The first work by Tolkien set in Middle-Earth, The Hobbit, was first published as children’s literature (which it largely is, if compared with his other much darker tales) gaining wide acclaim and awards in that category. The lore of Middle-Earth was then still not fully formed in Tolkien’s mind. Upon writing The Lord of the…

There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made. And he spoke to them, propounding to them themes of music; and they sang before him, and he…