The two types of LotR fans

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Don't think I'm not onto your game, Bêthberry and Rimbaud. Those are fine verses for a family-friendly barrow.

Now let us read them while we may,
And now, like literate birds of prey,
Swiftly at first these tales devour
Then languish in their slow-chapt power.

Although each story has its own appeal for me, I follow Tolkien in seeing the whole history of Middle-earth, even extending to its author's life, as a single narrative and part of a greater whole. It was the stories that first attracted me, and for me each separate piece, from The Hobbit to the unpublished fragments, has its own unique appeal as a complete story, an episode, a variation or an illustration. Then again, without the world and its details, the stories would have no foundation, and as for the history and details themselves, well, therein lies a tale. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Tolkien for me is best illustrated by the fact that the alphabet and language of the Noldor is bound up with the sad tale of Fëanor, which is then preserved and retold in the same language. That's the sort of detail that most of us only dream of creating: to know the whole story you have to know the world and vice-versa. I agree with ohtatyaro: the various elements are inseparable.