Tolkien's Influences

Thesis: John Ronald Reule Tolkien’s life experiences influenced his writing, beginning as a student, then a soldier, lexigrapher, professor, and then a writer to his own children; Tolkien’s life created the place known to most as Middle-Earth.

The Lord of the Rings by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is a book widely known for its rich language, detailed imagery, and profound story that expands over three volumes and six books. The book is scattered with deep characters ranging in back stories and eventual character development. Motifs, key parts throughout the story, include lightness and darkness, eyes, jewelry, and sword. JRR Tolkien even creates his own language for the solemn race of elves in the lengthy three volume novel. A part of this length may be attributed to the unusual placement of many full-form songs and poems within the book, as a break between the usual story. These poems and songs have ranges of playfulness and thoughtfulness. With uses of made up Hobbit words and beautiful

In 1920 Tolkien was appointed to the position of Associate Professor in English Language at the University of Leeds. At the university Tolkien cooperated with E.V. Gordon to publish the Songs for the Philologists. Tolkien in 1937 published The Hobbit and in 1954 published what would be his most famous works, The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien's wife died in 1971 and himself died two years later in 1973 at the age of 81 and had four children. (Doughan).had many influences on his writing one among these is the literature of the old Norse. (Clair) This influence is visible in almost all aspects of the stories that Tolkien tells of Middle- Earth. The Hobbits, for example, are Tolkien's unique contribution to the world of Middle Earth. However the Hobbits are clearly based off of the Icelanders in the Njal's Saga. (Clair) There are many similarities between these two groups of peoples in the two stories. Many of these similarities are in habit. The Icelanders much like the Hobbits were fond of food and often were very proud of their ancestry and their belief in hospitality. Another similarity between the two groups is their ostentatious methods of dress. Both groups dressed very ornately and very colorfully. (Clair) Tolkien's elves also show many similarities to the elves of Northern literature. Both elves have histories of healing and of being smiths. (Clair) Aside from the influence of Norse Literature Tolkien was also influenced by his Catholic faith and

By receiving the McCoole VFW Auxiliary Scholarship, it will help me achieve my future goals of attending Frostburg State University to start my long journey in getting my Ph.D. in psychology. I will have to go to college for a minimum of eight years to achieve this goal. Or after my four years at Frostburg State University I will attend a Medical School to complete four more years in order to become a Psychiatrist. Either decision will enable me to go and pay for eight years of college. So by obtaining this scholarship, I will be able to start paying for this opportunity. I have always dreamed of helping people and being able to make a difference in people’s lives. My dream is to get a career in psychology and either become a psychiatrist

In the lecture Tolkien tells the readers that the man has the power to create stories in order to describe the events of what people are going through. They can express these stories as “satire, adventure, morality, and fantasy” and “causes it to take living form and colour before the eyes.” This makes the readers understand that the fairy stories are created with the intentions to relate to existing events happening, but can be seen in different ways and told by different personifications.

Tolkien was one of the most life changing events Lewis experienced because Tolkien opened Lewis’s eyes to a whole new world. Growing up, Lewis and Tolkien were exposed to some of the same authors and stories, giving them both a similar appreciation for literature. Tolkien expressed himself in a very creative and imaginative way, but he struggled with his writing being classified as children’s literature and had very little confidence when it came to publishing and sharing his works, whereas Lewis wrote very intellectually and philosophically and wasn’t afraid to get his works out into the public. A major conflict Lewis faced when it came to writing was not being able to balance both intellectual imaginative thought. He felt as though he needed to write to educate, but couldn’t do so while incorporating mythical elements, because he believed that you can’t teach important things to people in an entertaining way.

into the world of Middle Earth. If a reader investigates further into the songs and poems of The Hobbit, they will find that Tolkien uses poems and songs to reveal important attributes and estab-

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have been beloved works among many generations of readers since they were first published. The author of these two books, J.R.R. Tolkien is just as interesting a man as many of the characters he created in the world of Middle-Earth. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Africa to a banker manager and his wife in 1892 and had only one sibling, Hilary, who was less than two years younger (Wikipedia). When he was young both of his parents died (one from rheumatic fever, the other from diabetes) and he and his brother were raised by a Catholic priest in Birmingham (Wikipedia). Tolkien was involved in World War One and Two, first as a serviceman, then as a cryptographer (Wikipedia). Indeed he was very

J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings has delighted readers since its publication owing to its author's skillful development of his fantastic realm and its inhabitants adventures therein. In fact, Tolkien is rightly regarded as the father of the modern fantasy genre, and it often seems all fantasy imitates his work in some way. However, as readers return to the work, it often becomes apparent that the work is more than a simple escapist journey into an imaginary world; the work represents the finest traditions in literature and rich grounding in Tolkien's study of language and mythology. Equally surprising, though, Tolkien himself admits that the

Similarly, Lewis’ colleague at Oxford, J.R.R. Tolkien also defended Fantasy, or as he called it, “fairy-stories.” Tolkien was known for his fantastic works that included The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and an assortment of companion books to the series. He was also well known for his criticism of Beowulf, “The Monsters and the Critics.” His Fantasy series have had broad implications on the fantasy genre as a whole since publication, influencing the current generation of writers with the firm grasp of history

One of history’s famous authors was and still is today, J. R. R. Tolkien. Many people know some of his more famous books like The Hobbit or his Lord of the Ring series. Within these people there are others who know that the names of all the dwarves from The Hobbit and the name Gandalf come from an ancient Norse poem titled Volpusa. An even smaller group of people know that more than just his name came from Norse mythology, in fact the model for Gandalf’s character may have been taken from one of Norse mythologies most important gods Odin. There are many similarities between the two of them; pictures and paintings of Odin look like Gandalf, they both are immortal, they both can take on other appearances, they both have the fastest horses in the world, both of them die and come back better than before, both plan out the battles more than partake in them, both of them are very wise, and they both use similar magic in combat. J. R. R. Tolkien was influenced by the Norse god Odin when he created his character Gandalf.

Among other things, Tolkien was perhaps chiefly a scholar of mythology, and despite his dislike of allegory, his universe is shot through with mythological archetypes. Among Tolkien’s obvious mythological influences (Biblical, Celtic, Norse, and Arthurian mythologies, etc.), I believe Biblical held the most significant effect on The Lord of the Rings, albeit Finnish/Nordic appears more so than any other. Additionally, Tolkien wanted to publish The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings together, since he saw them as connected mythological cycles. To a degree, one’s reading of The Lord of the Rings, is deepened by a knowledge of The Silmarillion, not just on the level of setting or context, but in terms of literary theme, symbol, and characterization.

J.R.R Tolkien’s works, Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, and the Silmarillion, were all influenced by some aspect of his life, whether it was an experience that he went through or a place he went to. When he was younger Tolkien lived the village of Sarahole that had a corn grinding mill by the water, this is where he got the idea for the hobbiton (Jahangir). Here is where it can be seen that his childhood had a role in some of the aspects of his works. Tolkien got the inspiration for the ring in 1929, when he visited an archeological dig where a Roman temple used to be, he was then told about an inscribed gold ring that seemed to be cursed (Jahangir). It can also be seen that he has taken aspects of the places he has visited and what he has learned to be a part of his books.

When J.R.R tolkien set his himself down to write the hobbit. He was attempting to create a fantasy that addressed the fundamental needs as he saw them of humanity. He wrote about these needs and his purpose in an essay called “J.R.R. Tolkien, On Fairy Stories” However before I attempt to indulge into Tolkien's work and the underlying factors that influenced him. We must understand that within in his essay addressing fairy tales Tolkien defines fairy stories as “A tale about fairies, or generally a fairy legend; with developed senses,” I will not go into depth on this definition as i feel it is not very important in the grand scheme of things, however i do feel it is important to understand what i will

Chains: on the neck, on the wrists, on the ankles… but also on the mind or on the heart. Chains have been and still are a way for humans to keep other humans from doing what they want. This kind of control can be used for various ends, like doing work or performing a task, and to keep doing it. This is what occurs in the historical situation known as slavery. In slavery, the person working or performing a task is doing so against his/her will or desire. He or she simply cannot choose to stop. Slavery doesn’t have to involve two or more subjects. It can involve one person, thanks to their complex human brain. One person can force themselves to keep doing something even though they may