[JenB]

Thanks... now you've got me thinking of happier things. Not your intent, necessarily, but that quote reminds me of Sam's idea that all the stories are connected, and never really over. Tolkien was the king of miserable endings - just read the Tale of Turin Turambar, or any of several of his Elf-legends, and you'll know that - but LotR has a good ending. It's not totally happy, but that's a good thing. Somehow the sad and the glad together make a better tale than just some triumphant "everybody gets a medal and a kiss from the princess" sort of deal.

[Overtaxed]

Tolkien was the king of miserable endings - just read the Tale of Turin Turambar, or any of several of his Elf-legends

That's why I don't remember much of the Silmarillion. Too many depressing stories. Can't he have included a few happy hobbit songs?