Periantari Andruil
August 25th,2003, 07:44 AM
How did Tolkien come to create such a classic mythology of Middle-Earth? Certainly he had the help of knowing many languages which helped him with names of his characters and geography, but he also was fascinated with stories like Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the Finnish Kalevala and Iceland's poem, Edda.
Beowulf and Kalvala can be considered the most influential out of the four stories.
Beowulf is a blend of historical events and Nordic legend. In fact, the Norse word Midgard can be used as an equivalent to "Middle-Earth".
From Beowulf, he incorporated some of the ideological conflicts present in this poem into his mythology. Learning Old English aided him in understanding this old poem which was written in AD 1000.
"Tolkien infused The Lord of the Rings with the physical and spiritual conflict evident in Beowulf."
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngbeyond/rings/myth.html#myth
In Kalvala The character, Vainamoinen, is reminiscent of Gandalf in Lord of the Rings...
All the works that influenced Tolkien had a poetic, thematic, and stylistic influence on Tolkien...
Also, it is interesting to note that one of the earliest poems that was one that is reminiscent of the story of Earendil, the sea voyager. That poem was called "The Voyage of Earendel the Evening Star."
"This notion of the star-mariner whose ship leaps into the sky had grown from the reference to Earendel' in the Cynewulf lines. But the poem that it produced was entirely orignal. It was in fact the beginning of Tolkien's own mythology."
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngbeyond/rings/myth.html#myth
It is very interesting to note the earlier literature that Tolkien wrote to have such a profound impact on his writing of the Silmarillion and Lord of the Rings...
One of his motivations for writing a mythology of his own was that he wanted a mythology for England.
After reading the Kalevala , he wrote:
"I would that we had more of it left--something of the same sort that belonged to the English." Carpenter, JRR Tolkien: A Biography
That was one motivation that urged him to start writing his great mythology, The Silmarillion.
Another one was that he wanted to create a mythology that was "passed down" to him from God... He believed that he was writing history when he was writing the Silmarillion therefore one can see it as a really Christian work.
"He wanted the mythological and legendary stories to express his own moral view of the universe; and as a Christian he could not place this view in a cosmos without the GOd that he worshipped."
Carpenter, JRR Tolkien: A Biography
So the inspiration Tolkien obtained from reading poems like Beowulf, Kalvala and others did serve as an influence to his storytelling in the Silmarillion and later Lord of the Rings...
and it's also interesting to note what motivated him to undergo this big writing project in the first place.... :)
Beowulf and Kalvala can be considered the most influential out of the four stories.
Beowulf is a blend of historical events and Nordic legend. In fact, the Norse word Midgard can be used as an equivalent to "Middle-Earth".
From Beowulf, he incorporated some of the ideological conflicts present in this poem into his mythology. Learning Old English aided him in understanding this old poem which was written in AD 1000.
"Tolkien infused The Lord of the Rings with the physical and spiritual conflict evident in Beowulf."
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngbeyond/rings/myth.html#myth
In Kalvala The character, Vainamoinen, is reminiscent of Gandalf in Lord of the Rings...
All the works that influenced Tolkien had a poetic, thematic, and stylistic influence on Tolkien...
Also, it is interesting to note that one of the earliest poems that was one that is reminiscent of the story of Earendil, the sea voyager. That poem was called "The Voyage of Earendel the Evening Star."
"This notion of the star-mariner whose ship leaps into the sky had grown from the reference to Earendel' in the Cynewulf lines. But the poem that it produced was entirely orignal. It was in fact the beginning of Tolkien's own mythology."
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngbeyond/rings/myth.html#myth
It is very interesting to note the earlier literature that Tolkien wrote to have such a profound impact on his writing of the Silmarillion and Lord of the Rings...
One of his motivations for writing a mythology of his own was that he wanted a mythology for England.
After reading the Kalevala , he wrote:
"I would that we had more of it left--something of the same sort that belonged to the English." Carpenter, JRR Tolkien: A Biography
That was one motivation that urged him to start writing his great mythology, The Silmarillion.
Another one was that he wanted to create a mythology that was "passed down" to him from God... He believed that he was writing history when he was writing the Silmarillion therefore one can see it as a really Christian work.
"He wanted the mythological and legendary stories to express his own moral view of the universe; and as a Christian he could not place this view in a cosmos without the GOd that he worshipped."
Carpenter, JRR Tolkien: A Biography
So the inspiration Tolkien obtained from reading poems like Beowulf, Kalvala and others did serve as an influence to his storytelling in the Silmarillion and later Lord of the Rings...
and it's also interesting to note what motivated him to undergo this big writing project in the first place.... :)