Dancing spawn has picked up on something that occurred to me after I had finished posting and gone home. At the risk of sounding patronising, adolescents who have less time to become cynical about the world (this I know is a generalisation since many adolescents have already had more to cope with than others will face in their full span) and may respond to the idealism that can be a factor in some fantasy. In LotR there is a cause worth striving and fighting for and the seemingly insignificant hobbits save the world - not only Frodo and Sam who acheive the quest but Merry and Pippin whose intervention, sometime unwitting has crucial impact.
As for your problem with your teacher - the folklore thing seems a good way to go especially given your location. Tolkien was very proud of his Danish origins.
