Posted: April 11, 1998 at 03:40:33: by Michael Martinez
: I was reading through the newsgroups on Tolkien lately and saw
: that when people mentioned what influenced Tolkien's writings
: it is always Norse mythology. If I can recall Beowulf and The
: Elder Edda were major influences and was wondering if anyone
: knew where I could find some information about this connection.
: All help will be greatly appreciated, thank you.The information is scattered through a number of sources. Books that you may find readily available include: THE ANNOTATED HOBBIT
THE LETTERS OF J.R.R. TOLKIEN
THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH (twelve volumes) Tolkien also drew on the Kalevala and I've seen some people mention Irish and Welsh legend/mythology. He also drew on classical history (ancient Egypt, Rome, etc.) and I think last year someone made a good case for one medieval story but I don't recall which one it was. "Beowulf" was not really a major influence on Tolkien. It was a major influence on some aspects of his creation. Michael
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The Fairy Tales of J.R.R. Tolkien
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