Return of the Rings

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses Tolkien and Wagner, among the most influential artists in their respective fields. The paper examines how both Tolkien and Wagner sought to recreate the myths of an ancient era, giving their audience a sense of history which transcended the momentary. The paper contends that Tolkien and Wagner both seemed to believe that myth is necessary to the soul of the modern romantic. The paper illustrates how Tolkien particularly sees Nordic history as offering an example of personal heroism and meaning in a war-torn world, while Wagner sees it as an ancient proclamation of the coming of an age of uber-humanism.

From the Paper:

"Tolkien explores the Nordic myths philologically, as it influences our language and therefore symbolism; his plots are generally reconstructions from the actual languages themselves, with syncretic plots. "Tolkien once said that he wrote The Lord of the Rings simply to create a world in which 'A star shines on the hour of our meeting' (Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo) was a common salutation." (Henning, 1) He drew a majority of his characters, place names, and plot elements --from rings to wraiths to orcs-- on the languages which inspired him, particularly the ancient Celtic, Finnish, Saxon and Nordic languages of his Aryan heritage. "He viewed his languages as real languages that he was discovering, rather than inventing." (Henning, 1) There are countless examples of words which Tolkien stumbled across in original languages and could not entirely define or explain without recourse to myth-making. For example, Beowulf and other ancient texts refer occasionally to a race of monsters called "orc," a term which had also been used by Blake for the Revolutionary Spirit."

More papers on Return of the Rings:

• Essay # 70879 : " Return of the Kings"
• Analytical Essay # 2810 : "Sam Gamgee, the Hero?"
• Analytical Essay # 3266 : "Tolkien's Fantasy"

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