Well stated ! Perhaps another way to consider where you ' re heading with this is the way the world is regarded as a younger place , closer to the point of creation . Tolkien has it both ways the world is young and the world has endured many ages . But he ' s still able to capture the feeling that all of creation is younger and a bit more innocent . Or at least it is still possible to glimpse that innocence and primal power on occasion . To understand Tolkien , I always return to the folklore and the medieval sources that served as his inspiration . There is a growing awareness among folklorists that the folk and this includes many medieval writers thought that previous generations believed in elves and the world of magic more than the current generation . We are more sophisticated and realistic than they were , but we inherit their stories , and with that material we are able to understand something of their point of view . Of course , eventually , a new generation will come along that will view us in much the same way . It is , apparently , humanity ' s way of viewing its past . Tolkien was able to project back to their world , to capture the will ' owisp and to settle into the everillusive perspective of that earlier generation when magic was afoot and all thing possible .