Oh yeah, the meta-reading of Tolkien is kind of its own subject, isn’t it? I love stumbling into analyses like yours — it sure seems to fit the work. Kind of like speculations about LOTR being heavily informed, or even a direct metaphor, for England’s stance toward Hitler (even as JRRT hissownself stridently disavowed this). I honestly don’t know enough about the full scope of his work, so in the case of The Hobbit I’m mostly taking it at face value. I don’t think we’re disagreeing at all. 🙂