Would you rate Tolkien as a writer?

[John Thiel]

"Farmer Giles of Ham" was, if I'm not mistaken, written by JRR Tolkien.

Anyway, I'm in agreement with the poster of the topic, who says that Tolkien was not an outstanding writer.

 

[Pyan]

Tolkien seems like a ham writer, the same way an actor may be a ham actor or a radio operator may be a ham radio operator.

A ham actor is a bad actor: a ham radio operator is a amateur hobbyist.
Which do you mean to imply JRRT is? Bad, amateur, or both?

 

[HardScienceFan]

There were and are some writers out there who weren't all that skilled as writers,but they were geat storytellers.Poul Anderson comes to mind.
Tolkien was a great storyteller
I've heard people slag off Bowie as a "bad vocalist"
Sure
Writing is more than exposing technique.
Elvis Costello isn't that great a singer,but boy......

 

[John Thiel]

True, nobody could portray the battle between good and evil like Tolkein. He had that much scope of concept.