Periantari Andruil
March 18th,2004, 08:24 AM
Nah..Bilbo didn't come in suddenly ;) lol (though he's welcome at anytime ;) )
Only my long delayed paper in which I neglected to post...
I wrote about Beowulf's and its Influences on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings last semester for my folktale class...
Tolkien loved to read about mythology and tales that talked about his motherland.. Among the ones he was most fascinated with was Beowulf...
Many people have drawn parallels between Tolkien's tales and the great Nordic poem, Beowulf.
Though I must admit that I didn't read Beowulf in its entirety, (Tolkien would think i'm psycho to not have hehe) I did read some of it and it's quite a read...... very challenging indeed.
In my paper I mention a synopsis of Beowulf briefly and then continue on to draw parallels between the two great works...
So here it is... (dont' throw bananas at me) :p ;)
Please free feel to comment upon this though and tell everyone what you think.
Ok..on with the show:
Beowulf and its Influences on JRR Tolkien’s the Lord of the Rings
Understanding why JRR Tolkien was so inspired by Beowulf is the first step to comprehending the various similarities that Lord of the Rings and Beowulf share. Since Tolkien was so inspired by Beowulf, exploring in depth all the similar thematic, and linguistic elements that are present between the two great works, Beowulf and the Lord of the Rings would be a worthwhile endeavor. However, first we must look at who Tolkien was and what life experiences he had that led to his study of ancient languages and literature.
Tolkien (1892-1973) was one of the most well known British writers of the 20th century. His bestsellers, The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings published in 1937 and the 1950s respectively, captivated a huge audience of readers and have been translated into thousands of languages around the world. The success of his books propelled him into great fame and popularity. Both books were instant bestsellers and set up a new type of science fiction and fantasy genre that emerged onto the market.
A phiLologist and Professor of Anglo-Saxon and English literature at Oxford University, Tolkien was most interested in the origins and history of languages. Before he had Lord of the Rings published in the early 1950s, Tolkien was a prominent scholar in language and literature and gave many lectures on language. To understand how he came to write the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, one must understand Tolkien’s interest in language and why it played such an integral role in his life. He had a deep emotional response to Finnish, Welsh, and Gothic because he thought they were interesting and beautiful languages. His childhood in Sarehole in rural England left a deep impression on him and upon his mother’s side. The part of the English countryside that held the strongest emotional attraction to him and as a result so did its language.
A large proportion of the poetry and prose of Anglo-Saxon and early medieval England was written in the dialect that had been spoken by his mother’s ancestors. In other words it was remote, but at the same time intensely personal to him.1
Tolkien’s deepest influence from his mother was that she taught him Latin and French and encouraged him to take an interest in words. He felt that his calling from his mother was in some way related to the study of languages. Therefore, studying the language which is the antecedent of his present language not only helped in establishing a cultural identity for himself, but also gave him a way to connect with his mother, whom he knew for only a short time because of her premature death at age 39.
Tolkien’s keen interest in languages led him to read poems of languages other than the present-day English. Tolkien’s influences for his works were from the oral traditions of the great Nordic poem, Beowulf along with the Finnish Kalavala, a 19th century compilation of poems and ballads, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and the Icelandic Edda. His great mythology of Middle-Earth has many elements similar to that of Beowulf, the well-known Nordic poem about the great hero, Beowulf and his quest to slay the evil monster, Grendel.. Beowulf engages in battles against Grendel and his mother and ultimately succeeds in killing both of them. Because of his success, courage and his prowess in fighting, he becomes King of the Geats after Hygelac dies in war against another kingdom. After being king for many years, a new threat approached as Beowulf fights against the dragon to his ultimate death.
… [It] was familiar and recognizable to him as an antecedent of his own language, and at the same time was remote and obscure…. He found that Old English appealed to him, though it did not have the aesthetic charm of Welsh. This was rather a historical appeal, the attraction of studying the ancestor of his own language.3
His interest in the roots of languages and the desire to understand why they were the way they were made him even more interested in deciphering every little feature of the poem. The poem gave him a personal satisfaction by giving him a chance to indulge in the words that were the roots of his cultural identity
He claimed that “Beowulf is among my most valued sources”5 . Tolkien’s passion for Beowulf was quite evident because he gave one of the most influential lectures about it. “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics” was a turning point in the literature that was written critically about this poem. He not only analyzed the philological, historical, and folkloric significances of the poem but also the literary merits of it as well.
Beowulf was written sometime between the seventh and the tenth century. The Old English was extremely difficult to read and this poem did not have an identifiable author. Why was Tolkien so fascinated by this poem? In what ways did Beowulf inspire him in his own great works? For one thing, the English poem had themes that related to his own personal struggles in World War I, but the philologist in him was also fascinated by the Old English language that the poem was written in. “To read Beowulf in Anglo Saxon was, Tolkien thought, to return to the mythic roots of English language and culture, the lost inheritance of everyone who would learn to think and speak in English in coming centuries.”6
Beowulf was a work that related him personally to his own life experiences as well. Tolkien faced war while fighting in the Battle of Somme of World War I in 1914 and emerged from it as a changed man. Tolkien is no stranger to battle and war. In his 1936 lecture about Beowulf he mentioned how Beowulf is great was not because of the monsters that uphold the central conflict, but because of how the hero faces the internal struggle, which is what makes Beowulf so special. His fascination with Beowulf also lay in the fact that this Old Norse poem dealt with the struggles between the forces of good and evil, a similarity that his own mythology shared. The Lord of the Rings portrayed an epic struggle between good and evil which is the plot of the story. Does evil succeed at the end? How much sacrifice does the good have to give up in order for them to succeed against evil? These questions can also be answered in his real life as well because of his witness to two major World Wars.
Tolkien admitted that an author could not stay unaffected by his experience. However, he liked to remind his readers that he disliked allegory in any shape or form. He emphasized many times that he did not think that his War of the Ring in Lord of the Rings was in any way connected to World War II. However, World War I and the Industrial Revolution certainly affected him personally in many ways. He lost his two closest college friends because of World War I and lost his childhood home of Sarehole to development and pollution, a direct effect of the Industrial Revolution. These occurrences made him look to folktales, legends and myths in order to find solace and comfort in stories that can take you away from the present-day situations.
…1914 was just as bad as 1939, if you were young then: ‘By 1918 all but one of my close friends were dead.’ And ‘The Scouring of the Shire’, with its felled trees and polluted rivers, reflected a process which went back long before the austerity years of the Labour government of 1945-50, so that the chapter ‘had no allegorical significance or contemporary political reference whatsoever.’ But that did not mean it meant nothing, and nor did the rejection of the World War II/ nuclear weapons allegory mean that The Lord of the Rings had nothing at all to do with Tolkien’s early twentieth-century experience.7
Even though Tolkien denied any allegorical themes in Lord of the Rings, certain themes from Lord of the Rings may be reminiscent of his personal life, not that he meant it be that way, but an author’s experience definitely has an impact on his writing.
Only my long delayed paper in which I neglected to post...
I wrote about Beowulf's and its Influences on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings last semester for my folktale class...
Tolkien loved to read about mythology and tales that talked about his motherland.. Among the ones he was most fascinated with was Beowulf...
Many people have drawn parallels between Tolkien's tales and the great Nordic poem, Beowulf.
Though I must admit that I didn't read Beowulf in its entirety, (Tolkien would think i'm psycho to not have hehe) I did read some of it and it's quite a read...... very challenging indeed.
In my paper I mention a synopsis of Beowulf briefly and then continue on to draw parallels between the two great works...
So here it is... (dont' throw bananas at me) :p ;)
Please free feel to comment upon this though and tell everyone what you think.
Ok..on with the show:
Beowulf and its Influences on JRR Tolkien’s the Lord of the Rings
Understanding why JRR Tolkien was so inspired by Beowulf is the first step to comprehending the various similarities that Lord of the Rings and Beowulf share. Since Tolkien was so inspired by Beowulf, exploring in depth all the similar thematic, and linguistic elements that are present between the two great works, Beowulf and the Lord of the Rings would be a worthwhile endeavor. However, first we must look at who Tolkien was and what life experiences he had that led to his study of ancient languages and literature.
Tolkien (1892-1973) was one of the most well known British writers of the 20th century. His bestsellers, The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings published in 1937 and the 1950s respectively, captivated a huge audience of readers and have been translated into thousands of languages around the world. The success of his books propelled him into great fame and popularity. Both books were instant bestsellers and set up a new type of science fiction and fantasy genre that emerged onto the market.
A phiLologist and Professor of Anglo-Saxon and English literature at Oxford University, Tolkien was most interested in the origins and history of languages. Before he had Lord of the Rings published in the early 1950s, Tolkien was a prominent scholar in language and literature and gave many lectures on language. To understand how he came to write the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, one must understand Tolkien’s interest in language and why it played such an integral role in his life. He had a deep emotional response to Finnish, Welsh, and Gothic because he thought they were interesting and beautiful languages. His childhood in Sarehole in rural England left a deep impression on him and upon his mother’s side. The part of the English countryside that held the strongest emotional attraction to him and as a result so did its language.
A large proportion of the poetry and prose of Anglo-Saxon and early medieval England was written in the dialect that had been spoken by his mother’s ancestors. In other words it was remote, but at the same time intensely personal to him.1
Tolkien’s deepest influence from his mother was that she taught him Latin and French and encouraged him to take an interest in words. He felt that his calling from his mother was in some way related to the study of languages. Therefore, studying the language which is the antecedent of his present language not only helped in establishing a cultural identity for himself, but also gave him a way to connect with his mother, whom he knew for only a short time because of her premature death at age 39.
Tolkien’s keen interest in languages led him to read poems of languages other than the present-day English. Tolkien’s influences for his works were from the oral traditions of the great Nordic poem, Beowulf along with the Finnish Kalavala, a 19th century compilation of poems and ballads, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and the Icelandic Edda. His great mythology of Middle-Earth has many elements similar to that of Beowulf, the well-known Nordic poem about the great hero, Beowulf and his quest to slay the evil monster, Grendel.. Beowulf engages in battles against Grendel and his mother and ultimately succeeds in killing both of them. Because of his success, courage and his prowess in fighting, he becomes King of the Geats after Hygelac dies in war against another kingdom. After being king for many years, a new threat approached as Beowulf fights against the dragon to his ultimate death.
… [It] was familiar and recognizable to him as an antecedent of his own language, and at the same time was remote and obscure…. He found that Old English appealed to him, though it did not have the aesthetic charm of Welsh. This was rather a historical appeal, the attraction of studying the ancestor of his own language.3
His interest in the roots of languages and the desire to understand why they were the way they were made him even more interested in deciphering every little feature of the poem. The poem gave him a personal satisfaction by giving him a chance to indulge in the words that were the roots of his cultural identity
He claimed that “Beowulf is among my most valued sources”5 . Tolkien’s passion for Beowulf was quite evident because he gave one of the most influential lectures about it. “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics” was a turning point in the literature that was written critically about this poem. He not only analyzed the philological, historical, and folkloric significances of the poem but also the literary merits of it as well.
Beowulf was written sometime between the seventh and the tenth century. The Old English was extremely difficult to read and this poem did not have an identifiable author. Why was Tolkien so fascinated by this poem? In what ways did Beowulf inspire him in his own great works? For one thing, the English poem had themes that related to his own personal struggles in World War I, but the philologist in him was also fascinated by the Old English language that the poem was written in. “To read Beowulf in Anglo Saxon was, Tolkien thought, to return to the mythic roots of English language and culture, the lost inheritance of everyone who would learn to think and speak in English in coming centuries.”6
Beowulf was a work that related him personally to his own life experiences as well. Tolkien faced war while fighting in the Battle of Somme of World War I in 1914 and emerged from it as a changed man. Tolkien is no stranger to battle and war. In his 1936 lecture about Beowulf he mentioned how Beowulf is great was not because of the monsters that uphold the central conflict, but because of how the hero faces the internal struggle, which is what makes Beowulf so special. His fascination with Beowulf also lay in the fact that this Old Norse poem dealt with the struggles between the forces of good and evil, a similarity that his own mythology shared. The Lord of the Rings portrayed an epic struggle between good and evil which is the plot of the story. Does evil succeed at the end? How much sacrifice does the good have to give up in order for them to succeed against evil? These questions can also be answered in his real life as well because of his witness to two major World Wars.
Tolkien admitted that an author could not stay unaffected by his experience. However, he liked to remind his readers that he disliked allegory in any shape or form. He emphasized many times that he did not think that his War of the Ring in Lord of the Rings was in any way connected to World War II. However, World War I and the Industrial Revolution certainly affected him personally in many ways. He lost his two closest college friends because of World War I and lost his childhood home of Sarehole to development and pollution, a direct effect of the Industrial Revolution. These occurrences made him look to folktales, legends and myths in order to find solace and comfort in stories that can take you away from the present-day situations.
…1914 was just as bad as 1939, if you were young then: ‘By 1918 all but one of my close friends were dead.’ And ‘The Scouring of the Shire’, with its felled trees and polluted rivers, reflected a process which went back long before the austerity years of the Labour government of 1945-50, so that the chapter ‘had no allegorical significance or contemporary political reference whatsoever.’ But that did not mean it meant nothing, and nor did the rejection of the World War II/ nuclear weapons allegory mean that The Lord of the Rings had nothing at all to do with Tolkien’s early twentieth-century experience.7
Even though Tolkien denied any allegorical themes in Lord of the Rings, certain themes from Lord of the Rings may be reminiscent of his personal life, not that he meant it be that way, but an author’s experience definitely has an impact on his writing.