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redgiraffe
Rohan
Apr 9 2018, 10:34pm
Post #1 of 2
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Tolkien and the Vikinig Heritage - Thesis by Sophie Hinger
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I came across this thesis when doing some look into the influences of Tolkien. Sophie Hinger discusses the Viking influences on Tolkien's books and the film adaptations. She also discusses the use of the term "Viking" in relation to the actual Germanic people. The thesis is a long but really great and interesting read. I'd love to know what everyone's thoughts are on her take.
This is the website I found it on, which also links the full text: http://www.medievalists.net/...the-viking-heritage/
And here's the direct link to the pdf of the thesis: http://othes.univie.ac.at/...14-10-13_0908157.pdf
Here's an excerpt from her introduction:
The Oxford Companion to English Literature calls J.R.R Tolkien “the greatest
influence within the fantasy genre” (Birch 360). His The Lord of the Rings can
be seen as the first epic fantasy novel and the foundation stone for modern
fantasy literature. Many fantasy novels followed it, but The Lord of the Rings still
is unique and differs from its successors. The reason for its uniqueness is
Tolkien’s wish to create a mythology rather than a fantasy. He wanted to write a
mythology for England and therefore created Middle-earth as a mythological
version of Europe rather than creating a new and separate world as many
fantasy authors after him did. For this reason he had to create a world as
realistic as possible and similar to cultures that had a rich mythological tradition.
Two cultures which fulfil these requirements are the cultures of the AngloSaxons
and the Vikings, both being Germanic peoples. The Anglo-Saxons are
an important part of English history, while Viking culture has widely influenced
Northern European culture and history. Norse mythology is still fascinating for
many people today. Much has already been written about the influence of Norse
mythology on The Lord of the Rings (e.g. DuBois&Scott; Burns Realms). Less
research has so far been done about how other aspects of the culture and
history of the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons influenced Tolkien’s writing. This thesis
will take a step in that direction. The Germanic influence is most prominent in
the depiction of the people of Rohan. So far some scholars have compared
them to ‘Anglo Saxons on horseback’ (Bueno&Jorge; Drout; Honegger). There
are, however, several similarities between the Rohirrim and the Vikings that
support the assumption that Viking culture also played a role in the creation of
the people of Rohan. These similarities can, for example, be found in burial
customs, the representation of women and historical events. The Germanic,
and especially Viking, influence on The Lord of the Rings is, however, not only
restricted to the people of Rohan. It can also be seen in the general treatment of
mythology and poetry and in parallels between some characters in Norse sagas
and The Lord of the Rings, as for example Odin and Gandalf.
-Sir are you classified as human
-Negative, I am a meat-popsicle
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