Fantasy: Pre and Post Tolkien

[Hookbill the Goomba]

A few days ago I was discussing with a good friend of mine ideas for dissertations and we got onto the subject of the fantasy genre in general and what effect Tolkien had on it. First off, I have to admit I have a very low view of a lot of modern fantasy, despite the fact that I am indeed trying my own hand at it. Pre-Tolkien fantasy, fairy stories and the like seem, from the little I have read, to have a certain element to them which is unusual.
Some of you who are more knowledgeable may be able to fill the gaps in my knowledge but it seems to me that the fantasy books (often called simply 'fairy tales' but where do you draw the line?) have a sense of what I will call 'the rules of fairy'. The sorts of things that can and cannot happen in a fairy land, the characteristics of what you may call 'stock characters' and races bear similarities. Some of Tolkein's other literature - Farmer Giles, Smith and the rest - seem to bear more in common (in narrative 'voice') to older fantasies than The Lord of the Rings.
Perhaps there is something about the style of The Lord of the Rings that sets it apart. One has to look at it, not as simply a tale explaining the exploits of those who find themselves in a magical world, but rather an account of fading of that world and almost 'lack' of magic. The way Tolkien approaches The Lord of the Rings (especially in the later books and chapters) bears solid differences, I think, to other fantasies in that it becomes more 'serious'. There is less 'magic' as the book goes on. In the opening books we have Mad Baggins and his disappearing act, Gandalf's fireworks, Tom Bombadil, The Barrow Wights ( ), the Balrog, Galadriel's mirror and so on. 'Magic' in the true sense or not, there is something 'magical' or 'other worldly' about these elements that seem to grow less important as the tale grows and becomes more an account of the War of the Ring. Some of this may be traced to the focus on Hobbits, who stumble out of their quiet world to find a wider plain full of strange things and everything seems new and unusual to them. Where as Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli have a wider view and see these 'wonders' as just other parts of the world and not 'new'.
Back to my main point.
Tolkien, it would appear, is not necessarily presenting a fairy story or even a new mythology, but rather a new epic adventure, an account of things that could well happen. There are elements of magic, yes, but so there are in a lot of ancient literature, Beowulf, the Odyssey and the rest, while quite 'serious' have magical things in them. As Tolkien says in an interview, it is our world 'at a different stage of imagination'. Fairy tales have a certain removal from this world. Take Phantastes, for example; one of those 'step out of our world into another' premises. Although a compelling story it bears striking differences to Tolkien's whole approach of beginning and ending in his secondary world and no mention of coming to ours, but a suggested assertion that it is our world and if one built a time machine, one could go there.
After Tolkien there are an awful lot of works that try to emulate this approach. But the 'traveling to another world' style remains (possibly popularised more by C S Lewis, but I am not sure) and in my opinion falls a little short for reasons I find difficult to articulate. There is much more focus on war these days in fantasy. There are Dark Lords, armies of evil and good, discussions of power and heroes likely and unlikely.
But who really affected Fantasy more? Tolkien or Lewis?
They both certainly made their mark. I think that Tolkien had a more stylistic affect. Lewis reintroduced the trans-world travel idea which is still popular. Even the idea of 'the prophecies' of a chosen one, usually a child or group of children, has filtered through from Narnia. But with this approach it becomes increasingly difficult to make such stories appealing to an older audience. The suggestions are viewed as absurd and often the 'magic' gets taken out in an attempt to make it more accessible to the 'older and wiser'. And yet, the success of the Harry Potter series with both young and old raises more questions. Is the removal of Magic a good thing? Obviously not. The magic is, so to speak, part of the enchantment. I do not think that the plausibility of a tale has much to do with how enjoyable it is. As a child, I remember hearing fairy stories and loving them, even though I knew it was absurd, but it was the very absurdity that created the appeal.

So... How did Tolkien effect the way fantasy is written? Did he shift the focus? Did he in any way change the way people feel about Fantasy and fair tales as a genre?