Myth Is Fine, but Keep It Real

Rabbi Niles Elliot Goldstein made very impassioned and thoughtful observations about the appeal of the mythological underpinnings of “The Lord of the Rings” (“Lesson of ‘Lord of the Rings’: Clarity in a Time of Darkness,” Feb. 11). But I wonder how his assessment might have been affected if he were aware of the mythical source material from which J.R.R. Tolkien borrowed heavily.

That source is Germanic mythology--which at one critical point in German history touched that deep and ancient font of human yearning in a manner that the world would never forget.

It helped foster horrors that beggared the imagination and outstripped anything a collective body of mythological imagery and language could convey or de- scribe.

Myths are fine as a source of inspiration and fable, but we shouldn’t allow their primal allure to cloud our collective sense of reason. Human suffering is just that--a product of human interaction motivated by greed, opportunism, ignorance, and prejudice that is often enabled by murderously delusional perceptions of reality.

Whatever the grim realities that can be found at the base of infamous events in history, they can only be addressed in the context of this world and not one of gods and demons.

PHILLIP KRUGER

Alhambra