Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Brackin
To a certain extent you can't. Conan and most other traditional adventure stories have a single protagonist with maybe one or two sidekicks. The clearest influence of Tolkien is the multiracial ensemble band of adventurers.
After that comes the monster-fillled wildernesses and underground complexes.
Then we get te powerful artifacts that must be kept out of the hands of evil or destroyed.
Tolkien's influence might stop shortly thereafter. You don't see much in the way of his themes and mood. Just structures and tropes.
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Gygax liked Howard, and the customers wanted Tolkien. The game fell between two stools from the start.