I feel the need to chime in on this Tolkien nonsense.
His writing is about so much more than telling a story or being clever; it's rife with (mostly Christian) allegory. No, he didn't "invent fiction" nor were any of the themes he wrote about original (what is), but if there was another writer before him that created the fantasy motif I don't know of them. The influences I do know of belong to the bardic tradition- like the Nibelungenlied or Sir Gawain- which cannot be considered modern fiction.
Yes, the theme of human weakness is prevalent in Tolkien's work, but his most repeated message is that which appears weak can be the strongest. Hell, that's practically the whole message of The Hobbit.
---------- Post added 2013-02-07 at 08:19 PM ----------
And by "mere cult leader" you mean a member of the Council of Six.