Why do you keep at it?

The stories are set in Middle Earth which is both nowhere and everywhere - thus the narrative becomes timeless and unstained by human progress - there is no external reference other than ourselves - it's the reader that is required to complete the circle where the transition from the page takes place within our own world of experiences. Tolkiens weaves his magic in that our own lives provide the warp and weft of the experience that is Middle Earth - it's our own story that is being retold.