Why are fantasy world accents British?

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Good luck with that. Considering that both countries have tonns of immigrants from all over the place, I doubt you can have a clear-cut American or Canadian accent. And both are pretty big, so different areas have different accents. Even Bethberry and I have different accents, though you wouldn't say that we talk with an accent!

I feel, at least, a bit less ashamed about my dad asking a woman we said hello to wandering on her own in a Lancashire churchyard last summer: "What are you doing such a long way from America?" She was a bit indignant and said "I am a Canadian!"

I think many British people can't tell the difference between a Lancashire and a Yorkshire accent though, looking at inconsistencies on the regional soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale. Whereas I can often tell which village someone from Lancashire is from.

That's perhaps why I found it a bit jarring that the Hobbits' accents weren't consistent in LotR - a mishmash of 'posh', Scots and generic 'yokel'.