J. R. R. Tolkien derived the characters, stories, places, and languages ofMiddle-earth frommany sources. Among these areNorse mythology, seen in hisDwarves,Wargs,Trolls,Beorn and thebarrow-wight, places such asMirkwood, characters including the WizardsGandalf andSaruman and the Dark LordsMorgoth andSauron derived from the Norse godOdin, magical artefacts like theOne Ring andAragorn's swordAndúril, and the quality that Tolkien called "Northern courage". The powerfulValar, too, somewhat resemble the pantheon of Norse gods, theÆsir.
In ancientGermanic mythology, the world of Men is known by several names. TheOld Englishmiddangeard iscognate with theOld NorseMiðgarðr ofNorse mythology, transliterated to modern English asMidgard. The original meaning of the second element, from proto-Germanicgardaz, was "enclosure", cognate with English terms for enclosed spaces "yard", "garden", and "garth".Middangeard was assimilated by folk etymology to "middle earth".[T 1][4] It was at the centre of nine worlds in Norse mythology.[5]
Tolkien adopted the word "Middle-earth" to mean the central continent in his imagined world,Arda; it first appears in the prologue toThe Lord of the Rings: "Hobbits had, in fact, lived quietly in Middle-earth for many long years before other folk even became aware of them".[T 2]
The "Old Straight Road" linkingValinor with Middle-Earth after the Second Age mirrorsAsgard's bridge, Bifröst linking Midgard andAsgard.[6] The Balrog and the collapse of the Bridge of Khazad-dûm in Moria parallel the fire jötunnSurtr and the foretold destruction of Bifröst.[7]
The nameMirkwood derives from the forestMyrkviðr of Norse mythology. 19th-century writers interested in philology, including the folkloristJacob Grimm and the artist and fantasy writerWilliam Morris, speculated romantically about the wild, primitive Northern forest, theMyrkviðr inn ókunni ("the pathless Mirkwood") and the secret roads across it, in the hope of reconstructing supposed ancient cultures.[8][9] Grimm proposed that the nameMyrkviðr derived from Old Norsemark (boundary) andmǫrk (forest), both, he supposed, from an older word for wood, perhaps at the dangerous and disputed boundary of the kingdoms of theHuns and theGoths.[8][10]
Tolkien described Mirkwood as a vasttemperate broadleaf and mixed forest in theMiddle-earth region of Rhovanion (Wilderland), east of the great riverAnduin. InThe Hobbit, the wizardGandalf calls it "the greatest forest of the Northern world."[T 3] Before it was darkened by evil, it had been called Greenwood the Great.[T 4]
The medievalistMarjorie Burns writes that while Tolkien does not precisely follow the Norse model, "his mountains tend to encasethe dead and include settings where treasure is found and battles occur."[11]
| Mountain | Burial | Treasure | Fighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lonely Mountain | Thorin | Smaug's dragon's hoard | Battle of the Five Armies |
| Moria (under the Dwimorberg) | Balin | Mithril | Fellowship vsOrcs,Trolls, and theBalrog |
| Mount Doom | Gollum | TheOne Ring | Frodo andSam vs Gollum |
| Barrow-downs | A prince ofArnor | Barrow-wight's hoard | Frodo vs disembodied arm; Tom Bombadil vs Barrow-wight |
Tolkien's Dwarves are inspired by thedwarves of Norse myths, who have an affinity with mining, metalworking, and crafting.[13][14][15][16] Tolkien took the names of 12 of the 13 dwarves – excludingBalin – that he used inThe Hobbit (along with thewizardGandalf's name) from the Old NorseVöluspá in theElder Edda.[17][18] When he came toThe Lord of the Rings, where he had a proper language for the Dwarves, he was obliged to pretend, in the essayOf Dwarves and Men, that the Old Norse names were translations from the Dwarves' languageKhuzdul, just as the English spoken by the Dwarves toMen andHobbits was a translation from the Common Speech,Westron.[12][T 5][T 6]
Tolkien's Elves are derived partlyfrom Celtic mythology and partly from Norse. The division between theCalaquendi (Elves of Light) andMoriquendi (Elves of Darkness) echoes the Norse division ofDökkálfar and Ljósálfar, "light elves and dark elves".[19] The light elves of Norse mythology are associated with the gods, much as the Calaquendi are associated with theValar.[20][21]
In Norse mythology,trolls are a kind of giant, along withrísar,jötnar, andþursar; the names are variously applied to large monstrous beings, sometimes as synonyms.[22][23] The idea that such monsters must be below ground before dawn dates back to theElder Edda, where in theAlvíssmál, the godThor keeps the dwarfAlviss (not a troll) talking until dawn, and sees him turn to stone.[1][2][3]
The Hobbit's audience in 1937 were familiar with trolls fromfairy tale collections such asthose of Grimm, andAsbjørnsen and Moe'sNorwegian Folktales; Tolkien's use of monsters of different kinds – orcs, trolls, and abalrog inMoria – made that journey "a descent intohell".[3] Trolls thus moved from being grim Norse ogres to more sympathetic modern humanoids.[24] Tolkien's trolls are based on the ogre type, but in two forms: ancient trolls, "creatures of dull and lumpish nature" in Tolkien's words,[T 7] unable to speak; and the malicious giants bred by Sauron, with strength, courage, and a measure of intelligence sufficient to make them dangerous adversaries.[24] The scholar of English Edward Risden writes that Tolkien's later trolls appear far more dangerous than those ofThe Hobbit, losing, too, "the [moral] capacity to relent"; he comments that in Norse mythology, trolls are "normally female and strongly associated with magic", while in the Norse sagas the trolls were physically strong and superhuman in battle.[25]
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The Tolkien scholarTom Shippey states that Tolkien's spelling "warg" is a cross ofOld Norsevargr andOld Englishwearh. He notes that the words embody a shift in meaning from "wolf" to "outlaw":vargr carries both meanings, whilewearh means "outcast" or "outlaw", but has lost the sense of "wolf".[28] In Old Norse,vargr is derived from theProto-Germanic root reconstructed as*wargaz, ultimately derived from theProto-Indo-European root reconstructed as*werg̑ʰ- "destroy".Vargr (compare modern Swedishvarg "wolf") arose as anon-taboo name forúlfr, the normal Old Norse term for "wolf".[29] He writes that
Tolkien's word 'Warg' clearly splits the difference between Old Norse and Old English pronunciations, and his concept of them – wolves, but not just wolves, intelligent and malevolent wolves – combines the two ancient opinions.[30]
InNorse mythology, wargs are in particular the mythological wolvesFenrir,Sköll andHati. Sköll and Hati are wolves, one going after the Sun, the other after the Moon.[31] Wolves served as mounts for more or less dangerous humanoid creatures. For instance,Gunnr's horse was akenning for "wolf" on theRök runestone.[32] In theLay of Hyndla, the eponymousseeress rides a wolf.[33] ToBaldr's funeral, thejötunnHyrrokkin arrived on a wolf.[26]
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Marjorie Burns inThe J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia describesBeorn as aberserker, a Norse warrior fighting in a trance-like fury. Beorn is a massively strongshape-shifter, half-man, half-bear, inThe Hobbit derives from a combination of Norse sagas.[2] InHrólfs saga kraka,Bödvar Bjarki adopts the shape of a great bear when he goes to fight.[2] In theVölsunga saga,Sigmund dresses in the skin of a wolf and gains wolfish powers.[2] In Egil Skallagrimsson's saga,Kveldulf ("Evening-Wolf") both changes into a wolf and has half-man, half-beast children, like Beorn. Burns states that Tolkien's half-trolls and half-orcs "were no doubt influenced by the same Norse conception."[2]
Treasures in the Norse sagas are often guarded byundead, "restless, vampire-likedraugar", as inGrettis saga, recalling thebarrow-wight inThe Lord of the Rings.[16] Burns comments that the vague rumours of a "blood-drinking 'ghost'" in places where the monsterGollum had been is similarlydraugar-like. The guarded barrows, if successfully opened, yield fine weapons. In theGrettis saga, Grettir gets the best short sword he has ever seen; the ancient blade thatMerry Brandybuck gets from the wight's barrow similarly enables him to defeat the Lord of theNazgûl.[2]
Tolkien noted that the tale of his ill-fated heroTúrin Turambar (inhis legendarium, now published inThe Silmarillion and other works includingThe Children of Húrin) paralleled theVölsunga saga; an early draft was actually calledTúrins Saga.[2] Scholars have likened Túrin to bothSigurd and Sigmund; Túrin and Sigurd both become famous by killing a dragon, while both Túrin and Sigmund have incestuous relationships.[T 8][34][35]
Burns writes that Tolkien uses the fact that wolves were among the Norse godOdin's war beasts "in a particularly innovative way".[36] Odin kept two wolves, Freki and Geri, their names both meaning "Greedy"; and in the final battle that destroys the world,Ragnarök, Odin is killed and eaten by the gigantic wolf Fenrir. Thus, Burns points out, wolves were both associates of Odin, and his mortal enemy. She argues that Tolkien made use of both relationships inThe Lord of the Rings. In her view, the dark lordSauron and the evil WizardSaruman embody "attributes of a negative Odin".[36] Saruman has wargs in his army, while Sauron uses "the likeness of a ravening wolf"[T 9] for the enormous battering ram named Grond which destroys the main gate ofMinas Tirith. On the other side, the benevolent WizardGandalf leads the fight against the wargs inThe Hobbit, using his ability to create fire, and understands their language. InThe Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf again uses magic and fire to drive off a great wolf, "The Hound of Sauron",[T 10] and his wolf-pack; Burns writes that the wolves' attempt "to devour Gandalf hints at Odin's fate".[36] The dark lordMorgoth, too, is in Burns's view Odinesque, taking on the god's negative characteristics: "his ruthlessness, his destructiveness, his malevolence, his all-pervading deceit".[37]
In Middle-earth, Gandalf is a Wizard; the Norse nameGandálfr however was for a Dwarf. The name is composed of the wordsgandr ("magic staff") andálfr ("elf"), implying a powerful figure.[38] In early drafts ofThe Hobbit, Tolkien used the name for the character that becameThorin Oakenshield, the head of the group of Dwarves.[39]
Tolkien'sValar, a pantheon of immortals, somewhat resemble theÆsir, the gods of Asgard.[6] Manwë, the head of the Valar, has some similarities to Odin, the "Allfather".[40] Thor, physically the strongest of the gods, can be seen both inOromë, who fights the monsters of Melkor, and inTulkas, the strongest of the Valar.[40]
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[41][42] of theVölsunga saga, the 1870 rendering byWilliam Morris of the VictorianArts and Crafts movement and Icelandic scholarEiríkur Magnússon.[43]
The Old NorseVölsunga saga and the Old High GermanNibelungenlied were written at around the same time, using the same ancient sources.[44][45] 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).[46] Thenaming of weapons in Middle-earth, too, is a direct reflection of Norse mythology.[2] 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.[47]
For Tolkien, the quality that he called "Northern courage" was exemplified by the way the gods of Norse mythology knew they would die in the last battle,Ragnarök, but they went to fight anyway.[T 11][16] He was influenced, too, by the Old English poemsBeowulf andThe Battle of Maldon, which both praise heroic courage. He hoped to constructa mythology for England, as little had survived from its pre-Christian mythology. Arguing that there had been a "fundamentally similar heroic temper"[T 11] in England and Scandinavia, he fused elements from other northern European regions, both Norse andCeltic, with what he could find from England itself. Northern courage features in Tolkien's world of Middle-earth as a central virtue, closely connected toluck and fate.[T 11][50] The protagonists ofThe Hobbit andThe Lord of the Rings are advised by the Wizard, Gandalf, to keep up their spirits, as fate is always uncertain.[50]
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