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Of The Many Mongrel Men (and women)
Having a great love of all things mythological, I see many different themes within Tolkiens world. If we equate thus:
The Elves=Celtic ie Tuatha de Dannan/ CuCulainn
The Rohirrim=Anglo-Saxon/Norse/Tales from the Meadhall
The Gondorians=Norman/Ordered and Feudalistic.
I think that Tolkien melded all these differing themes quite well with the religious story of Good opposed to Evil. That story is one that is in most, if not all myth/religions. The problem of regionalisation is one of history, as Lalwende points out, how many parts of England are wholly English. Taking aside our Celtic cousins, in how many places would Arthur be hero or villain, remembering that he was a Briton and not an Anglo-Saxon. We are still a diverse people, listen to how many accents there are in such a small place. I dont think Tolkien could have wrote his English Myth Cycle and pleased as many people as he has done by what is basically a British Myth Cycle. In the LotR we get all of the above, and it doesn't matter how many generations have gone by here, or in our old colonies, we still dream and love tales of the old days, when Odin walked the Earth.
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