Tolkien’s Northern Influences
Steven Wilser
Word count: 2081
Copyright Steven Wilser December 11, 2008
Tolkien was introduced to Old English at the age of sixteen when his schoolmaster lent him an introductory Anglo-Saxon text. After this he moved on to the Old English poem Beowulf. He then became interested in and studied Middle English and Old Norse. Humphrey Carpenter, Tolkien’s biographer, was quoted saying that “Old Norse literature and mythology had a profound appeal to Tolkien’s imagination (St. Clair 63).” Tolkien based parts of his work on the myths and sagas of the Scandinavians. Tolkien’s middle earth is derived from the ancient Scandinavian word for “human realm between the heavens and the underworlds (Dubois and Mellor 36).” It is apparent that Tolkien has taken much from various sources. Northern influences however, cannot be overlooked for they are significant and central to Tolkien’s inspiration and writing.
Many of the creatures in The Lord of the Rings are inspired by the creatures in Northern literature and mythology. Some of these creatures include: the eye of Sauron, the balrog, and Shelob. Various races and specific characters are also inspired by and share similar characteristics to their Northern literature counterpart; these including hobbits, elves, dwarves, and wizards.
Hobbits have many of the same characteristics as the Icelanders of famous family sagas. Both races are very hospitable; this is demonstrated when Bilbo is in a frenzy to find food for his guests when they visit his home. Both races are also proud of their heritage; Frodo and Bilbo are proud of the Baggins’ and where they have come from. Icelanders often divide themselves by kinship in a feud while hobbits stay in their little niche and rarely venture out of it. Hobbits and Icelanders share a common interest and desire for fanciful clothing. Hobbits enjoy wearing colored clothing and Icelanders wear silk gowns, fur cloaks, and elaborate armor.
In Northern literature, Elves are the size of men and commonly marry humans. In both Northern Literature and The Lord of the Rings, elves are traditionally healers and skilled smiths. Dark Elves may have had a little inspiration for the creation of orcs. Tolkien got many of the names and characteristics for the dwarves in The Hobbit from the Eddas which are literary works in Old Icelandic dating from the late 13th century and consisting of thirty four mythological and heroic ballads composed between 800 and 1200 and are the primary source for Scandinavian mythology.
Tolkien’s dwarves resemble the dwarves form Old Norse mythology. Common characteristics for the dwarves include short stature, long beards, a love for treasure, they are capable smiths, and have an ill temper. The names of Bilbo’s dwarf companions as well as Gandalf are taken from the Old Norse poem Volnspa. Tolkien was not the first and only person to use The Saga of the Volsungs for the basis of his work. Richard Wagner was inspired by theses sagas for his creation of the Ring Cycle. Tolkien used these and adapted them to his modern time. Tolkien explains that the ring in The Lord of the Rings represents warfare and the industrialization of the world (Dubois and Mellor 36). The Norse dwarves had a powerful gold ring that they considered a sacred relic in the story of Sigurd the Volsung. This ring brought destruction to all that wore it. In The Hobbit, Bilbo also encounters a powerful gold ring that Gollum cherishes and considers “his precious.” To obtain the ring, Bilbo must play and defeat Gollum in a riddle game which the early Germanic tribes also took part in. The ring that Bilbo obtains renders the wearer invisible. In giving the ring so much power, Tolkien is using the Old Norse tradition of ring magic (Mitzi 49). “The ring in Tolkien’s work as well as in the Germanic mythological tradition which inspired it encircles the universal dualistic principles of Good and Evil (Mitzi 50).”
Tolkien took inspiration for the creation of his wizards from the gods of Old Norse mythology. The inspiration for Gandalf came from the All Father Odin and Saruman was inspired by the evil god Loki. Odin is the chief divinity of the Norse pantheon and is called All Father because he is the father of the gods. He is a god of war but is also the god of poetry and wisdom. Loki is another major deity of the Norse pantheon and is connected with fire and magic. He can assume many different beings and is crafty, malicious, but also heroic (St. Clair 64).
In The Hobbit, much of the major elements of the quest of finding Smaug and the treasure are based on Northern mythological influences and roots. Bilbo’s first encounter with the dragon in which he tries to steal from him is derived from Beowulf. Gandalf displays the three manifestations of Odin. It is said that Odin appeared to Harold Wartooth, King of the Danes as “an old man of great height… clad in a hairy mantle (Mitzi 49).” This parallels with Gandalf being a famous magician and appearing at Bilbo’s house in the Shire as “an old man with a staff… a long grey cloak, and a white beard (Hobbit 17).”
One of Odin and Gandalf’s greatest magical powers is the ability to communicate with beasts and animals. In The Hobbit as well as The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf primarily speaks to Eagles like the when he spoke with the King of the Eagles. In Norse mythology, eagles are particularly sacred to Odin. Odin was known and interpreted as a shaman for his ability to bring ecstasy and inspiration to soldiers during battle. During battle, Odin would also have ravens bring him news like the ravens who often accompany Gandalf. Gandalf’s friend Beorn, who rescues Bilbo and the dwarves from the goblins in the misty mountains and wins the Battle of Five Armies in the form of a bear, is much like the berserker warriors under Odin who have superhuman strength and abilities and who also take the form of animals.
Many of the traditions and customs of Tolkien’s races are heavily inspired from the people of the North. These customs include naming rituals, burial traditions, and oaths or pledges. The people of Rohon and Gondor share similar customs to that of the North. As with many male names in The Lord of the Rings, the Northern style for names is patronymic. A patronymic name is a personal name in which it is derived from one’s father or grandfather. Examples in The Lord of the Rings include: Thorin son of Thrain son of Thror and Frodo son of Drogo.
The burial traditions of Gondor, the North Sea, and the Vikings are similar; Gondor and North Sea customs are alike in that they both construct barrows or above ground burials for their dead kings. A barrow, also known as a tumulus, is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. An example of a Gondorian burial can be seen with the Tomb of Elessar. The Vikings buried their dead either inside their boat or with the boat laid across the grave. If the person did not own a boat, stones would have been laid around the grave in the shape of a boat. This was done because the Vikings believed that the way to get to the afterlife was by boat (CSI:Cemetery Scene Investigation). This tradition can be compared to how one needs to ride the White Ship to travel to the Undying Lands.
Norse ethics dictate loyalty to friends and lordship and kinship. Although The Fellowship never submitted a formal oath, there was an unspoken pledge to the ring bearer and the mission at hand. An example of a formal oath and pledge in The Lord of the Rings can be seen when both Merry and Pippin pledge themselves to King Théoden and Denethor respectively. Merry became King Théoden’s esquire while Pippin basically became Denethor’s servant.
In The Lord of the Rings, Denethor has significant connections to characters in Northern literature. Some traditional Norse characters prefer suicide to the dishonor of not being able to avenge the death of their son or family member. Denethor has specific connections to Njal from the Saga of Burnt Njal. Both men have their favorite son die and also die themselves on a flaming funeral pyre. Njal is an intelligent, courageous individual. Denethor might have evolved to this if he hadn’t been influenced by Sauron through the palantir (St. Clair 65). The Northern people also regarded dying nobly and proving oneself very highly. In The Hobbit, Bilbo was able to prove himself by surviving the quest to the treasure where Smaug lay and stand guard. If he would have died on the return journey, Bilbo would have done so with honor, for he faced and defeated Smaug.
Common themes between Northern Literature and The Lord of the Rings include: “the concept of fate, the need for courage, the tragedy of mortality, and the doom of the immortals (St. Clair 66).” Beowulf believes that fate controls all events and is evident when he says “fate goes every as it must” (St. Clair 66).The subject of fate can be seen in The Lord of the Rings when Gandalf claims that Bilbo was meant to find the ring. Fate also plays a role in Norse mythology. The old gods of Norse mythology became closely associated with men until the point at which they basically became large heroes of men. Many of these gods fought and died alongside these men. This parallels with the Elves in The Lord of the Rings because these elves are considered a noble race and have immortality. They too eventually fight and die alongside men. Although the elves are not considered gods, they are indeed immortal as gods are.
As is commonly known, Tolkien loved languages. From a fairly young age, Tolkien learned an array of medieval Germanic languages, which included Old English, Old Norse, Gothic, and Welsh. It was the Welsh language that ultimately inspired his Elvish language Sindarin while Finnish was the root inspiration for his Elvish language Quenya (Dubois and Mellor 38). The Finnish inspiration on Quenya is directly evident by the similarity between words. Tolkien actually took words from the Finnish language for his Quenya language. For example, the Quenya verb for “to come” is derived from the Finnish verb with the same meaning. The Quenya word for “path” is the same word for “road” in Finnish. There are many others words that are connected between the two languages and some that are the same where no discernable connection can be established (Dubois and Mellor 38). For some words it seems as if he just liked the word and decided to use it and apply a different meaning altogether. It would be wrong to think that Quenya is a copy of the Finnish language; Quenya also draws upon Latin, Old English, and Old Norse. Like Old English and Old Norse, Quenya has a dual form for nouns. Dual is a grammatical number that some languages use in addition to singular and plural. When a noun, pronoun, or verb is in dual form it is interpreted as meaning exactly two.
Tolkien was also inspired by the Finnish people and culture in more ways than one. He also took much from the Finnish classic Kalevala which is apparent in his Silmarillion. Like The Lord of the Rings where the center of the story lies in jealous yearning for the ring, at the core of the Silmarillion lies a lust for the Silmarils, which are three magic jewels.
Tolkien’s languages play a major role in creating a history and mythology for his Middle-Earth. Tolkien even created specific writing systems for his elves and the dwarves. The writing system of the dwarves, which consists primarily of runes, is based on English, German and Scandinavian systems. The Elvish writing system is harder to find a specific source. Dubois and Mellor believe that the Elvish writing system may have been influenced by the old roman cursive style of writing or the old Celtic writing system (40).
Important and significant influences from the north include: medieval Old Norse literature and mythology, Old Icelandic sagas, Finnish literature and language, and Old and Middle English. Northern literature influenced many aspects of Tolkien’s writing including: the creation of his creatures and characters, customs and traditions of theses characters, themes and motifs. Northern language was also a huge inspiration and influence, for it inspired the creation of his languages as well as their respective writing systems.
Works Cited
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Steven Wilser? December 11, 2008, at 03:17 PM
