Wow, Mechtild, that really does strike me afresh ... that for Frodo writing the account of the War of the Ring was not just about his own catharsis but also setting it down for the posterity of his people, for future generations.

I get frustrated with an overdue emphasis on Frodo's personal angst (great as that was). It seems to ignore the larger picture that Tolkien had in mind. And it also ignores the spirituality of the story ... and indeed Frodo's own spirituality.

It's never just about him. That's why I think Frodo totally rocks. That's why I love Tolkien's natural, organic portrayal of virtue. The virtuous characters in his drama aren't boring or static. They have weight and depth and movement. One of the things that hooks me about Tolkien is the way he transforms archetypes. His characters aren't written to novelistic rules, they're players in an epic, and yes, they ARE archetypes. But they're three-dimensional ones.

Tolkien says in the Collected Letters that on Eressea Frodo would have come to understand much better his overall place in the big scheme of things ... to understand and embrace his own 'littleness'. That was part of his healing.

As indeed it is for all of us.