Buzz
For countless readers, our venture into the world of fantasy began with Professor J.R.R. Tolkien. Whether through The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, or Peter Jackson’s film adaptations, from the very first encounter, we were captivated. Tolkien has inspired many modern fantasy giants, from George R.R. Martin to Terry Brooks. Some of us may have even been motivated to pen our own tales, all thanks to the professor.
However, fantasy wasn’t born when Middle-earth was first conceived. Tolkien himself was influenced by much older works, and by his close friend and fellow writer C.S. Lewis. The two even once planned a collaborative project, which Lewis began. Here are ten tales that shaped Tolkien's creative world and contributed to the legendary mythos we cherish today.
10. The Roots Of The Mountains by William Morris
One of Tolkien's favorite childhood tales was The Story of Sigurd, taken from The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang. We will explore that more shortly. But for now, we want to focus on the anthology’s preface, where Tolkien first encountered the name William Morris. It was in this preface that Tolkien discovered that The Story of Sigurd was, in fact, a condensed version of Morris’s The Volsunga Saga, which Morris had translated from Old Norse.
William Morris played a key role in shaping Tolkien's imagination during his early years, though many of his biographers have overlooked this connection. Tolkien studied at King Edward’s School in Birmingham from 1900 to 1911, where his form master introduced him to an English translation of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf (which will be discussed later). While we may never know for sure, some scholars suggest that this translation was by Morris and A.J. Wyatt. In his senior year, Tolkien presented a paper on the Norse sagas to the school’s Literary Society. A few months later, he contributed an article on The Volsunga Saga to the school’s journal. In this report, Tolkien referenced a translation by Morris and adopted phrasing that mirrored Morris’s own style. Years later, in 1920, Tolkien presented his essay “The Fall of Gondolin” to the Exeter College Essay Club. The club’s president noted in the minutes that Tolkien’s approach was “in the tradition of such romantic figures as William Morris.”
Despite the considerable evidence of Morris’s influence on Tolkien, the connection has been largely overlooked by scholars. Perhaps this is because Tolkien only mentioned it once, in a letter to Professor L.W. Forster in 1960. Referring to the Dead Marshes, Tolkien noted that, “They owe more to William Morris and his Huns and Romans, as in The House of the Wolflings or The Roots of the Mountains.” It has since become clear that The Roots of the Mountains provided the foundation for Tolkien's creation of Middle-earth’s mythology.
9. Beowulf
In 1936, Tolkien wrote a crucial essay titled “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics,” in which he emphasized its significance as literature. His perspective reshaped how we view the epic, and now we recognize Beowulf as a foundational piece of fantasy. Its motif of light versus darkness has since become a staple in modern fantasy, including in Tolkien’s own works.
Tolkien, in a 1949 letter to Naomi Mitchison, expressed that the dragon in Beowulf was not, in his view, 'terribly impressive.' Nevertheless, the story held a special place for him. He even told the Observer in 1938 that, 'Beowulf is one of my most treasured sources.' According to John Garth, author of Tolkien and the Great War, 'Without Beowulf, Tolkien would not have become the writer we know him as.'
8. The Tale of Sigurd by Andrew Lang
The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang was one of Tolkien’s cherished childhood reads. Among the final stories in the book was The Story of Sigurd. In his biography of Tolkien, Humphrey Carpenter mentioned that The Story of Sigurd was the finest tale Tolkien had ever encountered. The professor himself once remarked that he felt like one of the children Lang addressed with his stories.
The Story of Sigurd is rooted in Old Norse mythology. Sigurd, the legendary hero, gains renown and wealth by slaying the dragon Fafnir and claiming its treasure. The sword Sigurd wields was shattered when his father passed, but it was reforged from the broken fragments. Tolkien borrowed this idea for Aragorn’s sword, which was likewise broken after Elendil, his ancestor, fell to Sauron. The professor also regarded Fafnir as a superior dragon compared to the one in Beowulf. In a letter to Naomi Mitchison, he stated that Smaug was inspired by Fafnir.
7. The Book of Dragons by Edith Nesbit
While we’re on the subject of dragons, have you ever come across The Book of Dragons by E. Nesbit? It’s uncertain whether Tolkien ever read it, but Douglas A. Anderson suggests that he likely did. The stories in The Book of Dragons were originally published in The Strand in 1899, when Tolkien was just seven years old.
Tolkien once shared with W.H. Auden in a letter that during his youth, he had written a story. All he could recall was a 'green great dragon,' which his mother corrected to 'a great green dragon.' Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but one of Nesbit’s stories features several green dragons, one with gold wings and a 'great green scaly side.' Interestingly, the dragon in Farmer Giles of Ham bears a striking resemblance to one in another tale from The Book of Dragons. As Tolkien mentioned in a letter to Roger Lancelyn Green, 'One cannot exclude the possibility that buried childhood memories might suddenly rise to the surface long after.'
6. The Golden Key by George MacDonald
George MacDonald was another one of Tolkien’s childhood favorites. In his biography of the professor, Humphrey Carpenter mentions that Tolkien particularly enjoyed the Curdie books. In his essay “On Fairy Stories,” Tolkien also references The Giant’s Heart, Lilith, and The Golden Key.
In 1964, Pantheon Books asked Tolkien to write a preface for their new edition of The Golden Key. The professor responded, saying, 'I am not as warm an admirer of George MacDonald as C.S. Lewis was; but I do think well of this story of his.' In his essay “On Fairy Stories,” he described it as 'a story of power and beauty.' However, Humphrey Carpenter notes that after rereading The Golden Key, Tolkien found it 'ill-written, incoherent, and bad, in spite of a few memorable passages.' Although Tolkien began working on the preface in 1965, it ultimately transformed into Smith of Wooton Major.
The Curdie books influenced Tolkien’s portrayal of orcs and goblins. In The Golden Key, there is a mystical woman who is thousands of years old. Her description by MacDonald closely mirrors Tolkien’s depiction of Galadriel: 'She was tall and strong, with white arms and neck, and a delicate flush on her face [ . . . ] not only was she beautiful, but [ . . . ] her hair [ . . . ] hung loose far down and all over her back [ . . . ] it was white almost as snow. And although her face was so smooth, her eyes looked so wise that you could not have helped seeing she must be old.'
5. ‘Puss-Cat Mew’ by E.H. Knatchbull-Hugessen
Tolkien once wrote to Roger Lancelyn Green, recalling how he was 'read to from ‘an old collection’—tattered and without cover or title-page.' One of his favorite stories from that book was 'Puss-cat Mew' by E.H. Knatchbull-Hugessen. Tolkien believed the 'old collection' might have been compiled by Buwer Lytton. Although he was never able to find it again, it is most likely from *Stories for my Children*, Knatchbull-Hugessen’s personal anthology.
It’s easy to see how Tolkien drew inspiration from 'Puss-cat Mew.' Much of the story takes place in 'a large and gloomy forest,' which bears a striking resemblance to Mirkwood, Fangorn, and even the Old Forest. The tale also features ogres, dwarfs, and fairies. Additionally, in the original collection, there was an illustration of an ogre disguised as a tree, which strongly evokes Tolkien’s Ents. Although the professor once denied that his ideas were inspired by pictures, he later admitted to the contrary. As noted in the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment (edited by Michael D.C. Drout), this image of the ogre as a tree resonates with Tolkien’s creation of the Ents.
4. The Marvellous Land of Snergs by E.A. Wyke-Smith
Tolkien wrote in his notes for 'On Fairy Stories': 'I should like to record my own love and my children’s love of E.A. Wyke-Smith’s Marvellous Land of Snergs,' specifically the Snerg element of the tale and Gorbo, 'the gem of dunderheads, jewel of a companion in an escapade.' However, in a letter to W.H. Auden, he played down the influence of the stories, remarking that it 'was probably an unconscious source-book for the Hobbits, not of anything else.'
When Tolkien began crafting the story that would later become The Hobbit, he did so to meet his children’s desire for more tales about the Snergs. The Snergs bear a strong resemblance to Hobbits, and Middle-earth, particularly the Shire, shares many similarities with the Land of the Snergs. One chapter, 'Twisted Trees,' inspired Bilbo’s adventure with the dwarves in Mirkwood. In early drafts of The Lord of the Rings, a Hobbit named Trotter accompanied Frodo from the Shire to Rivendell. Trotter closely resembled Gorbo, the central Snerg in The Marvellous Land of Snergs, who journeys with two human children. Eventually, Aragorn replaced Trotter, but many of the similarities remained.
3. The Book of Wonder by Lord Dunsany
To wrap up, we turn to Lord Dunsany. In 1967, Tolkien was interviewed by Charlotte and Denis Plimmer. They shared their initial draft of an article that would later be published in the Daily Telegraph Magazine the following year. In it, they quoted Tolkien as saying, 'When you invent a language you more or less catch it out of the air. You say ‘boo-hoo’ and that means something.' Tolkien, however, was not pleased. In his response, he expressed surprise at the quote, as it contradicted his own views. He added that if he were to use the term 'boo-hoo,' it would be inspired by Lord Dunsany’s 'Chu-bu and Sheemish,' describing it as the name for 'some ridiculous, fat, self-important character, mythological or human.'
'Chu-bu and Sheemish' was published in 1912 as part of The Book of Wonder. Tolkien recalled the story with affection, though he was critical of the author’s style. The professor once remarked in a letter to his publishers that Dunsany struggled with creating coherent names. Nevertheless, he greatly enjoyed 'The Hoard of the Gibbelins' and later drew inspiration from it when writing The Mewlips, which shares many similarities with Dunsany’s work.
2. The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson
C.S. Lewis once described William Hope Hodgson’s novel The Night Land as possessing an 'unforgettable sombre splendor' in its images. He also critiqued the book for its 'sentimental and irrelevant' romanticism and lackluster prose, labeling it a poor attempt at a style that was older than itself. Douglas A. Anderson concurs with Lewis’s assessment but also acknowledges that, 'The Night Land is still a kind of masterpiece.'
Although there is scant proof that Tolkien ever personally read any of Hodgson's works, there are striking similarities between his stories and those of Hodgson. For instance, in stories like The Night Land or “The Baumoff Explosive,” one can observe echoes of the dark forces that Tolkien also presents in the mines of Moria. This resemblance has led Anderson, the author of The Annotated Hobbit and compiler of Tales Before Tolkien, to speculate that Tolkien might have encountered The Night Land during the 1930s, possibly introduced by his friend C.S. Lewis.
1. H. Rider Haggard
Tolkien had a deep appreciation for the stories of H. Rider Haggard during his childhood. The professor played a key role in supervising the revision of Roger Lancelyn Green’s thesis in 1943. Green noted that Tolkien held Haggard in high esteem. Furthermore, in an interview with Henry Resnick, Tolkien admitted, “I suppose as a boy She interested me as much as anything.”
However, it is King Solomon’s Mines that most profoundly influenced Tolkien. The J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment emphasizes that Tolkien incorporated elements like maps, detailed narration, and quests for ancient treasure in The Hobbit. Even Gollum, the Glittering Caves of Helm’s Deep, and Gandalf’s struggle to find the correct path in Moria appear to have roots in scenes and characters from King Solomon’s Mines.
Green once lent Tolkien a book by Haggard, yet the professor never mentioned it. It seems that Tolkien did not return to these stories as an adult. But perhaps that was for the best—just consider the effect when he reread MacDonald’s The Golden Key!
