"The Hero With a Thousand Faces" is a seminal work on the subject, and the hero myth resonates with me -- as I think it does with everyone, because it occurs in our own lives if we recognise it. There are a couple more Campbell books which are a little more accessible -- "Myths to Live By," and "The Power of Myth." The latter was my introduction to the spiritual and mythological world outside of Catholocism. It's just a long dialogue between Campbell and Bill Moyers transcribed from an old PBS series, but it's thought-provoking and beautifully illustrated. When my parents found out what it did to my Catholic faith, I discovered that the book mysteriously disappeared, LOL. I had to buy it again for myself when I was older. They even forced me to go see a Jesuit priest in hopes that he would . . . I don't know, purge the evil thoughts or something, and I was also forced to continue to attend church. Not sure what they thought they would accomplish but anyway, that's years ago now.

Tolkien did say that he was trying not to make a political or religious statement, and he was quite upset when people tried to draw parallels between the evil in the east (Sauron) and the Communist eastern bloc. Maybe that was there to a small degree, but I don't think it was conscious. What I do see much more of, despite his words, is World War One. He fought in the trenches and that must have been with him, vividly, the rest of his life. You can see it so clearly in the descriptions of Mordor and the hardhsips Frodo and Sam face there. Likewise, it's a pretty good metaphor for depression, though I don't know if Tolkien was ever depressed (i.e. when Frodo says he has no memory of bird, beast or flower, or of the Shire).

Like I said, it's a long time since I thought about these things, and there's really no one around to discuss them with. Thanks for this, I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it.

I suppose you like reading about Loki in Norse myths? He did horrible things but somehow he always seemed to be a necessary part of the pantheon, which would not have been complete without him.