The title of the book was, the City under the Back Steps, it was about ants, and I can't recall the author - also, faery tales. Tolkien was the first fatasy writer to really interest me. That's hard to say, since Tolkien was also very much influenced by ancient myths. I don't think the source is imposrtant. You can make up your own myths or even use history as a basis.
Myths are so much a part of human culture, no matter what their origin.
They go way way back before written words. I think what myth does is give the story resonance. That's why I don't write arthrian fiction, from the known character's viewpoint. Everybody wanted space epics. Suddenly, my comments aren't showing up at this end any more.