J. R. R. Tolkien imitate Morris's prose and poetry romances, from which he took hints for the names of features such as the Dead Marshes in "The Lord of the Rings" and Mirkwood, along with some general aspects of approach. Edward Wyke-Smith's "The Marvellous Land of Snergs", with its "table-high" title characters, strongly influenced the incidents, themes, and depiction of Bilbo's race in "The Hobbit". Tolkien also cited H. Rider Haggard's novel "She" in a telephone interview: "I suppose as a boy "She" interested me as much as anything—like the Greek shard of Amyntas [Amenartas], which was the kind of machine by which everything
J. R. R. Tolkien increased interest in the value of wild and untamed nature, and in protecting what wild nature was left in the industrialized world. Tolkien devised several themes that were reused in successive drafts of his "legendarium", beginning with "The Book of Lost Tales", written while recuperating from illnesses contracted during The Battle of the Somme. The two most prominent stories, the tale of Beren and Lúthien and that of Túrin, were carried forward into long narrative poems (published in "The Lays of Beleriand"). One of the greatest influences on Tolkien was the Arts and Crafts polymath William Morris. Tolkien wished to