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Tolkien was truly a genius. It's actually sad, in a way, that he is most known for The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. Those works, while beautiful, are shallow compared to The Silmarillion and his other writings. They pigeonhole him as simply a writer of fantasy works, which aren't taken seriously by some, or are dismissed as childish whimsy simply because they are fantasy works. He has an amazing, inspiring, beautiful cosmology and philosophy within those lesser known works, something truly inspired and beautiul. He created more than simply "fantasy" works--He created a universe, which I believe he on some level himself believed in.
If Tolkien had lived and had written The Silmarillion and his other works in ancient times, we'd probably consider them holy scripture today. That's how beautiful it is, and how much of a brilliant, insightful, gifted man he was.
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