Impacts Other works of Literature Had On the Writing of Tolkien's Secondary World of Middle Earth

Professor Jrr Tolkien was predominantly a philologist and an active student of Medieval literature besides being one of the world's most widely respected writers. Most of what he read threw out his life that was not apart of his own mythic magical subcreation was either the literary masterpieces of the early Middle Ages or writings from his good friends. That is not to say he never read any other books besides works of fiction or historical chronicles but what I'm trying to say is that these ancient mythic sources had a major impact on how he wrote. For example professor Tolkien was a big fan of the Vulsunga Sagas of Norse mythology. In those sagas there are references to dragons, wizards, and grate warriors such as Cularvo. Cularvo in particular is verry similar to Turin son of Hurin in more then one way. Both men are larger then life heroes and commit the terrible sin of incest and if I'm not mistaken thay also both face a fire breathing dragon. Yet lets not get carried away. There also some very big differences between Cularvo and Turin as well and I am certain that if I were to list them one by one i would probably bore you to death. One of those deference is that Turin is described as the most good looking man on earth while Cularvo is described as simply ugly. Tolkien's first dragon Glaurung unlike his thousands of offspring did not have wings while I'm pretty sure that the Vulsunga's dragons all have wings. HOwever for all these diferences the silmarities are doubtlessly verry striking and even mor evident when we study Beowulf and the connections that story holds when compared with the hobbit or the lord of the rings.
Thare thoes who are reading this blog who might have read Beowulf and thare thoes then again who might not have. But regardless I believe that with a few quick summeries of particular seens we could mark out the connections with relatively ease. The only reservation I have for you who have seen the Beowulf movie is not to confuse or scip over elements of my description of the epic anglo sackson poem with the film since thare more then one varations betwene the poem and the movie. To drastically summarise the poem Beowulf is kind of a crime aggenst the integretty of the literary work since thare is much i myself could screw up in the telling or miss but regardless of these few mistakes that might appear i think that it is probably the right course to take. Beowulf was acording to the poem one of the Getts someware near Denmark if I'm not mistaken living as a warrior amung his people. He was the nefew of the king of Geetland and known for his strength and native currage. As a result he left his land to go and seek glory and fame and discovered that the kingdom of a wise Dain named TThrothgar was under attack by a monsterous beast named Grendel. King Trothgar bult a beutiful meed hall. Then Grendell hating men and being a monster desended from the first murderor to walk the earth came and killed all thoes who ate in the hall frightening the locals half to death. When Beowulf came to save Throthgar's kingdom he killed the monster Grendel and later the beast's mother. For his bravery he was given lots of gold and prized armor. He returned home safe and sound. Then Beowulf became king of geetland after his uncle died and ruled his people with out shame or remorse born from defeat or failed conquests until a slave stole a cup from a dragon's pile of horded gold and enraged the beast so mutch that the dragon attacked Geetland reeking havoc as he went. Eventually Beowulf kills the dragon with the help of his trusty friend Wiglaf but is mortally wounded and ultimately gives his throne and armor to Wiglaf sinse he had no sons to inherit his kingdom. Thus ends one of the most revered epics in world history. As you can see Tolkien barroed menny elements from the poem to construct the plots of some of his best known stories. For example the incident with the dragon in with the slave steels a golden cup angering the beast and triggering the destruction of mutch of Geetland reminds me of when Bilbo the hobbit steels a golden cup from the dragon Smaug's lare enraging the dragon so mutch that he attacks Lake Town to his death in The Hobbit. In the poem there is no mention of plate armor and as in the Lord of the Rings or any other of Tolkien's works there is also no mention of plate armor as well. The entire concept of a dragon hording gold in the first place is one that Tolkien clearly was keen on using and reusing aggen threw out his writings such as the Silmarrillion's account of Glaurung's abode in Nargothrond and obviously Smaug in the Lonely Mountin. Finally the meed hall that we see in Beowulf is similar to the court of King Théoden of Rohan in the two towers. Everything besides the horses of the Roherrim match the Anglo sackson world of the middle ages with the people of Rohan of Middle Earth. They even speech the same old b. The fact that Tolkien didn't make up a knew form of speech for the Roherrim shoes is respect for the SAnglo Sackson world let alone Beowulf witch was one of his most favorite stories. As you see works like the Vulsunga Sagas or the epic of Beowulf had a clear impact on the stories of Middle Earth. The armor, the use of runic inscriptions witch I'll get to later in another blog, and even the entire use of dragons all made a mark on Tolkien's books because thay were orginally apart of his personal collection of sagas that he felt were classics that needed to be preserved and taught to the knew generation of readers flooding the world. The only reason I read Beowulf or even saw the movie was because of Tolkien.

Wizards' Staffs

Of all the wizards in Tolkien's works Gandalf and Saruman the White are the most iconic. Their struggle against one another is so powerful that it is often viewed as the ultimate clash between good and evil besides Gandalf's frequent other attempts to fight Sauron threw out the lord of the rings. Yet there weapons are not the stuff of mortal men or elves and dwarfs like swords, axes and bows but simple wooden staffs. These staffs can transmit wizard's magic in to the material world and are a symbol of thare otherworldly identity as messengers of the Valar. But fore the most part we don't know how these staffs are constructed or thare historical value like the sword of aragorn anduril. In the films Gandalf returns from the dead as gandalf the white with a knew staff but who gave it to him. Could it be from Valenor or perhaps from Galadriel. Who knows where Saruman gained his staff from. Surely one of the Valar could have produced it but there is no evidence to suggest this. I doubt that these staffs could have been made by the wizard's themselves because when Gandalf snaps Saruman's staff before the foot of Orthanc Saruman seems distressed. When Gandalf destroys the staff he says that his enemy has been cast from the order of wizard's so does that suggest that the majority of a wizard's power comes from his staff. It can't be possible when I know think about it to rebuild a staff or make one from a Wizard's perspective since Saruman does not have a staff when he meets Frodo at the end of the return of the king. Anyway it remains a mystery.

Daggers in Middle Earth

In professor JRR Tolkien's fictitious world of Middle Earth there many knives witch play a chief role in shaping his characters' history. The most obvious example one might recall is the short sword sting witch Frodo and Bilbo carried in to battle. Althow I've just called a short sword it really was a dagger or long knife probably used by an important elf lord in Gondolin before it fell to Sauron's master in the first age named Morgoth. When the dagger was found again by Bilbo in the troll cave as told in The Hobbit it was large enough according to a hobbit's shorter stature to serve as a short sword but for all intended purposes it was originally a dagger or at the very least a long deadly knife used by a warrior in the service of Turgon high king of Gondolin where it was forged. Like its mate it glowed blue when orcs were close and could cut threw spider webs with relative ease. If Bilbo or frodo hadn't possesed Sting then thay couldn't have survived thare encounter with Gollum and spiders. Frodo uses sting to cut the webs of Shelub the Spider in The Two Towers and later it is Sting guided by the careful and heroic character Samwise witch ingers Shelob in her own lare. These events are in the film version of the Return of the King. In the fellowship of the Ring book Sam, Marry, and Pippin along with Frodo obtain daggers out of a barrow of the north kingdom forged to withstand the cruel men and orcs under the command of the Witch king out of Angmar thousands of years before the company of the ring was asembled. Marry uses one of these daggers to inger the WWitch King in Gondor and Sam's dagger is taken by the servants of the enemy and brought before Gandalf and compiny at the Black Gates by the Mouth of Sauron in order to folsely convince Frodo's frends that the ring barrer is in the hands of the enemy. Frodo looses his sword when the Morgul Lord AKA the Witch King brakes it at the Ford of Bruanin so he inherrits sting from Bilbo. In the films these daggers were given to Marry Pippin, and the other hobbits by Aragorn on AmanSul or Wethertop just before thay are attacked by ring raiths. Later on in the films ball the hobbits exept get knew daggers in Lorian. Another cool dagger is Angrist in the Silmarrillion. Angrist was forged in the first age by Telchar the smith of Nogrod and passed in to the hands of the sons of Feonor before it
was taken by Berren who used it to cut the imortal holly Silmaril from Morgoth's iron crown. A Silmarril is a jewwel made by Feonor
containing the light of two trees witch gave middle earth it's light fore thousands of years before the son or moon were set to sail the skies.
Fore more details check my blogs on the Silmarrillion witch should be easy for any fan to read if you've seen or read the Lord of the Rings. Finnally the most intersting use of a dagger in Tolkien's works in my opinnion is the kinife witch the witchking uses to inger frodo in the
felloship of the ring but I have alreddy writen at length abought that dagger in my last blog abought ring raiths. Thank you and may your
swords always stay sharp.

Narceal...The Sword of Elendil... Also Called Anduril Flame of the West: Aragorn's Blade

Any reader of the Lord of the Rings or fan of the Jackson trilogy knows that swords are held in high regard in Middle Earth as one of the more preferred weapons of choice among warriors. You can almost say that besides sting Aragorn's broken blade descended from Elendil King of Gondor himself is probably one of the more important swords in the books and in the movies. First I will address the history of this weapon and then delve in to the changes Jackson made or his workers at Wetter Workshop.

The sword, known as Narceal, was first manufactured in Nogrod by the famous craftsman Telchar who also forged the knife Angrist and the Dragon Helm of Dorlomen. Of old we don't know who welded the famous blade during the first age but we do know that it belonged to the Numenorians after the war of Warath in witch Morgoth was overthrown. Elendil was the son of Amandil who was a mighty councilor of the king of Numenor before its fall. When the king left to die on the shores of the Undying Lands Elendil and those faithful to the Valar or angelic protectors of Middle Earth returned to Arda where they established the kingdoms of Arnor in the north and Gondor in the south. Elendil was overlord over both these realms but his two sons, Anarian and Issildur, who were kings themselves under their father, mostly ran the south kingdom. All threw out Elendil's reign he carried his sword Narceal and likely would have used in his wars against Sauron with Gilgalid leading up the Last Alliance's march on Mordor. In that final conflict the blade of Elendil broke as its master fell slain by the dark lord. Yet Isildur took up the shards of his father's sword and dealt the enemy his deathblow by cutting of Sauron's pinky witch bore the ruling ring. When Isildur was slain at the Gladin fields his squire brought the shards of Narceal to Imladris also called Rivindil where it was given to Valandil heir of the king Isildur. Sauron soon arose once again and destroyed the north kingdom but the shards were protected by the long forgotten blood line of Elendil until Aragorn brought the broken sword to Imladris again where it was previously kept by Elrond until Aragorn grew up to become a ranger and a captain of war. Up until the reforging of Narceal he had used the blade to help Frodo get to Rivindil and fight of enemies of Gondor as Thorongil. The blade was renamed Anduril when it was reforged by the smiths of Elrond. In the war of the ring Aragorn used this sword again at the hornburg in Rohan and Pelenor in Gondor as well as at the final battle that took place before the gates of Mordor. Peter Jackson depicts Narceal as a two handed bastard sword when Tolkien seems to suggest that the blade was one handed. Runic inscriptions were added on the blade when there only very specific runes described to have existed on the sword at the time of its reforging in Imladris. Aragorn also only receives the sword in the movie version of the Return of the king while in the books he always carries it threw out all three fat novels. Finally Jackson depicts Anduril as a sword that doesn't glow while Tolkien frequently describes the blade glowing with a pale or red light in mortal combat depending on whether it is under the sun or moon.

Thank you and know my friends, that renewed shall be blade that was broken and the crownless again shall be king.

The One Ring

Fore those of you who have seen the movies and have not actually read any of the books I have decided to give you a tad more info regarding the one ring and its qualities. Fore those of you who have read Tolkien's books hang on and keep reading because I have also decided to shed light on a portion of the ring's history witch can easily be overlooked. First of all, movie fans must be aware that Sauron's ring was worn on the pinky of the dark lord and not his ring finger. I don't know how Jackson shoed Sauron wearing his ring in the prologue but I heard he might have missed this detail in the Fellowship of the Ring. On to more important matters. The ring displays fiery letters inside and outside the golden band. In the movies I don't know whether this is clear or not but I thought that fans like myself might need this fact made transparent and less open to interpretation. Thirdly and most interesting I have heard that the writing on the one ring is in a form of Elvish called Tangwer witch Sauron himself made. That form of Elvish speech was originally designed to be used as the only language of Sauron's realm and all those servants under his authority else ware. However his armies were so diverse and culturally different that this ancient writing and the manner of speaking was seldom used during the height of his terrible reign as overlord of Mordor during the third age. Further more I have also discovered that the one ring made its way to the island of Numenor inhabited by mortal men fore those fans of Tolkien's more obscure yet equally important works. It is said that Sauron brought the ruling ring with him to Numenor to corrupt its people and destroy them fore all time. When this plan eventually back fired he brought the ring with him despite the fact that his fare form had been unmade fore ever explaining his grotesque form as dark lord of Mordor at that battle we see in the prologue Peter Jackson cunningly assembled from the final chapters of the Silmarrillion.

Thank you and remember oft evil will shall evil mar. Even shadow must pass so that when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.

The Lord of the Rings Part 6: The Battle Of The Pelenor Fields

The battle that took place in Gondor at the same time as Dale and Arabor we're being attacked is known as the battle of the Pelenor fields. The field of battle or fields I most likely should say we're located along the river Anduin beside Minis Tirith. The actual fighting began when the Morgul Lord AKA the witchking left Minis Morgul with an army of orcs to seize total control of the white city of the south. Minis Tirith had long been under the protection of the stewards but since the decline of Denathor under the sway of Sauron the war machine of Gondor was forced to turn to Denathor's son Faramer, lord Imrahil of Dol Amroth, and even Gandalf fore true genuine encouragement. The battle seemed to be a defeat to the Gondorians until the Roherim of the Mark came and drove deep in to the ranks of the evil southrons, easternlings, and orcs. In that battle Theodin king of Rohan was slain and so was the Morgul Lord at the hand of Eowin. Also Denathor committed suicide believing that his son was dying and that the enemy had captured the ruling ring. This was incorrect but Ill get back to that later in another blog on luck in Tolkien’s works or something like that. The tide then turned against the forces of good when a black fleet seemingly appeared full of enemies but suddenly the black sailed ships displayed their true standard-- the flag of the kings of Gondor. In other words Aragorn and his friends had captured the ships of their enemies brought them to victory. At this time the orcs and wild evil men broke ranks and fled. Few could endure the face of Aragorn in his wrath or lord Eomer son of Theodin now king of Rohan. These two captains returned to their men in triumph but Aragorn could not enter the city willingly with out triggering chaos and conflict among the royal family or the friends of Denathor the accursed. Therefore in response to this victory Aragorn decided to follow the advise of Gandalf and march out against the dark lord on the very soil of Mordor itself. This distracted the red eye long enough fore Frodo to to bring the one ring to mount doom where it was unmade and the power of Sauron flushed out fore all time. This was the chief importance of the battle of the Pelenor and the heroism of the friends of Frodo the hobbit. You may remember that in the movie Aragorn arrives with a ghost army to turn the tide of battle at the fields of Pelenor while in the book this supernatural army is not present at the actual conflict outside the gates of Gondor.

I wish to thank my good friend Matt Lewis who’s help in issuing these bogs has been monumental in achieving the release of Tolkien's ultimate blog series that I am most privileged to write. May your swords always stay sharp.