Well met, good friend. Walk with me to this grass-covered escarpment, where we can see all of Middle Earth. Past yon mountains is Gondor, where King Aragorn rules, and directly beneath the sun is the Mirkwood, one of the most evil places on this continent. If you follow the mountains up past Moria, is the house of Elrond, one of the last Elf-kings. Behind us for many leagues is Shire where the whole story starts, but you already knew that, didn't you.

Not many things have influenced my life like J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Besides delivering the powerful idea of good triumphing over evil, Tolkien imparted to me creativity and imagination. Late at night when others are soundly sleeping I lay half-awake, and half in a dream. My days are filled with work and reality, and at night I escape. I escape to a world of magic, of demons and dragons, of beautiful elf princesses, and of good wizards battling evil. In a fantasy world, a world created by Tolkien and built upon by others, evil can be defeated by the forces of good. But is fantasy all that different from reality?

Many who are not fantasy fans scorn the genre by labeling it as unproductive, bad literature, or insane. But anyone who has ever read Tolkien's books would disagree. Besides being well written, Tolkien has a voice that represents all those who have ever dared to dream. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are waved as the flag of those who criticize the problems in humanity by comparing them to perfect races who wield awesome powers. Imagine for one instant that magic is more than illusion, believe for a second in dragons and fairies, focus for a moment on mortal man among elves, dwarves, and demigods. Step beyond reality and look back across the border, and for just one moment you will see the world in a whole new light.

That is the message of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings