Tolkien & killling?

This is my first post and I'm ecstatic to find an educated message board aon all these topics. I noticed womeone said it was incorrect to search for hidden meanings in Tolkien adn then quoted that phrase regarding allegory from one of his letters. He went on to say that he felt applicability was amore valid end than allegory so in that sense I think its legitimate to search for the applicability. Inorder to do that we need to uncover many of the "truths" of human nature in middle earth that apply to our world i.e. mercy, justice et al.

Regarding war and death, these cultures, specifically that of the Rohirrim, saw great honor in battle. But it always seems in the context of defense. I mean we can agree that great lengths were gone to by Tolkien to illustrate that even the felling of a tree unnecessarily is immoral. But I still feel that he admired the warrior spirit, not interms of domination, but in protection and freedom.