Quote:
Originally Posted by William Cloud Hickli
In terms of "moderns" with a high degree of intellect and literacy, E.R. Eddison's (not Harlan Ellison's!) The Worm Ouroboros (1922) rates very highly, as does David Lindsay's Voyage to Arcturus (1925) (a challenge to read, in places nearly as dense as Joyce). Also, although IIRC also unknown to Tol;kien, Peake's Gormenghast (1939).
Then of course there is all the ancient material: especially Beowulf (personally I prefer Tinker to either Heaney or Clark Hall), and the Volsungasaga as well as Snorri's Prose Edda.
Indispensable also is Malory: as a matter of personaltaste I think Caxton's edition is an improvement on the Winchester MS text.
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These sound much more like it, novels with a proven track record behind them that probably would not go amiss with Tolkein.
As for the Lone Wolf books, these excellent adventures were not in the main novels arena but single player role play books. Lone Wolf reminded me much of Aragorn in character & power as the Kai Lord & Grand Master. The Guild also had some connotations with that of Elves in Middle Earth. Keketaag the Avenger was an excellent champion of the Dark God Naar, much like the Witch King for Sauron. It appears Joe Dever was also a Tolkein enthusiast when writing these books.