> who was really writing a Late Antique world

I agree with all the rest of your comment, but I think this point is only partly correct. Gondor can be interpreted as Byzantinian (late Antiquity), but Rohan is rather Anglo-Saxon (early Middle Ages), and the Shire actually quite modern (18th-19th century England). Numenor of course is Atlantean (romanticised classical Antiquity), the Druadain are Stone/Bronze Age, and the Elves - are the Elves.