What does it mean to Write in the Spirit of Tolkien?

[Arwen1858]

It IS dangerous if you take a thread like this as a recipe to be followed slavishly, but I don't think anyone here does that.

My intent in all this is to find out what sets Tolkien's books apart. What makes them so much better that other stuff out there? I hope if I figure that out, and read and study Tolkien's works, I might have some hope of getting somewhere near writing like he does. I'm not going to use it like a set of rules to strictly adhere to, but like a tool. Well, I hope this makes sense, and if not, I'll try to explain what I mean better.
Arwen