Posted: December 28, 1999 at 02:12:05: by Olorin
There is also an opera, Das Ring des Niebelung (or along those lines) from which Tolkien may have drawn. Magic rings and dwarves. It's a pretty good story and I've always wondered if Tolkien got his inspiration for the one ring from that opera.
-O
: I was at an art-gallery the other day, which was showing Florentin reneissance paintings. One that caught my eye was "Apollo and Marsyas"; this painting pictured (the Greek God) Apollo getting ready to flay the Satyr Marsyas alive, after winning a "contest in songs of power". My mind immediately went to the contest between Sauron and Felagund in the story of Beren and Luthien; not only did they contest their strenght through songs, but after Sauron prevailed, Finrod Felagund, Beren and the ten other elves were indeed stripped (flayed?) of their disguise as orcs.: As a man educated in the Classics, I am sure Tolkien was well versed in the Greek myths. Is it possible he had the story of Apollo and Marsyas in mind when he wrote about Sauron and Felagund? : Another thing I remember is the medieval Scandinavian legend of Siegfried the Dragonslayer: The mightiest warrior of his day, but with a dark doom upon him that he heedlessly ignored; that in the end overtook him, in spite of all his valor and skill. This reminds me, of course, of Turin - both a dragonslayer and with a dark doom looming above him. : Does anyone know any other myths like these, that Tolkien might have incorporated in his works? Or are these just coincidences?
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