Nordic Roots in Tolkien's Writings

Rayan Akbari Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahwaz, Khuzestan, Iran
Sayyed Rahim Moosavinia Associate Professor of English Literature Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahwaz, Khuzestan, Iran

Introduction

The present paper has tried to demonstrate the close affinity between Tolkien’s and the Scandinavian world, by citing the most obvious parallels. Tolkien’s interest in the culture, and the use of particular creatures and personalities, as well as themes and motives, in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, have been points of illustration. The Nordic side of the argument seems to be better recognized, as different sources such as Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Viking, Old Norse, Finnish, Arthurian, and biblical have been suggested by scholars.

Tolkien’s Interest in The Culture

Perhaps the most credible person to comment on Tolkien’s ideology would be his biographer, Humphrey Carpenter, who states that “Old Norse literature and mythology had a profound appeal to his imagination.” His interest in the subject goes back to his teenage years at King Edward’s school. He later entered Oxford University to study classics, but switched to English literature, to which Old Norse was a special secondary subject. At Leeds University, he established a Viking club for undergraduates to drink beer and read Icelandic sagas.

Creatures and Personalities

The paper examines elves, dwarves, hobbits, Bilbo, Gandalf, Smaug, and the dragon of Beowulf in relation to their Norse origins. Tolkien has pictured elves as human-sized creatures in accord with the Nordic concept, divided into light and dark. The dwarves’ names in The Hobbit are driven from the poem “Voluspa” in the Poetic Edda. Gandalf’s characteristics are highly influenced by Odin, one of the most prominent gods in Norse mythology. Smaug owes much to Norse mythology’s significant dragons, Fafnir and the unnamed dragon of the epic Beowulf.

Themes and Motives

The paper explores riddles, ethical codes including comitatus, kinship and revenge, as well as runes and rings as prominent Nordic motives in Tolkien’s work. The riddle exchange between Bilbo and Gollum is influenced by Norse literature. The underlying ethical code of Nordic literature is a system of comitatus, kinship, and revenge that governs much of the action, and these values are present in Tolkien’s works. Tolkien uses the runic alphabet to transcribe magical words, and the story of The One Ring is very similar to that of Odin’s ring, Draupnir.

Conclusion

No work happens in a vacuum. In Tolkien’s case, his personal interests go hand in hand with his academic experiences to give his writings a Nordic touch. The effect is present in his choice of creatures, which are either borrowed from the mythology or are highly Northernised, as well as personalities that reflect one or several famous Nordic characters. The evident influence of such famous Nordic works as the Prose and the Poetic Edda, Volsunga Saga, and Beowulf causes The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to be in accord with Scandinavian, rather than any other culture.

Works Cited

  • Carpenter, Humphrey. (2000). J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
  • Chance, Jane. (1979). Tolkien’s Art: A Mythology for England. New York: St. Martin’s.
  • Clair, Gloriana. (1995). An Overview of the Northern Influences on Tolkien’s Works. In Patricia Reynolds. Proceedings of the J.R.R. Tolkien Centenary Conference. Milton Keynes: Tolkien Soc.
  • Clair, Gloriana. (2003). Tolkien’s Cauldron Northern Literature and the Lord of the Rings. N.p.: n.p.
  • Day, David & Alan Lee. (2001). Tolkien’s Ring. New York: Metro.
  • Green, William H. (2005). Bilbo’s Adventures in Wilderland. In Harold Bloom. J.R.R. Tolkien (Bloom’s Modern Critical Views) (pp 27-42). New York: Great Neck.
  • Heaney, Seamus. (2000). Beowulf: A New Verse Translation. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
  • Hinger, Sophie. (2014). Tolkien and the Viking Heritage. Diss. U of Vienna.
  • Lee, Stuart D. (2014). A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien. Malden, Mass.: Wiley Blackwell.
  • Tolkien, J. R. R. (1975). The Hobbit, Or, There and Back Again. London: Unwin.
  • Tolkien, J. R. R. (2001). The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. London: HarperCollins.
  • Tolkien, J. R. R. (2002). The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings. London: HarperCollins.
  • Tolkien, J. R. R. (2007). The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings. London: HarperCollins.
  • Wilkin, Peter. (2006). Norse Influences on Tolkien’s Elves and Dwarves. In Frances Di Lauro & Victoria Barker. Through a Glass Darkly: Reflections on the Sacred: Collected Research (pp 61-80). Sydney: Sydney UP.