THE DRAGON OUROBOROS - A BOOK THAT INSPIRED TOLKIEN. With Original Illustrations. The Dragon Ouroboros was first published in 1933 under the title "The Worm Ouroboros". Professor J.R.R. Tolkien read the story, and praised it in print, writing in a letter that he enjoyed Eddison's books for their sheer literary merit. Eddison, he stated, was the greatest and most convincing writer of "invented worlds" he had ever read. Tolkien's close friend and confidante C.S. Lewis was also an admirer. This heroic high fantasy novel has been compared with Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings", which was written many years later. Readers will swiftly become accustomed to Eddison's archaic language and find themselves swept away by the imagery, which is frequently beautiful. It is easy to see why Tolkien was impressed with Eddison's unusual, sprawling and imaginative work, a literary predecessor to "The Lord of the Rings".
