but are you aware of another character in his works (not LOTR) who is directly influenced (almost a literal copy) of another Norse god and his legend?
10 points for the one who gets it.
2007-03-30 10:56:58 · 12 answers · asked by Ymmo the Heathen 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Tolkien's original idea for his Middle Earth stories was that he was writing a mythology of England. He basically took Norse and Celtic mythology and what little English mythology we have and mixed them in a believable way to create a new mythology. I think if Tolkien had written The Silmarillion on antique-looking manuscripts and said he had found them instead of written them, there would be very few historians who would not have believed it. It's that realistic.
So many of Tolkien's characters are inspired by characters from Norse Mythology, but you're probably thinking of Turin.
Siegfried/Siegmund and Turin's stories are almost exactly the same, right down to the slaying the dragon and the falling in love with his sister.
People might think that Turin is a sort of blend between Siegmund and his son Siegfried, but originally Siegmund and Siegfried were the same character.
And you can't forget how similar part of Beren's story is to Tyr. Both Beren and Tyr got a hand bitten off by a wolf while trying to subdue it.
2007-03-30 14:35:04 · answer #1 · answered by Z, unnecessary letter 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ah he even stole the name Gandalf directly from the Eddas too. Middle Earth is stolen from Midgard (which literally means Middle Earth.) there are elves in both, dwarves in both; the dwarves live underground and are metal workers in both; the Ring of Power in Tolkien’s book is very similar to the cursed ring of the dwarf Alberich in Norse mythology; the Valar and Ainur are the gods of Tolkien’s world, while the Vanir and Aesir are the two sets of gods in Norse mythology; Aegir, the Norse god of the sea, is very similar to Ulmo, Tolkien’s god of the sea; and the home of the gods in Tolkien’s world, Valinor, shares many of the qualities of the home of the Gods in Norse mythology, Asgard.
Then there is Smaug, the dragon in The Hobbit who lives in the old dwarf city of Esgorath, hoarding the treasure that he stole from the dwarves. This situation bears a striking resemblance to one in the Norse epic The Nibelungalied, where the dragon Fafnir has stolen a hoard of gold from the Nibelungs and is hoarding it until Siegfried slays him.
2007-03-30 12:11:04 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Does The Hobbit count as LOTR? Beowulf inspired The Hobbit. Dang, though. Beowulf isn't a Norse god...
2007-03-30 11:19:09 · answer #3 · answered by MishMash [I am not one of your fans] 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Eru aka Iluvatar
2007-03-30 11:57:41 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Sorry, all I have read by him is LOTR. I can't wait to hear the answer though!
2007-03-30 11:04:29 · answer #5 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I am guessing Balder/Baldor.
2007-03-30 11:01:14 · answer #6 · answered by Shawn D 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You totally put this in the wrong catagory, dude. However, I am interested in this answer. Tell me.
2007-03-30 11:00:54 · answer #7 · answered by Blanca 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
I don't want points really I wanna learn... do share... this stuff is interesting.
_()_
2007-03-30 11:01:42 · answer #8 · answered by vinslave 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Oh, is it that guy with the bow & arrows,
white hair...can't think of his name...drat...
2007-03-30 11:02:49 · answer #9 · answered by Kerilyn 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
manwe
2007-03-30 13:09:04 · answer #10 · answered by Take me or leave me! 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋