We need a story about when times were hard and showed no sense of ever getting easier, and the heroic path was to believe against all evidence that they would. A story about the fact that there is nothing trite about everyday happiness, and that such happiness persists even when everything else declines. That the Dawnless Days will be followed by a sunrise if we just keep going, keep going, keep going.

Discussing Tolkien in 2021, in light of the pandemic. Makes me want to read the books again! Link