Tolkien has received a great deal of critical acclaim for the amazingly comprehensive history of Middle-Earth that so enriches his work. Much of the history Tolkien developed does not even appear, per se, in The Two Towers (although much does), but the reader cannot help but sense the depth of detail that serves as a foundation for the work. Even when some portion of his history is clearly exposited, the reader perceives not only the connection between the historical details offered, but also the complexity and consistency of those details. All of this serves to transform Tolkien's work of fiction into what it actually claims to be, a work of history. Tolkien does this because his work is, in a sense, a work based in actually historical events, and one of Tolkien's goals is to connect the reader with those actual events.

Thus, Tolkien borrows elements from the...