...that Tolkien in some ways hoped or expected Christopher to be like Frodo, not only completing the task that he ("Bilbo") set out to do, but also taking on a new mission? He originally invented the stories to tell his children, and then it turned into a bigger thing of creating a mythology for England. Maybe he was hoping that Christopher would be even more of an adventurer than himself...although I don't know if that would amount to an expectation that he would write the same kinds of stories. In Carpenter's biography it doesn't seem to talk overly much about the relationships Tolkien has with his children, but it seems that Christopher was special to him because they shared some of the same interests. John and other siblings seemed to disappear from the scene a little. Was Tolkien's motivation all along for *every* story really to pass along an appreciation for Faerie/language to the next generation, namely his children? These books seem to be so special and personal in that way.

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"Fantasy remains a human right: we make in our measure and in our derivative mode, because we are made: and not only made, but made in the image and likeness of a Maker."