¹ Perfectly illustrative of what this essay is about, be aware that I wrote all the quotations in it from memory, not looking at either the Tolkien or the originals: that wouldn't have been sporting---QED.

² In those brave days of yore literary education largely consisted in learning large chunks of poetry and prose, and skilled writing (in part) in being able to regurgitate and manipulate them at will and skilled reading in spotting the buggers at sight.
Then, in that golden age, if putative student had handed in work which was not entirely unoriginal the knowing, wise professor (who would most certainly be familiar with the unacknowledged attributions of the good bits) would kindly suggest work on your own bad bits. But now-a-days, now-a-days the poor fellow is more likely to feel blindsided.

³ always assuming that unworthy has ever entered such mind.

⁴ As you might have expected I heavily plagiarised myself* for this essay (since I’ve dealt with the Big P before) and so I've of course lazily and larcenously and freely ripped off all sorts of words and even some phrases and paragraphs from my earlier piece.

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*Though, come to think of it, CAN one plagiarise oneself even here and now?