Tolkien's good and evil races reflect Christian eschatology

[Onyx]

There is an entire ghost army of dead men, also rather at odds with the Christian ethos.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Sometimes you have to wonder if Tolkien was a closet pagan. Despite his conversion to Catholicism and despite the Christianity-copying of the Silmarillion, I wonder if he was more comfortable with the Norse/Heathen gods...

 

[Overread]

Well Lord of the Rings is based heavily of the Norse mythologies which are tied into Paganism. How much or how little I've no idea - its also complicated by the fact that Paganism in itself isn't a single entity and not only has it got variation in ancient Paganism, but there's also a big following of modern Paganism (which isn't quite the same).

 

[Onyx]

Well Lord of the Rings is based heavily of the Norse mythologies which are tied into Paganism. How much or how little I've no idea - its also complicated by the fact that Paganism in itself isn't a single entity and not only has it got variation in ancient Paganism, but there's also a big following of modern Paganism (which isn't quite the same).

I had thought "paganism" referred to any non-mainline religion, not a specific one. Norse myths are "pagan", just as Greek/Roman polytheism is.

Which religions are the ancient and modern Paganism you're referring to?

 

[Overread]

The Wiki page probably sums it up better than I can (since I'll admit I've only a fringe understanding of matters)
Paganism - Wikipedia

But essentially its reinforcing what you say in that ancient Paganism wasn't a single entity/religion; and that modern interpretations/revivals are not 100% faithful to those original religions and have adapted and evolved and changed (sometimes quite considerably).

 

[Onyx]

The Wiki page probably sums it up better than I can (since I'll admit I've only a fringe understanding of matters)
Paganism - Wikipedia

But essentially its reinforcing what you say in that ancient Paganism wasn't a single entity/religion; and that modern interpretations/revivals are not 100% faithful to those original religions and have adapted and evolved and changed (sometimes quite considerably).

It is important to understand that "pagan" is a word like "gentile" - it describes the out-group. So while some modern people who are part of "Christian" cultures have adopted/co-opted the term for their new beliefs (much like the way "queer" has been reclaimed by LGBTQ), for the most part it just means "those barbarians who pray to trees or multiple Gods", which was pretty much everyone who wasn't either a Christian or, at least, not part of a major religion like Shinto or Hindu.

The animists in an Amazon tribe are "pagans" by any standard, we just don't use the term because it is considered anthropologically pejorative and misleading.