She looks at the skin-changer Beorn, one of several loner characters "on the side of good but who carry an aura of risk", tracing him to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as well as to Beowulf.

The chapter on "Bridges, Gates, and Doors" examines the "Celtic" otherworld's influence, with crossings of rivers or other gateways (such as into the Barrow-wight's ancient abode) marking the descent into strange and Elvish realms.

Returning to the theme of more complex characters with both good and bad sides, Burns notes in passing the pairing of Frodo with Gollum, or Théoden with Denethor.

"But she had written a "valuable window into Tolkien's sources" and the way he blended "Celtic enchantment and Norse vitality", and the book was accessible to scholars and the public alike.

[4] Kathryn Stelmach, reviewing the book for Comitatus, found Burns's exploration of Norse "more compelling" than her "overly simplified" approach to the "Celtic" identity and the use of unreliable sources.

She finds convincing Burns's argument that the "water barriers, the timelessness and the underground connotations of many Elvish realms in Middle-earth, such as Rivendell, Mirkwood and Lothlórien, come from ideas of the Celtic otherworld."

[6] Faye Ringel, reviewing the book in Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, calls it "a valuable, beautifully crafted addition to the study of Tolkien's sources and influences", with the proviso that people suspicious of any appearance of ideology in high fantasy may not agree with her discussion of gender and race.

She comments that Burns responds indirectly to such critics by providing evidence in favour of Tolkien's approach, such as by presenting his own "complexity through double attitudes".