--- libris <libris@...> skrev:

> Friends,
>
> Christians generally are not in the habit of
> acknowledging external sources (what more Buddhist
> elements) in the historical and religious
> developments. But lately I notice a healthy openness
> by Christian seekers esp towards Buddhist
> meditation.

And, to do Tolkien some justice, he never tried to
hide the fact that he pinched some ideas from
Non-Christian mythologies. All his dwarves (or dwarfs)
got their names from the Poetic Edda, and so did
Gandalf.

Besides, both "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings"
take place in a Pre-Christian era, so long ago that
even the continents look different. Some critics are
interpreting Frodo and/or Gandalf as some kind of
Messiah, but I don't think that was Tolkien's
intention.

Gunnar