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Originally Posted by Gothmog
Interesting topic this! But to be honest, I know too little about my own history (myhology is maybe a better word). I read somewhere that it's strange that people from Scandinavia know more about Greek and Roman mythology than the Norse. I totally agree and this is the case with me, unfortunately.
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It is realy a shame, the Volsung Saga should be our Illiade. In Denmark some teachers is starting to use more time on Norse Mythology than Christianety, with is not a lot but. . .
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Originally Posted by Gothmog
The first one was the sword stuck in the tree trunk in chapter III. Then the man worthy of the sword drew it out of the trunk without an effort, while others had tried thay best without moving it one inch. This made me think of King Arthur and Excalibur. The connection between old Norse tales and those of England becomes obvious here. Interesting as bot the Norse and the Old English tales where of great interest to Tolkien.
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I have noticed this too and it is quite obvius, but if you look closer on the tree characthers Aragorn, Arthur ang Sigurd they have a lot in common.
1) They are all orphans. 2) they are heirs to kingdoms that have been taken/destroyed. 3) All there fathers was slain. 4) There up bringing is among nobels 5) all of them has to overcome tasks allmost impossibel to get the woman they love. 6) all these women is tragic characthers.
In one way Sigurd is quite different: He is pre-christian and more babaric. Aragorn is supposed to be pre-christian as well, but his character clearly shows some of the same qualetys as Arthur. In some ways he actuall seems to fulfill the christian ideals more than Arthur.
(there is allso some other simulareties between the swords in the tales)
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Originally Posted by Gothmog
The other thing i noticed is in chapter V, where ten brothers are chained out in the wood and an evil she-wolf eats them one after an other, one per night. This story is so close to what happened Beren, Finrod Felagund and their ten companions in Tol-in-Gaurhoth where they, as you probably know, was cast into a deep dungeon and a werewolf came to tham each night and devoured one of them. It was a different outcome in these two cases and there was different reasons for Saurons (revealing who was Felagund/Beren) and King Siggeir (to punish the brothers) but the similarities are striking. For me an obvious example of things Tolkien got from Norse Mythology.
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Spot on Gothmog, really nothing to add. I belive that later in the tale we will see the Sigurd use the skin of a werewolf in quest, like Beren (and Luthien) did in after the insident of what you speak.
P.S. I will elaborate some of the things I have statet tomorrow.