What was fantasy before “the Hobbit” and “the Lord of the rings”: 10 stories that inspired Tolkien

For many readers journey in genre fantasy began with Professor John Ronald Ruel Tolkien. “Hobbit”, “Lord of the rings” or even Peter Jackson’s screen version… these stories “hooked” millions of people. It is known that Tolkien was inspired by some of the masters of modern fantasy, from George R. R. Martin to Terry Brooks. But the fantasy genre was not born in a day when middle earth was created.

Tolkien himself drew inspiration from old works, as well as from the writings of his close friend and colleague on the work of Clive Lewis (once they even planned to write a book together, which began to write Lewis). Continue reading →