Great observations, Puddleglum & davem. Somehow, though, for me (yes, subjectively), before I had ever heard of Tolkien, Lewis, & Nordic or Celtic myth, I had grown disappointed with Greek and Egyptian myth. There was something flat about it, something dead. When I discovered Nordic & Celtic myth, I found Faery. Granted, this is my experience and thus ideosyncratic.
Your suggestions do not seem entirely to account for that - er - quiddity - that is essential Faery as accessed in the North. I'm reaching for something but I don't know what. Perhaps it is that my ancestry is Celtic/Germanic/Northern and thus Greek/Aegyptian could never speak to me. Don't know, it's a guess.
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