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If I remember correctly middle earth was inspired by norse mythology so try looking into that.

Lord of the Rings was based off of a compilation of many different mythologies, as Tolkien himself was a scholar and a linguist, he had the knowledge and resources to put together such an extrordinary piece of work. Much of it was taken from Norse, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, Arthurian and English mythologies. Tolkien really wanted his works to be more of a "History of England" kind of thing, which is what you'll note if you read the Book of Lost Tales Part 1 (I think, my library is in America and I'm in Japan, so unfortunately, I can't quite look to make sure). The Elves in Tolkien's works were actually based off of the Irish Gods, the Tuatha de Danann, both in strength, looks, height, talents, skills, lores and histories. Many of the battles that were exclusively Elves vs. Morgoth/Sauron/Orcs were based on the Cath Maighe Tuireadh wars with the Formorians in Irish Mythology.

My suggestion is that if you want to know more about this, almost any bookstore has a variety of books that are about the mythology behind Lord of the Rings/The Silmarillion.       

This is a great topic. I read Lord of the Rings lately and I'm fascinated by this world! The elves and hobbits caught my attention. I think Tolkien is a great author and that he even made his own language is even more awesome.

I think I should go more deep into Irish mythology, it sounds very interesting! I personally just know a little bit about Greek mythology ;) But it's never too late to learn more