The Völsunga Saga

In The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo is given the ring by his father, Bilbo, who had carried though adventures of his own. Gandalf, being a family friend, is over in the Shire, home to the hobbits.

When most people think of J.R.R. Tolkien, they often think of his great imagination and his world of great dragons, warriors, orcs, hobbits, wizards, dwarves and elves. But most people forget about the deeper meaning behind his stories and his controversy towards society. Tolkien was a British, fantasy, writer during the mid-1900s. Through his love of languages, religion, and country, J.R.R Tolkien’s works of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are controversial but masterpieces because Tolkien represents “good” as a fuller, more imaginative reality than evil.

     There are many similarities between the hero of the poem Beowulf and the heroes of the two Icelandic sagas, The Saga of The Volsungs and The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki. The former saga is an Icelandic saga representing oral traditions dating back to the fourth and fifth centuries, when Attila the Hun was fighting on the northern fringes of the Roman Empire; the latter is an Icelandic saga representing 1000 years of oral traditions prior to the 1300’s when it was written.

Amongst many other things, the epic is implicitly an exploration of what qualities define Sundiata as a hero, and by extension, what virtues are heroic. The most glaring is his strength. Even when he is crippled as a child and cannot walk, the boy has strong arms. But when he finally stands, he surprises everyone, bending an enormous rod to a bow and pulling a tree up by its roots. Another quality is his bravery, most clearly illuminated by his skill and grit in battle. But Sundiata has more than animal strength – he shows patience, interest in other peoples and ways, and humility before the magic of the world. Because of these qualities, he is more than a great hunter or warrior: he is a great king.

The Lord of the Rings by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is a book widely known for its rich language, detailed imagery, and profound story that expands over three volumes and six books. The book is scattered with deep characters ranging in back stories and eventual character development. Motifs, key parts throughout the story, include lightness and darkness, eyes, jewelry, and sword. JRR Tolkien even creates his own language for the solemn race of elves in the lengthy three volume novel. A part of this length may be attributed to the unusual placement of many full-form songs and poems within the book, as a break between the usual story. These poems and songs have ranges of playfulness and thoughtfulness. With uses of made up Hobbit words and beautiful

Among other things, Tolkien was perhaps chiefly a scholar of mythology, and despite his dislike of allegory, his universe is shot through with mythological archetypes. Among Tolkien’s obvious mythological influences (Biblical, Celtic, Norse, and Arthurian mythologies, etc.), I believe Biblical held the most significant effect on The Lord of the Rings, albeit Finnish/Nordic appears more so than any other. Additionally, Tolkien wanted to publish The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings together, since he saw them as connected mythological cycles. To a degree, one’s reading of The Lord of the Rings, is deepened by a knowledge of The Silmarillion, not just on the level of setting or context, but in terms of literary theme, symbol, and characterization.

But when Gollum stole it, Frodo remembered something Gandalf had told him' "'But do you remember Gandalf's words: Even Gollum may have something yet to do? But for him, Sam, I could not have destroyed the Ring. The Quest would have been in vain, even at the bitter end.'" Gollum was so mentally warped, his mind could not perceive the danger between him and the ring. His lack of foresight coupled with his obsession with the Ring brought about the ultimate end of both himself and the One Ring. Smeagol is an allegory for the depravity of Man because he puts all of his focus on a physical object with absolutely no eternal value, Gollum's devotion to the One Ring led to major physical and mental transformations, and Gollum's eventual obsession with the One Ring brought about the terrible end of both himself and the

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, born in 1892, an English writer, among other things, has had a numerous number of sources that has influenced him. “As a young boy he fell in love with Scandinavia and its ancient stories” (Birzer). His successful and worldwide well-known writings, has made him classified as the “father of high fantasy”. One of the sources that he was influenced by, was Norse mythology. Norse mythology was influential to Tolkien when he was creating his envisioning.

A very famous quote from the movie, Gollum refers to the ring as HIS PRECIOUS. The deeper you go into the story the importance of the ring is revealed. The gold ring transforms any mere mortal or hobbit into a magical force, and any sorcerer that gets their riddled hands on it can obtain all of its powers and rule the land and take over all kingdoms. And hey, if that's not cool enough for you, it can turn you invisible. But with this kind of vigor, it cannot fall into evil hands.

A ring is, in and of itself, a frivolous object; it serves no practical purpose and its only functions are symbolic and aesthetic. They are thus also a symbol of the wealth and power of the owner; a demonstration that they have so much money they can afford to

This asking of questions shows that the dragons can use that information to manipulate the character into thinking about something in a different way. However, in both stories,the character doesn’t give in to the persuasiveness, but Bilbo from The Hobbit does give Smaug just the slightest of information of where he came from and Smaug used it to cause destruction. From finding all the similarities in the two stories there is enough information to conclude that Tolkien used “The Story of Sigurd” to gain ideas to create The Hobbit, however both stories are also very different.

It is a Germanic myth that elaborates the tumultuous relationships among a family of heroes with supernormal strengths. Sigurd is part of the lineage of the Volsungs, who have the genetic ability to grow faster and stronger than average beings. The story is one of the most renowned Nordic myths, which gives us a glimpse of the age-old values entrenched in the communities living in the higher latitude areas of Europe. It also depicts the way of life during the medieval periods, learning the social, administrative and expansion methods. To introduce the character further, Sigurd is the son of Sigmund but raised by King Alf after the unfortunate demise of his father; as fate would have it. Sigmund died in battle, in the arms of Hjordis, while

One of the most interesting aspects I found as I was doing my research about the similarities to the Children of Hurin and the Volsunga Tales was probably how the Volsunga Tales didn’t serve as inspiration for Tolkien, but so much as a direct retelling.

In “The Hobbit” and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy there are two characters of similarity that play a key role in both narratives. Thorin II Oakinshield and Aragorn II Elessar are two would be kings who come into their crowns in time for their own respective books or series to end. Both dwarf and man have a journey to their individual thrones and in particular the genesis, the journey and the end of their adventures share a great deal of commonality and precarious differences, variables that with or without their crowns says and awful lot about them.

The Epic of Sundiata is a tale about the ancient kingdom of Mali in Africa and the legendary king and founder of the Mali Empire told by Djeli Mamadou Kouyate a griot, which is equivalent to storyteller. Before the griot begins the story he introduces himself as a “master in the art of eloquence.” He explains how his family had played an important role in preserving the history of the Mali Empire. By serving the princes of the Mali Empire. He says a griots job is to protect secrets, memorize the names and accomplishments of the great kings and preserving “the memory of mankind.” It is the griot that teaches kings their history so they can use lessons of their ancestors to guide their decisions. There is an obvious tone of importance in his introduction as well as a theme of power that resonates throughout the epic. The griot presents himself in the introduction to the audience in a way that gives him prestige. He is persuading his audience to believe that he has the credentials to tell a valid story.