J.R.R. Tolkien - whatever you wish to call him, from the 'Ronald' and 'J2rt' of his friends to the more respectful 'Professor Tolkien' - was a linguist who created a world and history to fit the languages he made and developed. This world is slightly incorrectly called EÄ by some, quite incorrectly called MIDDLE-EARTH by others, and more correctly known as THE LEGENDARIUM.
This webpage (and, one could argue, this website, given its name of 'Imladris'), is dedicated to THE LEGENDARIUM.
"J.R.R. Tolkien has become a sort of mountain, appearing in all subsequent fantasy in the way that Mt. Fuji appears so often in Japanese prints. Sometimes it’s big and up close. Sometimes it’s a shape on the horizon. Sometimes it’s not there at all, which means that the artist either has made a deliberate decision against the mountain, which is interesting in itself, or is in fact standing on Mt. Fuji." -Terry Pratchett