Tolkien's Bookshelf

Enchanted by epic myths and glorious legends found in works like Beowulf, the Finnish Kalevala, and Norse sagas, Tolkien's imagination took flight early on, fueling a desire to create his own mythical world. As a child, Tolkien enthusiastically read fantasy classics like George MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin, works that showed him the transportive power of story and fed his hunger to build a rich fantasy realm.