Silmarillion - Chapter 19 - Of Beren and Luthien

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Hilde Bracegirdle

One of my stumbling blocks was the persistant wish that Tolkien had devised other creatures instead of refering to vampires and werewolves. I do of course realize that elves and dwarves were not entirely unknown before he started writing about them, but these particular beings seem to be from a somewhat alien mythology, or perhaps the intervening years have rendered them so.

The latter, mainly, I think. Our ideas of vampires and werewolves have become more and more standardized (through film versions, etc). The sources in folklore are quite varied.