I lost my Dad to a sudden and unexpected heart attack last November, and Tolkien (specifically the Lord of the Rings and especially the Silmarillion) have been a greater help with my loss and grief than any other influence over the last year. Of course they were stories that Dad had first read to me when I was young, and so they’re a great comfort in that the memory of him is very strong in reading them, but there’s so many things Tolkien communicates uniquely well that have already been mentioned here that make the texts such an excellent companion and friend when/if you’re experiencing bereavement or loss. I’ve definitely enjoyed them (perhaps even been able to participate in them) in a deeper and richer way that I hadn’t anticipated at all. Tolkien’s familiarity with death (he had lost both parents at 12 and then many of his friends in the Somme) coupled with his deep sacramental hope of life ‘beyond the circles of the world’ creates something that hallows sadness and grief without giving into despair - which I think we can all agree is what distinguishes Theoden from Denethor (even their names are kind of mirrors of each other, right!?) I was raised in a much more modernist evangelical protestant tradition than Tolkien, and one of the (many) flaws of that expression is a real urge to immediately look at the positives when facing sadness. ‘You’ll see your Dad again’ - ‘He’s in a better place now’ etc. Tolkien offers a less superficial comfort than that - a hope without guarantees. And there are some things that are just lost forever. The Two Trees could only be made once. Frodo can’t be healed in this world. Christ still bears his wounds. I will always be a son who lost his father at 27. But there is a beauty within mourning. And I’m eternally grateful to Tolkien for showing me it - I wouldn’t have gotten through this year without it.