Re: Tolkien. Not "Classic" high fantasy, but Victorian high fantasy - which I concede that he was born in the Victorian age, he died WELL after (1973) and wrote mostly post WW2. He framed fantasy through the lens of WW1 (he fought at Somme) and a longing for the past.
Tolkien, like Victorian writers, wrote others as caricatures of non-English. Orcs are "in fact degraded an repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least loved Mongol-types".
The Witcher isn't based on the English Victorian ideals, being Polish ;) . Lots of people say he wrote more in a Grimm vein - i.e. Central European during the end stages of the HRE. Which makes sense as those stories were Dark.
Tolkien, like Victorian writers, wrote others as caricatures of non-English. Orcs are "in fact degraded an repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least loved Mongol-types".
The Witcher isn't based on the English Victorian ideals, being Polish ;) . Lots of people say he wrote more in a Grimm vein - i.e. Central European during the end stages of the HRE. Which makes sense as those stories were Dark.