I never accepted the mythopoeia I see accreting around the Liosan.

HE has reached a stage of culture where such mythopoeia has become impossible.

Whatever the limitations of his own myth-making, Tolkien's genius as a storyteller rekindled the flame of mythopoeia for generations of writers who followed.

Tolkien borrowed the Greek term "mythpoesis" to describe the task of modern myth-making, and so the literary concept of mythopoeia was born.

But as works of modern mythology, the art Tolkien called "mythopoeia", both Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are open to serious criticism.