Josh B. Long, in Tolkien Studies, states that for Tolkien, "allegorical interpretation" was not the same as allegory, as interpretations come from a free interchange between text and reader, whereas allegory is imposed by the author. Long sees both religious "undertones" in the story, and autobiographical elements. He notes that the Catholic writer Joseph Pearce took the story as a parable, and that Flieger accepts "a level of allegory" but not the philological version proposed by Shippey. Instead, the Hall would be the church, Cook would be the parson, and cooking would be "personal religion". Or, Matthew Dickerson and Jonathan Evans suggest, Alf is a figure of Christ, the king of a heavenly realm who arrives as a child and grows to be a man. Martin Sternberg sees the story as religious, with experiences of the numinous and "traditional mystical ideas and motifs".
Josh B Long in Tolkien Studies states that for Tolkien "allegorical interpretation" was not the same as allegory as interpretations come from a free interchange between text and reader whereas allegory is imposed by the author Long sees both religious "undertones" in the story and autobiographical elements He notes that the Catholic writer Joseph Pearce took the story as a parable and that Flieger accepts "a level of allegory" but not the philological version proposed by Shippey Instead the Hall would be the church Cook would be the parson and cooking would be "personal religion" Or Matthew Dickerson and Jonathan Evans suggest Alf is a figure of Christ the king of a heavenly realm who arrives as a child and grows to be a man Martin Sternberg sees the story as religious with experiences of the numinous and "traditional mystical ideas and motifs"