Why Lord Of the Rings Is So Addictive

As a history teacher, I encounter bright students who know nothing about World War I but everything about the Battle of Pelennor Fields and other details of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. I feign outrage at their ignorance, taking advantage of a teachable moment. Deep down, however, I empathize. Historians, after all, spend their professional lives inhabiting virtual worlds of the imagination. These worlds are nonfictional, based on available evidence, but the imaginary realms of modern fantasy are usually not far removed from the most carefully researched works of history. They too use the tools of the historian's trade in their meticulous creation of worlds of wonder, such as footnotes, maps, appendices, chronologies and glossaries.