LotR in medieval europe - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Tar-Alcarin · 12-14-2003, 12:24 AM

As I am sure most of you know that Lord of the Rings was much like medieval europe in a way. With the fighting and the language and other stuff, i wondered if the histories were also parralell(sp?). Like Rohan is certainly based on Norse customs, but are there other customs in middle-earth that are similer to customs in midieval europe?

The Squatter of Amon Rûdh · 12-14-2003, 08:38 AM

This is such a large and major theme in Tolkien's works that we probably have no one discussion of it. However it does come into most of our threads at some time or another.

From their language and culture (apart from their extensive use of horses) the Rohirrim are more closely based on the Anglo-Saxons than the Vikings, although Norse myth did enter into Tolkien's works in other ways (many of his names are derived from Norse texts, and the Norse legend of Sigurd and Fafnir inspired his interest in dragons).

Tolkien drew themes, names and inspiration from a vast wealth of sources, most of them medieval in some way or another. The name Eärendil is derived from a line from the Old-English poem Crist: "éalá éarendel engla beorhtast ofer middeangeard monnum sended" (very roughly "Hail Éarendel, brightest of angels, over Middle-earth sent to men." and indeed 'Middle-earth' is the meaning of the Norse Midgard and Anglo-Saxon Middeangeard. The phrase 'third time pays for all' is taken from the Middle-English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and there are a huge number of other links, allusions and borrowings from almost all of the medieval European world. Keep browsing and you'll find some very interesting parallels, both those drawn by Tolkien intentionally and those drawn by others, which are often less believable.

You can find good searchable on-line English dictionaries here and here. We'd all rather wait a little longer for a post to appear while its author looks up words they're not sure about than see the dreaded 'sp?' make an appearance.

12-14-2003, 12:24 AM	#1
Tar-Alcarin Wight Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Numenore Posts: 108	LotR in medieval europe As I am sure most of you know that Lord of the Rings was much like medieval europe in a way. With the fighting and the language and other stuff, i wondered if the histories were also parralell(sp?). Like Rohan is certainly based on Norse customs, but are there other customs in middle-earth that are similer to customs in midieval europe? __________________ Miniature Rohirrim armor: $500. Amount of fuel it took pippin to light the beacons: $20. Seeing your two favourite hobbits get wasted and drunk: priceless

12-14-2003, 08:38 AM	#2
The Squatter of Amon Rûdh Spectre of Decay Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Bar-en-Danwedh Posts: 2,177	This is such a large and major theme in Tolkien's works that we probably have no one discussion of it. However it does come into most of our threads at some time or another. From their language and culture (apart from their extensive use of horses) the Rohirrim are more closely based on the Anglo-Saxons than the Vikings, although Norse myth did enter into Tolkien's works in other ways (many of his names are derived from Norse texts, and the Norse legend of Sigurd and Fafnir inspired his interest in dragons). Tolkien drew themes, names and inspiration from a vast wealth of sources, most of them medieval in some way or another. The name Eärendil is derived from a line from the Old-English poem Crist: "éalá éarendel engla beorhtast ofer middeangeard monnum sended" (very roughly "Hail Éarendel, brightest of angels, over Middle-earth sent to men." and indeed 'Middle-earth' is the meaning of the Norse Midgard and Anglo-Saxon Middeangeard. The phrase 'third time pays for all' is taken from the Middle-English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and there are a huge number of other links, allusions and borrowings from almost all of the medieval European world. Keep browsing and you'll find some very interesting parallels, both those drawn by Tolkien intentionally and those drawn by others, which are often less believable. You can find good searchable on-line English dictionaries here and here. We'd all rather wait a little longer for a post to appear while its author looks up words they're not sure about than see the dreaded 'sp?' make an appearance. __________________ Man kenuva métim' andúne?