Originality In Fantasy Fiction

I watched a documentary about Tolkien and the adapting of the Lord of the Rings from books to film, and a realization dawned on me. For a while now, something like this has been wandering around my brain, but I haven't yet given it serious thought. Before Tolkien, the culture and history of dwarves, elves, goblins, etc. weren't anywhere as thought-out. They were in folktales, but there was no standard. Nowadays, ask someone what an elf looks and acts like (the tall ones, not the short Keebler ones) and if they are even slightly interested in the fantasy genre, they can tell you. Tall, elegant, graceful, peaceful, nature-folk. Tolkien essentially created these races and their histories himself  (while basing them off various peoples in history). Along with wizards and magic, they're what people picture when you mention "fantasy."

The trouble is, these days when someone is trying to create their own fantasy world to write about, perhaps not on the scale of Tolkien but with hope that their story can have even a taste of the depth of middle earth, there's a big question to answer. It's impossible to not base your creatures on something already in existence, in reality or in fiction. But is it wrong to use peoples like elves and dwarves in your world, if Tolkien created them? Is it necessary to put your own spin on them in order for your world to seem realistic, and so it doesn't seem like you're copying Tolkien? Or is it even better to create whole new races yourself, that have very little to do with Tolkien's world?

Writers have taken different stands on this. In the book Green Rider by Kristen Britain, there is a race of people which humans have not seen in many years, called the eletians, which I think are very much like elves, but clearly are not called "elves" and are not exactly the same thing. Another writer, David Eddings, uses mostly humans in his stories, but they are so varied in culture from region to region that it's like they're different species, and it's a very rich world.

The world I've created so far in my own novel has people from middle earth, like elves and dwarves and goblins, which are very close to what Tolkien envisioned. But also, I have races based on Tolkien's but are essentially my own creations, such as craetons (based on orcs, but much different), and a sub-race of elves I call moon elves (slightly different culture and magic). I'm wondering, now, if I shouldn't have elves and dwarves, and call "moon elves" something else. Perhaps I should have some other forest-dwelling people, maybe similar to elves, maybe more man-like, just not so clearly based on Tolkien's world. And what about fairies, centaurs, other creatures like that? Should they be changed?

Changing my world this much will mean more altered scenes and a longer time writing. I'm already not getting as far as I wanted this summer on my second draft, even though I'm working for at least an hour every weekday. But it's essential enough to the story that I think if I'm going to make major changes like this, it should be sooner than later, instead of waiting for a later draft. I think adding more of my own creations, more of my own created history of this world, will bring a depth and originality to my story that's not quite there yet.

Edit: I know it's ultimately up to me and what I feel like writing. I just wonder if it would make the story richer if I had more original world-building, and whether it's worth the work. Probably.

What do you think?

Photo: Alan Lee's depiction of Mirkwood. His art, along with Brian Froud's, Amy Brown's, and Jessica Galbreth's, is very inspirational to me.