 Early fantasy writers like Lord Dunsany , E. R. Eddison and James Branch Cabell were familiar with Morris 's romances . The Wood Beyond the World is considered to have heavily influenced C. S. Lewis ' Narnia series , while J. R. R. Tolkien was inspired by Morris 's reconstructions of early Germanic life in The House of the Wolfings and The Roots of the Mountains . The young Tolkien attempted a retelling of the story of Kullervo from the Kalevala in the style of The House of the Wolfings ; Tolkien considered much of his literary work to have been inspired by an early reading of Morris , even suggesting that he was unable to better Morris 's work ; the names of characters such as " Gandolf " and the horse Silverfax appear in The Well at the World 's End . 
