Excellent - well done, Burzdol, finally a contender for best post of the millennium!
Willy, I think you're exactly right when you credit Tolkien for bringing all of these mythical elements together into one world. Yes, Dwarves and Elves existed (in various forms) before Middle-Earth was created. So did stirrups, and coffee, and gardening. But it took the incredible mind of Professor Tolkien to create an alternative world, parallel to our own, with occupants that consistently amaze us, most of all with their vivid realism.
The parts that make up Middle-Earth were not created by Tolkien, but he definitely crafted the overall picture, in the same way you might make a house out of timber, nails, glass, etc., or in the way that a god like Aule would shape the world from iron and rock. Quite an achievement.
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But Gwindor answered: 'The doom lies in yourself, not in your name'.
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