Canto's fine, so the C's right. Aces doesn't really fit the wording. It's an oddly vague definition: 'they will be saved'. And just can't think of a four-letter (???c) religious discourse. Unless I'm reading the clue completely wrongly...
If etens is right for ogres, then the letters are el?c?s.
Reference to eten is:
Tolkien mentioned again ogres out of context in analyses of the name Orc: "...the gloss Þyrs 'ogre'..." , and of the name Ettendales: "This is meant to be a Common Speech (not Elvish) name, though it contains an obsolete element eten 'troll, ogre'."
A Lifepeer is appointed and hence selfmade man applies. So L is correct.
Now we are left with el?c?s.
I'm still not sure, hankir, but I have nothing better yet. It probably does start with LIFE but have you got all 4 letters of LIFE?
Maybe I'm not alert today but how is PEER the equivalent of APPEAR?
Lifepeer is 4,4 - does the 8 allow a 4,4 answer or should it be one word?
Yes, peer= look, but I cant think why look= appear.
I'm not saying you're wrong- it's just that I still don't see it.
What letters do you have (I assume you don't have all the letters for the LIFE part, although LIFE does seem likely for the first bit?
Ta