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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2443 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 21, 2026

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it just doesn't do to approach it with 21th century fantasy literature expectations.

Ah, but Tolkien is firmly 20th century fantasy literature. I think even Conan the Barbarian does better with naming conventions, though perhaps largely thanks to cribbing from actual cultures.

Nevertheless I will persist.

You're quite right, but keep in mind that The Worm Ourobouros predates The Hobbit and Conan both, by over a decade. And I really meant 21st century expectations - I don't think 1930s or 1940s readers would already have consumed a large number of works in a well-established genre of world-building fantasy that shaped their expectations like those of modern readers have been shaped. But I may be wrong.

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