BBC NEWS | Europe | Russian census reveals unusual data
So Russia now is full of hobbits and elves.
I have often thought that Middle earth was a reference to wartime Europe. Perhaps Tolkien started out like Homer, telling stories which people in turn perpetuated. Today I think the average over thirty educated person would assert that the Ancient greeks Believed in their Myths. The same of the Mayan culture, but did they believe any more than we today, when we discuss Movies or novels? Or was this a kind of Surplus Reality allowing minds to create their own metaphores?