Nordic elements found in lord of the rings

Rhonda Tharp

Active Member
Name as many Nordic elements (mythical, cultural, etc) that you can find in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The fact that they live in Midgard (Middle Earth) with Elves and Dwarves fits on a mythical level.
Gandalf's characteristics are similar to Odin - his powers, his horse Shadowfax/Sleipnir, his physical appearance (compared to paintings/sculptures of Odin).

What else???
 

Talaria

Member
This is a great question for Old World American. He is a Wagnerian expert and could probably pick out the similarities quicker than I can. I know Tolkien said that the only thing in common with the wagner opera "The Ring" is that the rings in both stories are round. I disagree slightly. I can see the comparisons between Gandalf and Odin as the Wanderer, his transformation into the White Wizard is similiar to Odin gaining the knowledge of the Runes. I think that the dwarves are kind of like Vikings but I always thought of them as Scottish warriors. In both stories a magical sword is broken and reforged when the person worthy of possesing it comes along.

I would probably be better at picking out the Celtic mythology. The elves and the Tuatha De Danaan, I think Elrond could possibly be compared to Nuada, The eye of Balor and the eye of Saruman. I could list more but its Nordic, not Celtic you are asking haha. What else do you think Rhonda?
 

Rhonda Tharp

Active Member
I would probably be better at picking out the Celtic mythology. The elves and the Tuatha De Danaan, I think Elrond could possibly be compared to Nuada, The eye of Balor and the eye of Saruman. I could list more but its Nordic, not Celtic you are asking haha. What else do you think Rhonda?[/quote]


Talaria, I do see the Celtic elements that you are referring to. I started to think back about the Vikings laying seige to the British Isles, and so there may have been an "exchange" of cultural ideas. The Vikings definitely had influence over some of the Celtic tribes.
 

Nella

New Member
I don't know much of the Nordic Mythology, but now I want to start studying it. I have always loved the Lord of The Rings and have both sets of books (original and movie based) and the extended/box set version of the movies.
 

Rhonda Tharp

Active Member
OK, found this info on wikipedia...

Mythological and historical 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).
Tolkien's Elves and Dwarves are by and large based on Norse and related Germanic mythologies[21][22] and possibly Celtic Mythology.[23] Names such as "Gandalf", "Gimli" and "Middle-earth" are directly derived from Norse mythology. Gandalf, which means "wand elf" or "magic elf" in Old Norse, appears in the "Catalogue of Dwarves" section of Völuspá, a poem collected in the Poetic Edda.[24] The figure of Gandalf is particularly influenced by the Germanic deity Odin[25] in his incarnation as "The Wanderer", an old man with one eye, a long white beard, a wide brimmed hat, and a staff; Tolkien stated that he thought of Gandalf as an "Odinic wanderer" in a letter of 1946, nearly a decade after the character was invented.[20] Specific influences include the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf.[26]
Tolkien based the people of Rohan, the Rohirrim, on the historical Anglo-Saxons, giving them Anglo-Saxon names, customs, and poetry.[27] Aside: this reference explains how to pronounce Rohirric names, and suggests Tolkien may not have provided guidance, as he did for Elvish names, because he assumed readers would be familiar with Anglo-Saxon.
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.[28] 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.[29]
 

LegendofJoe

Active Member
Great post Rhonda.
I've read The Kalevala, Poetic Edda, Nibelungenlied and Volsunga saga.
I'll take these works anyday over Tolkien's overrated trilogy or the overly romantic libretto of Wagner's Ring tetralogy.
 

Bona Dea

New Member
A lot of the language also came from Middle English (English from late 11th century till about 1470). Here are some translations -

Middle Earth - The place between heaven and hell where men walk.
Elf - A supernatural being having magical powers for good or evil; a spirit, fairy, goblin, incubus, succubus, or the like.
Goblin - A devil; an incubus; a fairy; an evil spirit

All of Chaucer's tales were originally written in Middle English
 

Alexia

Member
If you are interested in Norse mythology, then help VuduPins Productions make a film based off of the Norse myths of Baldur's death. The film is called "Baldur's Dreams" and is centered around Odin, Frigg, Baldur, and Loki. Before we can begin filming, we need to raise funds. Please help us and go to this site and donate money. Spread the word and help this film get made. Every penny counts. Thanks!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vudupins/baldurs-dreams-a-norse-myth-short-film
 
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