[Rimbaud]

The beginning of the end was the dawn of agriculture. Until that time mankind had simply been a hunter/gatherer with a balanced population and a place in the world. This was the status quo for tens (some anthropologists convincingly argue hundreds) of thousands of years. When our forebears enslaved animals and developed the principles of 'territory' and 'possession' and the growing importance of numbers the world was irrevocably changed. This is why Tolkien's world is not a model to be compared against. He froze his world at a point where civilisation existed but had not yet subverted all else. Yet once a species learns to enslave land it does not stop. There are several very good essays on civilisation that I will hopefully return and add links to; including one which I believe used M-E as an interesting but eventually cynical [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] comparison.

Tolkien's genius was in creating believable species (Hobbits, most of the Elven race) who although had dominion over areas of the earth, had no interest in necessarily furthering that dominion. Were it only so. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]