Fantasy Counterpart Culture

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

although there are certainly aspects of heroic Northern culture that are in their make up.

I'd agree with this. Certainly in their youth as seen in The Silmarillion their passion and vigour is reminiscent of many characters from the Sagas.

At the same time, I'd argue that virtually everything in Professor Tolkien's work is fundamentally influenced by ancient Germanic literature. Almost all cultures in Western Middle-earth (apart from the Shire) have something of an early Medieval Northern European flavour. In that regard I'd suggest that, even though I'm aware Professor Tolkien explicitly compared Gondor to the Egyptians and the Byzantines, in a sense I'd argue that the Dúnedain evoke to a significant extent the idea of "if Norse/Ancient German peoples had built and operated the way the Egyptians and Byzantines did."

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

The dwarves are commonly held to be a Viking themed culture (although I personally do not subscribe to this view)

This is really one of those things that has grown up after Professor Tolkien's work, isn't it? This bizarre modern conception of Dwarves as short bearded Scotsmen with Viking helmets on.
As we know, Professor Tolkien compared the Dwarves to the Jews, which I think is an interesting comparison, but again they have very Norse/Germanic traits as well.

Overall I'd suggest that it might be possible to say that in a sense most of at least Western Middle-earth is essentially less a counterpart of real world cultures and more an exercise, in some respects, of imagining a world deriving from the style of the Germanic world rather than, as occurred in reality, the Graeco-Roman Classical world.

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

I'd argue that the Dúnedain evoke to a significant extent the idea of "if Norse/Ancient German peoples had built and operated the way the Egyptians and Byzantines did."

An excellent point, and I think a very good way of putting it.

This is really one of those things that has grown up after Professor Tolkien's work, isn't it? This bizarre modern conception of Dwarves as short bearded Scotsmen with Viking helmets on.
As we know, Professor Tolkien compared the Dwarves to the Jews, which I think is an interesting comparison, but again they have very Norse/Germanic traits as well.

I've always thought that the dwarves have a much more ancient Semitic cultural structure than is commonly supposed, which particularly shows up in their language (the pieces of it we have).

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

I don't know. To me they seem to be steppe/Middle-Eastern peoples rather than Slavs. Axes aside, they seem to be more Arabian, or perhaps slightly Persian, or with a stretch some people from slightly farther northeast, than Slavic. The Slavs weren't the only people to wear beards; they don't match appearances in terms of what we know about facial features or skin colour; they certainly didn't ride in wains, and while they had a cavalry it wasn't anything exceptional (actually, there is a theory that the Mongolian invasion didn't reach anywhere as far as it's said to be, and one of the main supporting factors is that you can't sustain or properly maneuver such a cavalry in the Slavic forests). It's true that Slavs used axes in battle while Middle Eastern people didn't, to the best of my knowledge, but aside from that I don't see how the Easterlings match Slavs.

Myself, I don't get much of a Middle-Eastern vibe from the Easterlings. However, some of them, particularly the Wainriders, do give me a strong steppe people vibe. It reminds me of a nomadic people living in portable yurts where the wagons could be repurposed for battle as well.

However, to me the Axemen referenced at the Battle of the Pelennor do seem to me have a bit of a Slavic flavor.

I agree with Zigûr that the East was huge enough to have many different cultures in it.

[Morthoron]

In regards to the Wainriders, I also considered steppe peoples, but the ancient Celts are also up for consideration, primarily for their armies confederated in a tribal manner and the use of chariots, an important facet of their form of combat preceding their arrival in the British Isles. Their migration from the East into Europe also mirrors their movements in Middle-earth.

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

In regards to the Wainriders, I also considered steppe peoples, but the ancient Celts are also up for consideration, primarily for their armies confederated in a tribal manner and the use of chariots, an important facet of their form of combat preceding their arrival in the British Isles. Their migration from the East into Europe also mirrors their movements in Middle-earth.

I had never considered the Celts in this context before but that is an excellent point.

[littlemanpoet]

My recollections of some of Tolkien's thoughts on this matter include that he wrote his Elves in part as a reaction to, and corrective of, the way "elfs" were described in 19th century romantic literature, in which they were diminutive figures living in buttercups and such. He wanted Elves to be raised to their former high place in the literature, namely the Northern epics, such as the Elder and Lesser Eddas, I believe.

As such, Elves are not based upon a historic culture, but upon a mythical folk derived from northern myth.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

The use of "war-wagons" as opposed to mere chariots is a far more Germanic practice, associated with both the Teutones and the much later Goths. (Of course, there was also Attila's fortified wagon-camp at the Battle of Chalons)

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

(Of course, there was also Attila's fortified wagon-camp at the Battle of Chalons)

That is exactly what I was thinking of in regard to the Wainriders.