The works of Lord Dunsany have a more direct influence on fantasy literature perhaps?
How different were his works from Tolkiens? What would be some common themes and elements of Dunsany influinced fantasy?The works of Lord Dunsany have a more direct influence on fantasy literature perhaps?
One interesting consequence is David Eddings would probably not dip his oar into fantasy at all and would probably become mostly a writer of detective novels.
If C.S. Lewis was still alive, then he'd probably take up the mantle of "king of fantasy". In OTL, Tolken outshined Lewis (and rightfully so). In a world without Tolken, Lewis' influence would be that which the entire fantasy genre would be locked out for anyone not into thinly veiled Christian propaganda.
Uhh, you know that Tolkien was a reasonably devout Catholic, right?