>i say take it for what it's worth (a fucking great story) and
>don't ignore or excuse the fact that the man was a product of
>his times.

Well, if Tolkein was completely unaware of what he was doing with his own art and racist overtones just kind of accidentally popped up as you suggest, then i do not consider it a great story. Citizen Kane and The Adventures of Huck Finn are great stories. Great stories are made by artists who are in complete control of their art and the direction it is going in. I am led to believe by comments made on this board that Tolkein was not a great artist, but a racist who couldn't help himself in bringing bigotry to the forefront of his work.