> Bo"Mind you, I don't get why LOTR is so
popular, either - straightforward fantasy tale
broken up by pages and pages of DULL."urne

One reason I find myself so fascinated with
Tolkien's work is the amount of effort he put
into creating it. The detail of the world he
imagined is staggering. The man put nearly
his whole life into the universe of Middle-Earth.
He began in his late teens (or possibly early
twenties) and continued until his death. He
created an intricate history for his world. He
invented several languages and used them
throughout. He immersed himself so
thoroughly in the world of Middle-Earth that he
wrote the appendices to LOTR as if he was
merely a historian/linguist who translated the
story into English from its original Elvish.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is merely the tip
of an immense iceberg when it comes to
Tolkien's lore. The "historical background" for
the story contains many, many more
characters and stories that he could have just
as easily put into epic novel form.