succeeded, and I salute him for that achievment!
Finally may I as well thank you and everyone else who've contributed, for a very interesting topic and quite a welcome, albiet brief diversion from things more depressing, if not important!
prisoner6