Religious Background of Middle Earth - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Flame of Udûn · 01-10-2011, 05:10 PM

I have known for a while now the religious connotations within Tolkien's writing but it appears to me that while everyone always talks about its links to christianity it seems that it is more closely linked to the old Norse religions and I shall list my reasons:

1. There are many god like beings (the Valar/Æsir and Maiar/Vanir) and of course in Christianity there is only one god but in Norse paganism there are many (Odin, Thor... etc)
2. There is a great battle to be fought against Morgoth at the end of the world (Dagor Dagorath) when he frees himself from his prison- this is basically an altered form of Ragnarok the battle in which Loki led an army against the Gods and the world was destroyed when a Fire deamon set fire to Yggdrasil (the tree of life) another link is that both of these battles were predicted though I cannot remember who predicted ragnarok
3. The gods ruled in a land that was seperate from Middle Earth (which is coincidentally the name vikings had for earth (Midgard) as it lay between Asgard and Hel though there were others)
4. This is a weak link but i will list it anyway Valhalla is a hall where half the warriors slain in battle go which is somewhat similar to the halls of Mandos

Discuss

ps. I'm sure this has been debated before but who really cares

01-10-2011, 05:10 PM	#1
Flame of Udûn Animated Skeleton Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: The Mines of Moria Posts: 35	Religious Background of Middle Earth I have known for a while now the religious connotations within Tolkien's writing but it appears to me that while everyone always talks about its links to christianity it seems that it is more closely linked to the old Norse religions and I shall list my reasons: 1. There are many god like beings (the Valar/Æsir and Maiar/Vanir) and of course in Christianity there is only one god but in Norse paganism there are many (Odin, Thor... etc) 2. There is a great battle to be fought against Morgoth at the end of the world (Dagor Dagorath) when he frees himself from his prison- this is basically an altered form of Ragnarok the battle in which Loki led an army against the Gods and the world was destroyed when a Fire deamon set fire to Yggdrasil (the tree of life) another link is that both of these battles were predicted though I cannot remember who predicted ragnarok 3. The gods ruled in a land that was seperate from Middle Earth (which is coincidentally the name vikings had for earth (Midgard) as it lay between Asgard and Hel though there were others) 4. This is a weak link but i will list it anyway Valhalla is a hall where half the warriors slain in battle go which is somewhat similar to the halls of Mandos Discuss ps. I'm sure this has been debated before but who really cares __________________ Not all those who wander are lost.