Regardless of its international appeal, (even though its hard to ignore), I'd say that it still remains an English icon. Well, tea isn't just drunk in England, now is it?
My older brother described Tolkien's writing style (especially in
The Hobbit) as like an old Grandfather telling small children a tale at bed time. Personally, I think of this as a very English image (at least, with Tolkien with his pipe and tweed
).