The Lord of the Rings influences

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with The Lord of the Rings influences, The Lord of the Rings#Influences and The Silmarillion#Influences to form J.R.R. Tolkien's influences. (Discuss)

In his writing of the fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings J. R. R. Tolkien is cited as having had a number of influences. Tolkien's mission in creating the setting of The Lord of the Rings, Eä, was to make it a complete and highly detailed fictional universe. As such, many parts of this world were, as he freely admitted, influenced by other sources.[1] The novel was seen by Tolkien as a personal exploration of these sources and influences. Some of the influences include philology (his field), religion (particularly Roman Catholicism), fairy tales, Norse mythology. Tolkien was also influenced by his and his son's personal military service experiences during World War I and World War II, respectively.[2]

Contents

[edit] Religious influences

Tolkien once described The Lord of the Rings to his friend, the English Jesuit Father Robert Murray, as "a fundamentally religious and Catholic work, unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. [3] There are many theological themes underlying the narrative including the battle of good versus evil, the triumph of humility over pride, and the activity of grace. In addition the saga includes themes which incorporate death and immortality, mercy and pity, resurrection, salvation, repentance, self-sacrifice, free will, justice, fellowship, authority and healing. In addition the Lord's Prayer "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" was reportedly present in Tolkien's mind as he described Frodo's struggles against the power of the One Ring.

[edit] Mythological influences

Non-Christian religious motifs also had strong influences in Tolkien's Middle-earth. His Ainur, a race of angelic beings who are responsible for conceptualising the world, includes the Valar, the pantheon of "gods" who are responsible for the maintenance of everything from skies and seas to dreams and doom, and their servants, the Maiar. The concept of the Valar echoes Greek and Norse mythologies, although the Ainur and the world itself are all creations of a monotheistic deity — Ilúvatar or Eru, "The One". As the external practice of Middle-earth religion is downplayed in The Lord of the Rings, explicit information about them is only given in the different versions of Silmarillion material. However, there remain allusions to this aspect of Tolkien's writings, including "the Great Enemy" who was Sauron's master and "Elbereth, Queen of Stars" (Morgoth and Varda respectively, two of the Valar) in the main text, the "Authorities" (referring to the Valar, literally Powers) in the Prologue, and "the One" in Appendix A. Other non-Christian mythological or folkloric elements can be seen, including other sentient non-humans (Dwarves, Elves, Hobbits and Ents), a "Green Man" (Tom Bombadil), and spirits or ghosts (Barrow-wights, Oathbreakers).

The Northern European mythologies are perhaps the best known non-Christian influences on Tolkien. His Elves and Dwarves are by and large based on Norse and related Germanic mythologies. Names such as "Gandalf", "Gimli" and "Middle-earth" are directly derived from Norse mythology. The figure of Gandalf is particularly influenced by the Germanic deity Odin in his incarnation as "The Wanderer", an old man with one eye, a long white beard, a wide brimmed hat, and a staff; Tolkien states that he thinks of Gandalf as an "Odinic wanderer" in a letter of 1946. Specific influences include the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf.[4]

Tolkien may have also borrowed elements from the Völsunga saga, the Old Norse basis of the later German Nibelungenlied and Richard Wagner's opera series, Der Ring des Nibelungen, also called the Ring Cycle — specifically a magical golden ring and a broken sword which is reforged. In the Völsungasaga, these items are respectively Andvarinaut and Gram, and very broadly correspond to the One Ring and Narsil/Andúril. Finnish mythology and more specifically the Finnish national epic Kalevala were also acknowledged by Tolkien as an influence on Middle-earth.[5] In a similar manner to The Lord of the Rings, the Kalevala centres around a magical item of great power, the Sampo, which bestows great fortune on its owner, but never makes its exact nature clear. Like the One Ring, the Sampo is fought over by forces of good and evil, and is ultimately lost to the world as it is destroyed towards the end of the story. In another parallel, the latter work's wizard character Väinämöinen also has many similarities to Gandalf in his immortal origins and wise nature, and both works end with their respective wizard departing on a ship to lands beyond the mortal world. Tolkien also based elements of his Elvish language Quenya on Finnish.[6]

[edit] Literature influences

Shakespeare's Macbeth also influenced Tolkien in a number of ways. The Ent attack on Isengard was inspired by "Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane" in the play; Tolkien felt men carrying boughs were not impressive enough, and thus he used actual tree-like creatures.[7] The phrase "crack of doom" was actually coined by Shakespeare for Macbeth, with an entirely different meaning.

Others cite the novel as being directly derived from Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. Proponents of this charge have noted that both involve the forging of a magic ring and the ability of the ring to exhibit some degree of control over its wearer. These critics hold that Tolkien's work borrows so liberally from Wagner that Tolkien's work exists in the shadow of Wagner's.[8] In defense, both works are influenced by the same body of Germanic myths and legends, and the two works have overwhelmingly more differences than similarities. Tolkien was aware of this criticism, leading to his remark about a Swedish translator's claim that the One Ring was "in a certain way" Wagner's Ring: "Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceases."

Still others have speculated on the resemblance to L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, including the setting of a land divided into competing power centers ruled by good or evil witches/wizards, the quest led by a childlike outsider thrust unwillingly into a long journey with companions of different species, an encounter with ill-tempered talking trees, etc. The recent film adaptation plays up this resemblance with visual evocations of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

[edit] War influences

In addition The Lord of the Rings was crucially influenced by Tolkien's experiences during World War I and his son's during World War II. The central action of the books — a climactic, age-ending war between good and evil — is the central event of many mythologies, notably Norse, but it is also a clear reference to the well-known description of World War I, which was commonly referred to as "the war to end all wars".

After the publication of The Lord of the Rings these influences led to speculation that the One Ring was an allegory for the nuclear bomb.[9] Tolkien, however, repeatedly insisted that his works were not an allegory of any kind.[10] He states in the foreword to The Lord of the Rings that he disliked allegories and that the story was not one,[11] and it would be irresponsible to dismiss such direct statements on these matters lightly. Tolkien had already completed most of the book, including the ending in its entirety, before the first nuclear bombs were made known to the world at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

Nevertheless there is a strong theme of despair in the face of new mechanized warfare that Tolkien himself had experienced in the trenches of World War I. The development of a specially bred Orc army, and the destruction of the environment to aid this, also have modern resonances; and the effects of the Ring on its users evoke the modern literature of drug addiction as much as any historic quest literature.

It is also clear that the Ring has broad applicability to the concept of absolute power and its effects, and that the plot hinges on the view that anyone who seeks to gain absolute worldly power will inevitably be corrupted by it. Some describe the element of the passing of a mythical "Golden Age" as influenced by Tolkien's concerns about the growing encroachment of urbanisation and industrialisation into the "traditional" English lifestyle and countryside.[12] The concept of the "ring of power" itself is also present in Plato's Republic, Wagner's Ring Cycle, and in the story of Gyges' ring (a story often compared to the Book of Job). Some locations and characters were inspired by Tolkien's childhood in Sarehole (then a Worcestershire village, now part of Birmingham) and Birmingham.[13] It has also been suggested that The Shire and its surroundings were based on the countryside around Stonyhurst College in Lancashire where Tolkien frequently stayed during the 1940s.[14]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The Dead Marshes and the approaches to the Morannon owe something to Northern France after the Battle of the Somme. They owe more to William Morris and his Huns and Romans, as in The House of the Wolfings or The Roots of the Mountains." The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. Letter #19, 31 December 1960
  2. ^ "Influences of Lord of the Ring". Retrieved on 16 April 2006.
  3. ^ Carpenter, Humphrey (1995). The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-05699-8, Letter no. 142, page 172
  4. ^ Shippey, Tom (2000). J. R. R. Tolkien Author of the Century, HarperCollins. ISBN 0-261-10401-2
  5. ^ Handwerk, Brian. "Lord of the Rings Inspired by an Ancient Epic", National Geographic News, National Geographic Society, 2004-03-01, pp. 1–2. Retrieved on 2006-10-04. 
  6. ^ "Cultural and Linguistic Conservation". Retrieved on 16 April 2006.
  7. ^ Carpenter, Humphrey (2000). J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography, Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-05702-1
  8. ^ The Ring and the Rings. Alex Ross. Posted December 15, 2003. Retrieved January 27, 2007.
  9. ^ The Lord of the Rings: The Mythology of Power, (Revised Edition, by Jane Chance, copyright 2001). University Press of Kentucky, cited in INFLUENCES ON "THE LORD OF THE RINGS". National Geographic Society.
  10. ^ Tolkien, J. R. R. from Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. Macmillan Reference USA. Cited in J. R. R. Tolkien Summary. BookRags.
  11. ^ Tolkien, J.R.R. (1991). The Lord of the Rings. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-261-10238-9. 
  12. ^ Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (1981), The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, #19, ISBN 0-395-31555-7 
  13. ^ Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (1981), The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, #178 & #303, ISBN 0-395-31555-7 
  14. ^ "In the Valley of the Hobbits". Retrieved on 5 October 2006.
v • d • e
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
Volumes
Production / reception
Themes  · Influences  · Translations  · Reception  · Fandom  · Study
Related works
Characters
Frodo · Sam · Merry · Pippin · Bilbo · Gandalf · Aragorn · Legolas · Gimli · Boromir · Sauron · Saruman · Arwen · Elrond · Glorfindel · Galadriel · Théoden · Éomer · Éowyn · Wormtongue · Faramir · Denethor · Beregond · Gollum · Witch-king · Treebeard · Tom Bombadil
Derivative works
Radio
Film