J.R.R. Tolkien's fiction, especially The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, made him a world-renowned fantasy writer. These tales were based on Tolkien's personal mythology of a place he called Middle-Earth, but Middle-Earth was strongly influenced by the myths and legends of Dark Age Europe that Tolkien studied professionally as a professor at Oxford University. This title takes a popular - not academic - look at the mythic world and mythic themes that inspired Tolkien, not only the Germanic and Norse mythology that most experts discuss, but also Celtic and Finnish myths. It talks of the journeys and quests that inspired Tolkien, dragon myths, beliefs in supernatural, non-human races such as dwarves and elves, the role and function of the warrior, the nature of heroism and more.