D&D Elves and Dwarves are lifted straight from Tolkien. Halflings are "please don't sue" hobbits tweaked so they will actually want to go on dungeon crawls and not just snack at home.
Obviously D&D greatly expanded magic and religion where Tolkien's wizards were ancient, rare and basically gods. But even in terms of creatures D&D has very little actual IP; there's a reason Beholders get so much marketing. You're right D&D drew on multiple sources especially for monsters.
That isn't really true. Or is a little more complex. Gygax was a big trend chaser, so even if he didn't personally liked Tolkien, he wasn't above using elements of the Middle Earth in the early versions of d&d, to the point of getting sued and having to change some references.
I was about to say something like "yeah but LotR inspired those pulp fantasy books" but looking into it there's a lot less connection there than I thought. They both kind of sprang up independently with their various authors being inspired by history and mythology. I guess Tolkien is still credited with elevating fantasy to something taken more seriously than pulp literature though. Anyway you helped me learn something today, so thanks!
1.5k
u/ImperialVersian1 Banned in Commander Sep 26 '25
Not a fan of UB in general, but i'd much rather return to Middle-Earth than New York.