Help a fellow Tolkien admirer by giving me your opinion - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Beleg Cuthalion · 02-09-2005, 12:36 PM

Well I’ll just say to start with that if there was no LOTR then there wouldn’t be really much ‘Fantasy’ writing at all.

Dungeons and Dragons for example, is a direct by product of what M-E did to fantasy genre, you can’t find anything like it before it came out. There are stories like Ivanhoe, King Arthur andRobin Hood and many others, but nothing like Tolkien’s Middle-Earth.

The real reason behind Middle-Earth popularity is that it’s not written as a ‘fiction story’, but that it was written as a history. The languages also play a big part in the books success there are not many books where you can find such comprehensiveness, every thing is planned out almost perfectly.

Linnahiril Tinnufinwen · 02-09-2005, 01:38 PM

Firstly, I would have to agree with Beleg on why Tolkien's work is so popular. It is truly amazing to think that Tolkien created his own mini-world, with lots and lots of history, maps, languages, etc. Had Tolkien lived longer, he probably would have "finshed" his work, and every single culture would have been complete in customs and languages. Any fantasy writer today who creates their own histories are no doubt inspired by Tolkien. I know that I am, as a writer.

Secondly, I believe that one of the reasons the fantasy genre is so popular is because it gives people, especially teenagers, a way to get away from their lives for awhile. It is so unlike anything in today's world, that it is almost refreshing. To live in a place where honor and chivalry, justified war, adventure, and almost always an easily distiguishable between good and evil, is very appealing to people.

02-09-2005, 12:36 PM	#1
Beleg Cuthalion Wight Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Hominum que contente mundique huius et cupido Posts: 181	Well I’ll just say to start with that if there was no LOTR then there wouldn’t be really much ‘Fantasy’ writing at all. Dungeons and Dragons for example, is a direct by product of what M-E did to fantasy genre, you can’t find anything like it before it came out. There are stories like Ivanhoe, King Arthur andRobin Hood and many others, but nothing like Tolkien’s Middle-Earth. The real reason behind Middle-Earth popularity is that it’s not written as a ‘fiction story’, but that it was written as a history. The languages also play a big part in the books success there are not many books where you can find such comprehensiveness, every thing is planned out almost perfectly. __________________ War is not the answer, War is the question and the answer is yes Quis ut Deus Last edited by Beleg Cuthalion; 02-09-2005 at 12:59 PM.

02-09-2005, 01:38 PM	#2
Linnahiril Tinnufinwen Haunting Spirit Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: California Posts: 77	Firstly, I would have to agree with Beleg on why Tolkien's work is so popular. It is truly amazing to think that Tolkien created his own mini-world, with lots and lots of history, maps, languages, etc. Had Tolkien lived longer, he probably would have "finshed" his work, and every single culture would have been complete in customs and languages. Any fantasy writer today who creates their own histories are no doubt inspired by Tolkien. I know that I am, as a writer. Secondly, I believe that one of the reasons the fantasy genre is so popular is because it gives people, especially teenagers, a way to get away from their lives for awhile. It is so unlike anything in today's world, that it is almost refreshing. To live in a place where honor and chivalry, justified war, adventure, and almost always an easily distiguishable between good and evil, is very appealing to people. __________________ The world is a great book, of which they who never stir from home read only a page