J.R.R. Tolkien’s works in the fantasy genre began a new period in English children's literature. This article examines how the dilemma of universal human values functions in his works. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are known for the complexity of a flight of fancy and the depth of ideological content. It is these works, which tell the story of fictional Middle-earth, that are the basis for this study’s analysis of the realities of the “magical world” and humanistic ideas inherent in the author's work. As a writer and linguist, Tolkien devised a chronology for his own world in which each era was given a distinct name. These works thereby explore three parallel worlds – the worlds of matter and non-matter, of light and shadow, of the living and the dead. Another of his works, Middle World primarily draws the reader’s attention to the consciousness and vision based on the cultural values and experience of the peoples of the world, as well as to the embodiment of a new world with figurative and poetic colours through historical reality and universal values. The preservation of the historical truth of the world we live in and passing on the good that is perserved in historical memory to subsequent generations were Tolkien’s top priorities throughout his life and work. It is no coincidence that after his death, readers and literary critics alike frequently read and praised his vast body of work as a literary masterpiece.

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