Tolkien compared to other writers

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Exactly.

[hectorberlioz]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

Indeed, one doesn't have to be original to write good stories. But IMO one doesn't need specifically new material to write something never-done-before. You can use existing, even ages-old material but use it in a completely novel way.

The way Tolkien forged a complex millenia-long history to his world is quite astonishing, and something I deem hadn't been done before. Even mythologies do, as far as I remember some of them anyway, don't run across so many thousands of years with so much detail.

I've only seen the history of a world added in post-Tolkien works. It adds a sense of realism to a fantasy-world, makes it less of a mere stage for a story. Now it almost is a template for high-profile fantasy-books.

Those brilliant comments bring to mind Tolkien's insistence that LotR was a "History", a "Romance".
He didn't try to be groundbreaking or modern or new, yet LotR is one of the most original conceptions ever.
It reminds me also of Bach (believe it or not): where nothing is new but the notes themselves, yet his compositions are ten times more striking and original than the composers who were considered more "modern" and "new" at the time.

[Earniel]

Oh, Hector, we can always trust you to find a connection to classical music.

[Zilbanne]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

Those brilliant comments bring to mind Tolkien's insistence that LotR was a "History", a "Romance".
He didn't try to be groundbreaking or modern or new, yet LotR is one of the most original conceptions ever.
It reminds me also of Bach (believe it or not): where nothing is new but the notes themselves, yet his compositions are ten times more striking and original than the composers who were considered more "modern" and "new" at the time.

It make sense to me! Before J.S. Bach, when playing keyboards, folks used only the three middle fingers of each hand to play their harsichords and clavicords or organs. Bach wrote music complex enough that he devised a way to get both the thumb and little finger up to the keyboard where they belong with the rest of the fingers. With all five, that's how we are stll playng.

J.R.R. Tolkien brought so much to the "table of writting that we are all still at the feast!

[BelegS]

Samwell Tarly in A Song of Ice and Fire series is a homage to Sam Gamgee.