Acknowledgments vii Introduction 1 1. Construction of Mythology 13 On Constructive Mythopoeics 17 A Fictional Mythology Dedicated to England 20 Speculative Historical Epic 22 Myth and Genre 36 2. Creation and Existence 57 The Song of Ainur: Christian Platonic Creation Myth in The Silmarillion 57 Cosmology and the Chain of Being 78 Tolkien's Christian Platonic Mythopoeics 90 Concerning Sidney and Coleridge 94 The Philosophy of Afterlife 101 The Inklings and the Power of Words 109 3. Fall and Struggle 117 Long Defeat 117 Mythopoeic Allegories 122 Mythic and Biblical Heroes 135 The Fall: Númenor as an Atlantis Myth 149 The Struggle: The One Ring and the Ring Motif 154 Conclusion 164 Notes 167 Works Consulted 175 Index 185