So what do you all think of the new book on Tolkien?

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

Tolkien enjoyed and was inspired by modern literature as well as medieval literature.

I think this is an important point, and it's one of the reasons I choose to focus on the modern influences. There is a lot of scholarship on the medieval influences to the extent that sometimes it feels like Professor Tolkien sprang forth full-formed from the head of the Beowulf poet with no regard for the centuries in between. Occasionally I do feel like the influence of later literature is overlooked.

As just one example, the influence of Morris is very clearly discernible if one reads his prose romances. This ranges from the intentional use of archaic language and the interspersing of verse throughout the prose to the use of place and character names repurposed from Scandinavian myth and folklore.