The Fathers of the Fantasy Genre

In honor of Fathers day this first post will be dedicated to who I believe are the fathers of modern fantasy mythos.
Is it not true that all forms of media influence eachother in some way? If you believe so then you will understand why I include not only an author of books, but games as well.
I will start with J.R.R. Tolkein. He is considered by many to be "the" father of modern fantasy because of his well known works such as "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings." Tolkein was also a professor of the Anglo-Saxon and English language and literature. Tolkein was an avid fan of the Old English epic poem "Beowulf." By the end of his life he had fully translated the text and given a lecture about it titled "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" which argued that "Beowulf" was not simply a monster tale trying to display history and make enemies seem ghoulish, but instead was outlining what they believed as human destiny as a whole. Much of this understanding can be seen in his writings.
On the subject of creation of mythos and games there is much to be said for Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax who together first created "Dungeons & Dragons." Dave Arneson out of a love of board games and role playing combined the two elements in a game called "Blackmoor." Dave Arneson showed the game to Gary Gygax who co-founded the company TSR, inc. with a different friend of his in order to publish board games. They worked together setting the guide-lines and creating creatures, items, weapons, characters, and story for the game "Dungeons & Dragons" before publishing the books of official rules. After four years of working together Gygax began publishing a new series of books called "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" to which Gygax claimed he owed Arneson no royalties. It went to court and they found that Arneson was not owed royalties. I would take it that that was the end of their friendship.
These are who I would have to say are the Fathers of modern fantasy. Do you agree? Who else would you have added?

-Michael D. Ballard.