I’ve read LOTR for the 17th time now. I’ve read The Hobbit to my children, grandchildren, and soon my great grandchildren over and over again. I studied the Silmarillion for three years and cross-referenced the notes to LOTR and the Hobbit. I’ve read everything that JRR and Christopher wrote...plus any other books I could get my hands on...biographies, letter, beastiaries, commentaries, etc.
In the 70s, my cousins sons and their friends (all high school kids), would come over to my house and we would study LOTR and the Middle Earth myth. When they decided to play D&D, they asked me to be their DM. Our entire gameplay was based on middle earth mythology. Maps, clues, directions, tasks were all written by yours truly using the Feanorian characters. It made the gameplay a lot more mysterious and fun. I never really got into studying or writing with Dwarfish Runes.
JRR was a brilliant man who wrote True Myth all grounded in his devout Christian life.
I personally think some of the fairy tales of George MacDonald and CS Lewis are better.
I'm glad Tolkien did not take the advice of Auden, the book would have not been as good without the story of Arwen.