Tolkien's Influences

J.R.R. Tolkien’s love of languages, religion, and country had great influence over his work. J.R.R. Tolkien’s love of languages influenced

Thesis: John Ronald Reule Tolkien’s life experiences influenced his writing, beginning as a student, then a soldier, lexigrapher, professor, and then a writer to his own children; Tolkien’s life created the place known to most as Middle-Earth.

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.

Tolkien, let the story unfold: Unfettered by the chains of innovation and not blinded by its obscuration of reality, the story itself, had the characters tackle the battles, the triumphs, and the disappointments of the actual good and spiritual humans. That is the thing that great narratives do. The reader is especially attracted to the story in light of the fact that the reader gets the chance to know and admire the real, not cardboard, characters, and the characters are genuine in the light of the fact that they have souls, displaying fundamental goodness in the midst of failings and ready to settle on choices in spite of knowing that choices are however a piece of a bigger story. The reader partakes in a mythic universe of Middle-earth and experiences there—without allegory or specific

into the world of Middle Earth. If a reader investigates further into the songs and poems of The Hobbit, they will find that Tolkien uses poems and songs to reveal important attributes and estab-

In 1920 Tolkien was appointed to the position of Associate Professor in English Language at the University of Leeds. At the university Tolkien cooperated with E.V. Gordon to publish the Songs for the Philologists. Tolkien in 1937 published The Hobbit and in 1954 published what would be his most famous works, The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien's wife died in 1971 and himself died two years later in 1973 at the age of 81 and had four children. (Doughan).had many influences on his writing one among these is the literature of the old Norse. (Clair) This influence is visible in almost all aspects of the stories that Tolkien tells of Middle- Earth. The Hobbits, for example, are Tolkien's unique contribution to the world of Middle Earth. However the Hobbits are clearly based off of the Icelanders in the Njal's Saga. (Clair) There are many similarities between these two groups of peoples in the two stories. Many of these similarities are in habit. The Icelanders much like the Hobbits were fond of food and often were very proud of their ancestry and their belief in hospitality. Another similarity between the two groups is their ostentatious methods of dress. Both groups dressed very ornately and very colorfully. (Clair) Tolkien's elves also show many similarities to the elves of Northern literature. Both elves have histories of healing and of being smiths. (Clair) Aside from the influence of Norse Literature Tolkien was also influenced by his Catholic faith and

Tolkien was one of the most life changing events Lewis experienced because Tolkien opened Lewis’s eyes to a whole new world. Growing up, Lewis and Tolkien were exposed to some of the same authors and stories, giving them both a similar appreciation for literature. Tolkien expressed himself in a very creative and imaginative way, but he struggled with his writing being classified as children’s literature and had very little confidence when it came to publishing and sharing his works, whereas Lewis wrote very intellectually and philosophically and wasn’t afraid to get his works out into the public. A major conflict Lewis faced when it came to writing was not being able to balance both intellectual imaginative thought. He felt as though he needed to write to educate, but couldn’t do so while incorporating mythical elements, because he believed that you can’t teach important things to people in an entertaining way.

Tolkien was influenced by many of the stories he heard in his religion and greatly influenced his literature. (David McDonald, Bio Sketch)

When J.R.R tolkien set his himself down to write the hobbit. He was attempting to create a fantasy that addressed the fundamental needs as he saw them of humanity. He wrote about these needs and his purpose in an essay called “J.R.R. Tolkien, On Fairy Stories” However before I attempt to indulge into Tolkien's work and the underlying factors that influenced him. We must understand that within in his essay addressing fairy tales Tolkien defines fairy stories as “A tale about fairies, or generally a fairy legend; with developed senses,” I will not go into depth on this definition as i feel it is not very important in the grand scheme of things, however i do feel it is important to understand what i will

J.R.R Tolkien’s works, Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, and the Silmarillion, were all influenced by some aspect of his life, whether it was an experience that he went through or a place he went to. When he was younger Tolkien lived the village of Sarahole that had a corn grinding mill by the water, this is where he got the idea for the hobbiton (Jahangir). Here is where it can be seen that his childhood had a role in some of the aspects of his works. Tolkien got the inspiration for the ring in 1929, when he visited an archeological dig where a Roman temple used to be, he was then told about an inscribed gold ring that seemed to be cursed (Jahangir). It can also be seen that he has taken aspects of the places he has visited and what he has learned to be a part of his books.

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have been beloved works among many generations of readers since they were first published. The author of these two books, J.R.R. Tolkien is just as interesting a man as many of the characters he created in the world of Middle-Earth. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Africa to a banker manager and his wife in 1892 and had only one sibling, Hilary, who was less than two years younger (Wikipedia). When he was young both of his parents died (one from rheumatic fever, the other from diabetes) and he and his brother were raised by a Catholic priest in Birmingham (Wikipedia). Tolkien was involved in World War One and Two, first as a serviceman, then as a cryptographer (Wikipedia). Indeed he was very

One of history’s famous authors was and still is today, J. R. R. Tolkien. Many people know some of his more famous books like The Hobbit or his Lord of the Ring series. Within these people there are others who know that the names of all the dwarves from The Hobbit and the name Gandalf come from an ancient Norse poem titled Volpusa. An even smaller group of people know that more than just his name came from Norse mythology, in fact the model for Gandalf’s character may have been taken from one of Norse mythologies most important gods Odin. There are many similarities between the two of them; pictures and paintings of Odin look like Gandalf, they both are immortal, they both can take on other appearances, they both have the fastest horses in the world, both of them die and come back better than before, both plan out the battles more than partake in them, both of them are very wise, and they both use similar magic in combat. J. R. R. Tolkien was influenced by the Norse god Odin when he created his character Gandalf.

J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings has delighted readers since its publication owing to its author's skillful development of his fantastic realm and its inhabitants adventures therein. In fact, Tolkien is rightly regarded as the father of the modern fantasy genre, and it often seems all fantasy imitates his work in some way. However, as readers return to the work, it often becomes apparent that the work is more than a simple escapist journey into an imaginary world; the work represents the finest traditions in literature and rich grounding in Tolkien's study of language and mythology. Equally surprising, though, Tolkien himself admits that the

Similarly, Lewis’ colleague at Oxford, J.R.R. Tolkien also defended Fantasy, or as he called it, “fairy-stories.” Tolkien was known for his fantastic works that included The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and an assortment of companion books to the series. He was also well known for his criticism of Beowulf, “The Monsters and the Critics.” His Fantasy series have had broad implications on the fantasy genre as a whole since publication, influencing the current generation of writers with the firm grasp of history