Tolkien Influences

 Posted on 2/4/1996 by J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com> to CIS


Pat Bradshaw <71202.1532@compuserve.com> asks:
> Am I close?
> Am I hallucinating?
> Should I get a life and get out more?

What you have to understand is that virtually all of the items
you list are generic tools used in great mythic sagas. A lone group
with great responsibilities, a dark force gathering strength, defenders
of light, beings of great power who are inscrutable or difficult...the
names change but the archetypes remain. Tolkein used those archetypes,
as I'm using them, as other writers have used them. Consequently, you
see in this show whichever myth-cycle you're most familiar with.

jms