William’s Reviews > J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century > Status Update

An acceptably philological way of putting it might be to say that Tolkien was the Chrétien de Troyes of the 20th century. Chrétien, in the 12th century, did not invent the Arthurian romance, which must have existed in some form before his time, but he showed what could be done with it...in the same way, Tolkien did not invent heroic fantasy, but he showed what could be done with it.