J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy books onMiddle-earth, especiallyThe Lord of the Rings andThe Silmarillion, drew on a wide array of influences including language,Christianity,mythology,archaeology,ancient andmodern literature, and personal experience. He was inspired primarily byhis profession, philology; his work centred on the study ofOld English literature, especiallyBeowulf, and he acknowledged its importance to his writings.
He was a gifted linguist, influenced by Germanic, Celtic,Finnish, Slavic, and Greek language and mythology. His fiction reflected his Christian beliefs and his early reading of adventure stories and fantasy books. Commentators have attempted to identify many literary and topological antecedents for characters, places and events in Tolkien's writings. Some writers were certainly important to him, including theArts and Crafts polymathWilliam Morris, and he undoubtedly made use of some real place-names, such asBag End, the name of his aunt's home.
Tolkien stated that he had been influenced by his childhood experiences of the English countryside ofWarwickshire and its urbanisation by the growth ofBirmingham, and hispersonal experience of the First World War.
Tolkien was a professionalphilologist, a scholar of comparative and historicallinguistics. He was especially familiar withOld English and related languages. He remarked to the poet andThe New York Times book reviewerHarvey Breit that "I am a philologist and all my work is philological"; he explained to his American publisherHoughton Mifflin that this was meant to imply that his work was "all of a piece, andfundamentally linguistic [sic] in inspiration. ... Theinvention of languages is the foundation. The 'stories' were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse. To me a name comes first and the story follows."[7]
Tolkien began his mythology with the 1914 poemThe Voyage of Earendel the Evening Star, inspired by the Old English poemCrist 1.[8][5] Around 1915, he had the idea that his constructed languageQuenya was spoken by Elves whomEärendil meets during his journeys.[9] From there, he wrote theLay of Earendel, telling of Earendel and his voyages and how his ship is turned into themorning star.[10][11][4][12] These lines fromCrist 1 also gave Tolkien the termMiddle-earth (translatingOld EnglishMiddangeard). Accordingly, the medievalistsStuart D. Lee andElizabeth Solopova state thatCrist 1 was "the catalyst for Tolkien's mythology".[8][5][6]
Tolkien was an expert onOld English literature, especially the epic poemBeowulf, and made many uses of it inThe Lord of the Rings. For example,Beowulf's list of creatures,eotenas ond ylfe ondorcnéas, "ettens [giants] andelves and demon-corpses", contributed to his creation of some of the races of beings in Middle-earth, though with so little information about what elves were like, he was forced to combine scraps from all the Old English sources he could find.[14]
He derived theEnts from a phrase in another Old English poem,Maxims II,orþanc enta geweorc, "skilful work of giants";[15] The Tolkien scholarTom Shippey suggests that Tolkien took the name of the tower ofOrthanc (orþanc) from the same phrase, reinterpreted as "Orthanc, the Ents' fortress".[16] The word occurs again inBeowulf in the phrasesearonet seowed, smiþes orþancum, "[amail-shirt, a] cunning-net sewn, by a smith's skill": Tolkien usedsearo in its Mercian form*saru for the name of Orthanc's ruler, the wizardSaruman, incorporating the ideas of cunning and technology into Saruman's character.[17] He made use ofBeowulf, too, along with other Old English sources, for many aspects of theRiders of Rohan: for instance, their land was the Mark, a version of the Mercia where he lived, in Mercian dialect*Marc.[18]
Several Middle-earth concepts may have come from the Old English wordSigelwara, used in theCodex Junius to mean "Aethiopian".[21][22] Tolkien wondered why there was a word with this meaning, and conjectured that it had once had a different meaning, which he explored in detail in his essay "Sigelwara Land", published in two parts in 1932 and 1934.[19] He stated thatSigel meant "bothsun andjewel", the former as it was the name of the sunrune *sowilō (ᛋ), the latter from Latinsigillum, aseal.[20] He decided that the second element was*hearwa, possibly related to Old Englishheorð, "hearth", and ultimately to Latincarbo, "soot". He suggested this implied a class of demons "with red-hot eyes that emitted sparks and faces black as soot".[19] Shippey states that this "helped to naturalise theBalrog" (a demon of fire) and contributed to the sun-jewelSilmarils.[23] The Aethiopians suggested to Tolkien theHaradrim, a dark southern race of men.[a][24]
In 1928, a 4th-century Romano-British cult temple wasexcavated atLydney Park, Gloucestershire.[27] Tolkien was asked to investigate aLatin inscription there: "For the godNodens.Silvianus has lost a ring and has donated one-half [its worth] to Nodens. Among those who are called Senicianus do not allow health until he brings it to the temple of Nodens."[28] The Anglo-Saxon name for the place was Dwarf's Hill, and in 1932 Tolkien traced Nodens to the Irish heroNuada Airgetlám, "Nuada of the Silver-Hand".[26]
Shippey thought this "a pivotal influence" on Tolkien's Middle-earth, combining as it did a god-hero, a ring, dwarves, and a silver hand.[25] TheJ.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia notes also the "Hobbit-like appearance of [Dwarf's Hill]'s mine-shaft holes", and that Tolkien was extremely interested in the hill's folklore on his stay there, citing Helen Armstrong's comment that the place may have inspired Tolkien's "Celebrimbor and the fallen realms ofMoria andEregion".[25][29] The Lydney curator Sylvia Jones said that Tolkien was "surely influenced" by the site.[30] The scholar of English literature John M. Bowers notes that the name of the Elven-smithCelebrimbor is the Sindarin for "Silver Hand", and that "Because the place was known locally as Dwarf's Hill and honeycombed with abandoned mines, it naturally suggested itself as background for theLonely Mountain and the Mines of Moria."[31]
Tolkien was a devoutRoman Catholic. He once describedThe Lord of the Rings to his friend, the EnglishJesuit FatherRobert Murray, as "a fundamentally religious and Catholic work, unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision."[32] Many theological themes underlie the narrative, including the battle of good versus evil, the triumph of humility over pride, and the activity ofgrace, as seen withFrodo's pity towardGollum. In addition the epicincludes the themes of death and immortality, mercy and pity, resurrection, salvation, repentance, self-sacrifice, free will, justice, fellowship, authority and healing. Tolkien mentions theLord's Prayer, especially the line "And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil" in connection with Frodo's struggles against the power of the One Ring.[33] Tolkien said "Of course God is inThe Lord of the Rings. The period was pre-Christian, but it was a monotheistic world", and when questioned who was the One God of Middle-earth, Tolkien replied "The one, of course! The book is about the world that God created – the actual world of this planet."[34]
The Bible and traditional Christian narrative also influencedThe Silmarillion. The conflict betweenMelkor andEru Ilúvatar parallels that between Satan and God.[35] Further,The Silmarillion tells of the creation and fall of the Elves, asGenesis tells of the creation and fall of Man.[36] As with all of Tolkien's works,The Silmarillion allows room for later Christian history, and one version of Tolkien's drafts even hasFinrod, a character inThe Silmarillion, speculating on the necessity of Eru Ilúvatar's eventualincarnation to save Mankind.[37]A specifically Christian influence is the notion of thefall of man, which influenced theAinulindalë, the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, and the fall ofNúmenor.[38]
Tolkien was influenced byGermanic heroic legend, especially itsNorse and Old English forms. During his education at King Edward's School in Birmingham, he read and translated from theOld Norse in his free time. One of his first Norse purchases was theVölsunga saga. While a student, Tolkien read the only available English translation[40][41] of theVölsunga saga, the 1870 rendering byWilliam Morris of the VictorianArts and Crafts movement and Icelandic scholarEiríkur Magnússon.[42] The Old NorseVölsunga saga and theMiddle High GermanNibelungenlied were coeval texts made with the use of the same ancient sources.[43][44] Both of them provided some of the basis forRichard Wagner's opera series,Der Ring des Nibelungen, featuring in particular a magical but cursed golden ring and a broken sword reforged. In theVölsunga saga, these items are respectivelyAndvaranaut andGram, and they correspond broadly to theOne Ring and the swordNarsil (reforged as Andúril).[45] TheVölsunga saga also gives various names found in Tolkien. Tolkien'sThe Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún discusses the saga in relation to the myth of Sigurd and Gudrún.[46]
Tolkien was influenced by Old English poetry, especiallyBeowulf; Shippey writes that this was "obviously"[47] the work thathad most influence upon him. The dragonSmaug inThe Hobbit is closely based on theBeowulf dragon, the points of similarity including its ferocity, its greed for gold, flying by night, having a well-guarded hoard, and being of great age.[48]Tolkien made use of the epic poem inThe Lord of the Rings in many ways, including elements like the great hall ofHeorot, which appears as Meduseld, the Golden Hall of the Kings ofRohan. The ElfLegolas describes Meduseld in a direct translation of line 311 ofBeowulf (líxte se léoma ofer landa fela), "The light of it shines far over the land".[49] The name Meduseld, meaning "mead hall", is itself fromBeowulf. Shippey writes that the whole chapter "The King of the Golden Hall" is constructed exactly like the section of the poem where the hero and his party approach the King's hall: the visitors are challenged twice; they pile their weapons outside the door; and they hear wise words from the guard, Háma, a man who thinks for himself and takes a risk in making his decision. Both societies have a king, and both rule over a free people where, Shippey states, just obeying orders is not enough.[49]
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The figure ofGandalf is based on the Norse deityOdin[50] in his incarnation as "The Wanderer", an old man with one eye, a long white beard, a wide brimmed hat, and a staff. Tolkien wrote in a 1946 letter that he thought of Gandalf as an "Odinic wanderer".[33][51] The Balrog and the collapse of the Bridge of Khazad-dûm in Moria parallel the fire jötunnSurtr and the foretold destruction ofAsgard's bridge, Bifröst.[52] The "straight road" linking Valinor with Middle-Earth after the Second Age further mirrors the Bifröst linking Midgard and Asgard, and theValar themselves resemble theÆsir, the gods ofAsgard.[53]Thor, for example, physically the strongest of the gods, can be seen both in Oromë, who fights the monsters of Melkor, and in Tulkas, the strongest of the Valar.[50] Manwë, the head of the Valar, has some similarities to Odin, the "Allfather".[50] The division between theCalaquendi (Elves of Light) andMoriquendi (Elves of Darkness) echoes the Norse division oflight elves and dark elves.[54] The light elves of Norse mythology are associated with the gods, much as the Calaquendi are associated with the Valar.[55][56]
Some critics have suggested thatThe Lord of the Rings was directly derived fromRichard Wagner's opera cycle,Der Ring des Nibelungen, whose plot also centres on a powerful ring from Germanic mythology.[57] Others have argued that any similarity is due to the common influence of theVölsunga saga and theNibelungenlied on both authors.[58][59] Tolkien sought to dismiss critics' direct comparisons to Wagner, telling his publisher, "Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceases."[60] According toHumphrey Carpenter's biography of Tolkien, the author claimed to hold Wagner's interpretation of the relevant Germanic myths in contempt, even as a young man before reaching university.[61] Some researchers take an intermediate position: that both the authors used the same sources, but that Tolkien was influenced by Wagner's development of the mythology,[62][63] especially the conception of the Ring as conferring world mastery.[64] Wagner probably developed this element by combining the ring with a magical wand mentioned in theNibelungenlied that could give to its wearer the control over "the race of men".[65][66] Some argue that Tolkien's denial of a Wagnerian influence was an over-reaction to statements about the Ring byÅke Ohlmarks,Tolkien's Swedish translator.[67][68] Others believe that Tolkien was reacting against the links between Wagner's work andNazism.[69][70][b]
Tolkien was "greatly affected"[38] by the Finnish national epicKalevala, especially the tale ofKullervo, as an influence on Middle-earth. He credited Kullervo's story with being the "germ of [his] attempt to write legends".[73] He tried to rework the story of Kullervo into a story of his own, and though he never finished,[74] similarities to the story can still be seen in the tale ofTúrin Turambar. Both are tragic heroes who accidentally commit incest with their sister who on finding out kills herself by leaping into water. Both heroes later kill themselves after asking their sword if it will slay them, which it confirms.[75]
LikeThe Lord of the Rings, theKalevala centres around a magical item of great power, theSampo, which bestows great fortune on its owner, but whose exact nature is never made clear;[76] it has been considered aWorld pillar (Axis mundi) among other possibilities.[77] Scholars includingRandel Helms have suggested that the Sampo contributed to Tolkien's Silmarils that form a central element of his legendarium.[78] Jonathan Himes has suggested further that Tolkien found the Sampo complex, and chose to split the Sampo's parts into desirable objects. The pillar became theTwo Trees of Valinor with theirTree of life aspect, illuminating the world. The decorated lid became the brilliant Silmarils, which embodied all that was left of the light of the Two Trees, thus tying the symbols together.[79]
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. The work's central character,Väinämöinen, shares with Gandalf immortal origins and wise nature, and both works end with the character's departure on a ship to lands beyond the mortal world. Tolkien also based elements of hisElvish languageQuenya onFinnish.[76][80] Other critics have identified similarities between Väinämöinen andTom Bombadil.[72]
Influence fromGreek mythology is apparent in the disappearance of the island ofNúmenor, recallingAtlantis.[83] Tolkien's Elvish name "Atalantë" for Númenor resemblesPlato's Atlantis,[84] furthering the illusion that his mythology simply extends the history and mythology of the real world.[85] In hisLetters, however, Tolkien described this merely as a "curious chance."[86]
Classical mythology colours the Valar, who borrow many attributes from theOlympian gods.[87] The Valar, like the Olympians, live in the world, but on a high mountain, separated from mortals;[88]Ulmo, Lord of the Waters, owes much toPoseidon, whileManwë, the Lord of the Air and King of the Valar, toZeus.[87]
Tolkien compared Beren and Lúthien withOrpheus andEurydice, but with the gender roles reversed.[81]Oedipus is mentioned in connection with Túrin in theChildren of Húrin, among other mythological figures:
There is theChildren of Húrin, the tragic tale of Túrin Turambar and his sister Níniel – of which Túrin is the hero: a figure that might be said (by people who like that sort of thing, though it is not very useful) to be derived from elements in Sigurd the Volsung,Oedipus, and the Finnish Kullervo.[38]
Fëanor has been compared withPrometheus by researchers such asVerlyn Flieger. They share a symbolical and literal association with fire, are both rebels against the gods' decrees and inventors of artefacts that were sources of light, or vessels to divine flame.[89]
The extent of Celtic influence has been debated. Tolkien wrote that he gave the Elvish languageSindarin "a linguistic character very like (though not identical with)Welsh ... because it seems to fit the rather 'Celtic' type of legends and stories told of its speakers".[91] Some names of characters and places inThe Hobbit andThe Lord of the Rings have Welsh origin; for instance, Crickhollow in the Shire recalls the Welsh placenameCrickhowell,[92] while the hobbit nameMeriadoc has been suggested as an allusion toa legendary king of Brittany,[93] though Tolkien denied any connection.[94] In addition, the depiction of Elves has been described as deriving fromCeltic mythology.[95]
Tolkien wrote of "a certain distaste" for Celtic legends, "largely for their fundamental unreason",[96] butThe Silmarillion is thought by scholars to have some Celtic influence. The exile of theNoldorin Elves, for example, has parallels with the story of theTuatha Dé Danann in Irish mythology.[97] The Tuatha Dé Danann, semi-divine beings, invaded Ireland from across the sea, burning their ships when they arrived and fighting a fierce battle with the current inhabitants. The Noldor arrived in Middle-earth from Valinor and burned their ships, then turned to fight Melkor. Another parallel can be seen between the loss of a hand byMaedhros, son of Fëanor, and the similar mutilation suffered by Nuada Airgetlám /Llud llaw Ereint ("Silver Hand/Arm") during the battle with the Firbolg.[98][99] Nuada received a hand made of silver to replace the lost one, and his later appellation has the same meaning as the Elvish nameCelebrimbor: "silver fist" or "Hand of silver" in Sindarin (Telperinquar in Quenya).[100][31]
Tolkien's 1955 O'Donnell lecture at Oxford, "English and Welsh," addresses Tolkien's love of the musicality of theWelsh language, which he states was an influence on the sounds of the Elvish language ofSindarin. He voiced his affinity for Welsh by stating, "Welsh is of this soil, this island, the senior language of the men of Britain; and Welsh is beautiful."[101]
TheArthurian legends are part of the Celtic cultural heritage. Tolkien denied their influence, but critics have found several parallels.[102][103][104][105] Authors such as Donald O'Brien, Patrick Wynne,Carl Hostetter, andTom Shippey have pointed out similarities between the tale ofBeren and Lúthien inThe Silmarillion andCulhwch and Olwen, a tale in the WelshMabinogion. In both, the male heroes make rash promises after having been stricken by the beauty of non-mortal maidens; both enlist the aid of great kings,Arthur and Finrod; both show rings that prove their identities; and both are set impossible tasks that include, directly or indirectly, the hunting and killing of ferocious beasts (the wild boars,Twrch Trwyth and Ysgithrywyn, and the wolfCarcharoth) with the help of a supernatural hound (Cafall andHuan). Both maidens possess such beauty that flowers grow beneath their feet when they come to meet the heroes for the first time, as if they were living embodiments of spring.[106] TheMabinogion was part of theRed Book of Hergest, a source of Welsh Celtic lore, which theRed Book of Westmarch, a supposed source of Hobbit-lore, probably imitates.[107]
Gandalf has been compared withMerlin,[108] Frodo andAragorn with Arthur,[109] andGaladriel with theLady of the Lake.[102] Flieger has investigated the correlations and Tolkien's creative methods.[110] She points out visible correspondences such asAvalon andAvallónë, andBrocéliande and Broceliand, the original name ofBeleriand.[111] Tolkien himself said that Frodo's andBilbo's departure toTol Eressëa (also called "Avallon" in the Legendarium) was an "Arthurian ending".[111][112] Such correlations are discussed in the posthumously publishedThe Fall of Arthur; a section, "The Connection to the Quenta", explores Tolkien's use of Arthurian material inThe Silmarillion.[113] Another parallel is between the Arthurian tale ofSir Balin and that of Tolkien'sTúrin Turambar. Though Balin knows he wields an accursed sword, he continues his quest to regain King Arthur's favour. Fate catches up with him when he unwittingly kills his own brother, who mortally wounds him. Turin accidentally kills his friend Beleg with his sword.[114]
There are a few echoes ofSlavic mythology in Tolkien's novels, such as the names of the wizardRadagast and his home at Rhosgobel inRhovanion; all three appear to be connected with theSlavic godRodegast, a god of the sun, war, hospitality, fertility, and harvest.[115] TheAnduin, the Sindarin name for The Great River of Rhovanion, may be related to theDanube River, which flows mainly among theSlavic people and played an important role in their folklore.[115]
TheBattle of the Pelennor Fields towards the end ofThe Lord of the Rings may have been inspired by a conflict of real-world antiquity.Elizabeth Solopova notes that Tolkien repeatedly referred to a historic account of theBattle of the Catalaunian Fields byJordanes, and analyses the two battles' similarities. Both battles take place between civilisations of the "East" and "West", and like Jordanes, Tolkien describes his battle as one of legendary fame that lasted for several generations. Another apparent similarity is the death of kingTheodoric I on the Catalaunian Fields and that of Théoden on the Pelennor. Jordanes reports that Theodoric was thrown off by his horse and trampled to death by his own men who charged forward. Théoden rallies his men shortly before he falls and is crushed by his horse. And like Theodoric, Théoden is carried from the battlefield with his knights weeping and singing for him while the battle still goes on.[116][117]
Shakespeare's influence on Tolkien was substantial, despite Tolkien's professed dislike ofthe playwright.[119][120] Tolkien disapproved in particular of Shakespeare's devaluation ofelves, and was deeply disappointed by the prosaic explanation of howBirnam Wood came toDunsinane Hill inMacbeth.[121][122] Tolkien was influenced especially byMacbeth andA Midsummer Night's Dream, and he usedKing Lear for "issues of kingship, madness, and succession".[119] He arguably drew on several other plays, includingThe Merchant of Venice,Henry IV, Part 1, andLove's Labour's Lost, as well as Shakespeare's poetry, for numerous effects in his Middle-earth writings.[123] The Tolkien scholarTom Shippey suggests that Tolkien may even have felt a kind of fellow-feeling with Shakespeare, as both men were rooted in the county ofWarwickshire.[120][124]
Scholars including Nick Groom place Tolkien in the tradition of Englishantiquarianism, where 18th century authors likeThomas Chatterton,Thomas Percy, andWilliam Stukeley createda wide variety of antique-seeming materials much as Tolkien did, including calligraphy, invented language,forged medieval manuscripts,genealogies,maps,heraldry, and a mass of inventedparatexts such as notes and glossaries.[125] Will Sherwood comments that these non-narrative elements "will all sound familiar as they are the techniques that [Tolkien] used to immerse readers intoArda."[126] Sherwood argues that Tolkien intentionally set about improving on antiquarian forgery, eventually creating "the codes and conventions of modern fantasy literature".[126]
Thomas Kullmann and Dirk Siepmann write thatThe Lord of the Rings imitates "epic poetry from ancient Greece, Ireland and England; early modern romances, folklore and fairy tales; rhetorical traditions and popular poetry", adding that the tradition Tolkien uses most is none of those, but the often overlooked influence of "nineteenth- and early twentieth-century novel-writing."[127]Claire Buck, writing in theJ.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia, explores his literary context,[128] while Dale Nelson in the same work surveys 24 authors whose works are paralleled by elements in Tolkien's writings.[129] Postwar literary figures such asAnthony Burgess,Edwin Muir,Philip Toynbee and the criticColin Manlove variouslysneered atThe Lord of the Rings, but others likeNaomi Mitchison andIris Murdoch respected the work, andW. H. Auden championed it. Those early critics dismissed Tolkien as non-modernist. Later critics have placed Tolkien closer to the modernist tradition with his emphasis on language and temporality, while his pastoral emphasis is shared with First World War poets and theGeorgian movement. Buck suggests that if Tolkien was intending to createa mythology for England, that would fit the tradition of Englishpost-colonial literature and the many novelists and poets who reflected on the state of modern English society and the nature of Englishness.[128]
Tolkien acknowledged a few authors ofEdwardian adventure stories, such asJohn Buchan andH. Rider Haggard, as writing excellent stories.[129] Tolkien stated that he "preferred the lighter contemporary novels", such as Buchan's.[130] Critics have detailed resonances between the two authors.[129][131] Auden comparedThe Fellowship of the Ring to Buchan's thrillerThe Thirty-Nine Steps.[132] Nelson states that Tolkien responded rather directly to the "mythopoeic and straightforward adventure romance" in Haggard.[129] Tolkien wrote that stories about "Red Indians" were his favourites as a boy; Shippey likens the Fellowship's trip downriver, from Lothlórien to Tol Brandir "with its canoes andportages", toJames Fenimore Cooper's 1826 historical romanceThe Last of the Mohicans.[133] Shippey writes that Éomer's riders of Rohan in the scene in the Eastemnet wheel and circle "round the strangers, weapons poised" in a way "more like the old movies' image of theComanche or theCheyenne than anything from English history".[134]
When interviewed, the only book Tolkien named as a favourite was Rider Haggard's adventure novelShe: "I suppose as a boyShe interested me as much as anything—like the Greek shard of Amyntas [Amenartas], which was the kind of machine by which everything got moving."[135] A supposed facsimile of thispotsherd appeared in Haggard's first edition, and the ancient inscription it bore, once translated, led the English characters toShe's ancient kingdom, perhaps influencing theTestament of Isildur inThe Lord of the Rings[136] and Tolkien's efforts to produce a realistic-looking page from theBook of Mazarbul.[137] Critics starting withEdwin Muir[138] have found resemblances between Haggard's romances and Tolkien's.[139][140][141][142] Saruman's death has been compared to the sudden shrivelling of Ayesha when she steps into the flame of immortality.[129]
Parallels betweenThe Hobbit andJules Verne'sJourney to the Center of the Earth include a hidden runic message and a celestial alignment that direct the adventurers to the goals of their quests.[143]
Tolkien wrote of being impressed as a boy bySamuel Rutherford Crockett's historical fantasy novelThe Black Douglas and of using it for the battle with the wargs inThe Fellowship of the Ring;[144] critics have suggested other incidents and characters that it may have inspired,[145][146] but others have cautioned that the evidence is limited.[129] Tolkien stated that he had read many ofEdgar Rice Burroughs' books, but denied that the Barsoom novels influenced his giant spiders such asShelob andUngoliant: "I developed a dislike for hisTarzan even greater than my distaste for spiders. Spiders I had met long before Burroughs began to write, and I do not think he is in any way responsible for Shelob. At any rate I retain no memory of the Siths or the Apts."[147]
Charles Dickens'The Pickwick Papers has been shown to have reflections in Tolkien;[148] for instance, Bilbo's birthday party speech recalls Pickwick's first speech to his group.[149]William Morris was a major influence. Tolkien wished to imitate the style and content of Morris's prose and poetry romances,[150] and made use of elements such as theDead Marshes[151] andMirkwood.[152] Another was the fantasy authorGeorge MacDonald, who wroteThe Princess and the Goblin. Books by theInkling authorOwen Barfield contributed to his world-view, particularlyThe Silver Trumpet (1925),History in English Words (1926) andPoetic Diction (1928).Edward Wyke-Smith'sMarvellous Land of Snergs, with its "table-high" title characters, influenced the incidents, themes, and depiction of Hobbits,[153] as did the character George Babbitt fromBabbitt.[154]H. G. Wells's description of the subterraneanMorlocks in his 1895 novelThe Time Machine is suggestive of some ofTolkien's monsters.[129]
Some locations and characters were inspired by Tolkien's childhood in ruralWarwickshire, where from 1896 he first lived nearSarehole Mill, and later inBirmingham nearEdgbaston Reservoir.[155] There are also hints of the nearby industrialBlack Country; he stated that he had based the description of Saruman's industrialization of Isengard and The Shireon that of England.[156][c] The name of Bilbo's Hobbit-hole, "Bag End", was the real name of theWorcestershire home of Tolkien's aunt Jane Neave inDormston.[160][161]
On publication ofThe Lord of the Rings there was speculation that the One Ring was anallegory for theatomic bomb; Alan Nicholls wrote that "The closeness of its analogy to the human situation gives it a dreadful reality and relevance. It is a prose-poet's rendering of the mental twilight of the modern world, darkened as it is by the black power ... of the atom bomb".[163] The poet and novelistEdwin Muir disagreed, writing that it could not directly equated with the hydrogen bomb, as it "seems to stand for evil itself".[163] Tolkien insisted that the book was not allegorical,[164] and pointed out that he had completed most of the book, including the ending, before thefirst use of atomic bombs.[165] However, in a 1960 letter, he wrote that "TheDead Marshes [just north ofMordor] and the approaches to theMorannon [an entrance to Mordor] owe something to northern France after the Battle of the Somme",[166] and, in the foreword toThe Lord of the Rings, that theFirst World War was "no less hideous an experience" for its young participants than the Second.[164][162] In September and October 1916, Tolkien took part in theBattle of the Somme as a signals officer, before being sent home withtrench fever.[167][168][169] Tolkien scholars agree that Tolkienresponded to the war by creating his Middle-earth legendarium.[170][171][172][173] Commentators have suggested multiple correspondences between Tolkien's wartime experiences and aspects of his Middle-earth writings. For example, the metallicdragons that attack the Elves in the final battle ofThe Fall of Gondolin are reminiscent of the newly-inventedtanks that Tolkien saw.[174] Tolkien's fellow-InklingC. S. Lewis, who fought in the 1917Battle of Arras, wrote thatThe Lord of the Rings realistically portrayed "the very quality of the war my generation knew", including "the flying civilians, the lively, vivid friendships, the background of something like despair and the merry foreground, and such heavensent windfalls as a cache of tobacco 'salvaged' from a ruin".[175]
Tolkien was a core member of theInklings, an informal literary discussion group associated with theUniversity of Oxford between the early 1930s and late 1949.[176] The group shared inColin Duriez's words "a guiding vision of the relationship of imagination and myth to reality and of a Christian worldview in which a pagan spirituality is seen as prefiguring the advent of Christ and the Christian story."[177] Shippey adds that the group was "preoccupied" with "virtuous pagans", and thatThe Lord of the Rings is plainly a tale of such people in the dark past before Christian revelation.[178] He further writes that what Tolkien called theNorthern theory of courage, namely that even total defeat does not make what is right wrong, was "a vital belief" shared by Tolkien and other Inklings.[179] The group considered philosophical issues, too, which found their way into Tolkien's writings, among them the ancient debate within Christianity onthe nature of evil. Shippey notes Elrond'sBoethian statement that "nothing is evil in the beginning. Even [the Dark Lord] Sauron was not so",[180] in other words all things were created good; but that the Inklings, as evidenced byC. S. Lewis'sMere Christianity, book 2, section 2, to some extent tolerated theManichean view that Good and Evil are equally powerful, and battle it out in the world.[181] Shippey writes that Tolkien'sRingwraiths embody an Inkling and Boethian idea found in Lewis andCharles Williams, that of things being bent out of shape, the word wraith suggesting "writhe" and "wrath", glossed as "a twisted emotion"; even the world became bent, so men could no longer sail theold straight road westwards tothe Undying Lands. All the same, Shippey writes, Tolkien's personal war experience was Manichean: evil seemed at least as powerful as good, and could easily have been victorious, a strand which can also be seen in Middle-earth.[182] At a personal level, Lewis's friendship greatly encouraged Tolkien to keep going withThe Lord of the Rings; he wrote that without Lewis "I should never have brought The L. of the R. to a conclusion."[183]
The wish-rod lay among them, / of gold a little wand.
Whosoe'er its powers / full might understand,
The same might make him master / o'er all the race of men.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Andrew Morton, used this catalogue as one of his sources and reproduced it in full. He discovered that the farm was owned by Tolkien's aunt in the 1920s and was visited by the author on at least a couple of occasions. The name is probably all that was used, as the farm bears little resemblance otherwise to the Hobbit dwelling of the books.
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