Hugo Joly Morin Professor Elisabeth Oliver ANG2020 April 30th 2012

The Influence of Old English on J.R.R. Tolkiens TheLord of the Rings

It is uncommon for a popular work of art to take roots in an academic context. Many popular novels and films, possibly the two most common mediums of art we encounter nowadays, are written by talented creative writers and aim to achieve a high level of realism to help the reader connect with the work. An exception to this came to popularity nearly sixty years ago. J.R.R. Tolkien, then an Anglo-Saxon professor in the University of Oxford, published his second novel, titled The Lord of the Rings, in 1954. It is while being a full-time professor that Tolkien wrote the Lord of the Rings, an uncommon fact for the third best-selling novel ever written at more than 150 million copies sold. Reading The Lord of the Rings, however, it is clear that the academic context in which the novel was written contributed greatly to the complexity, depth and aesthetic prowess of the novel.Tolkien being an expert in Anglo-Saxon, nearly all of the names employed in the novel share Old English roots. Moreover, perhaps the greatest and best-known work written in Old English was the heroic epic poem Beowulf. Tolkien is often said to have helped to rescue the poem for posterity1 by not only writing one of his most important essays on the subject, Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, but by basing a lot of The Lord of
1

Tolley, Clive. Beowulf & Other Stories: A New Introduction to Old English, Old Icelandic and Anglo-Norman Literatures. p.48

the Rings on the Anglo-Saxon poem. It is clear then that Old English has had an enormous influence on the novel and greatly provided its verses with an injection of timeless beauty and grace. The Lord of the Rings is set in the fictional but incredibly vast and detailed universe of Middle-Earth. Tolkien has put great effort in developing an impossibly gigantic realm peopled by many diverse races. Of the immeasurable number of characters and locations present in Tolkiens work, many bear a name deeply rooted in Old English. An exhaustive list would not be adequate, since many characters only take a small part in the main story of the Ring, but some bear a very meaningful place in Tolkiens poetic lines. First, we have the Rohirrim, the people of realm of Rohan. They speak a language, Rohirric, rendered by Tolkien as the Mercian dialect of Old English.2 In addition to their speech, their names also take roots in Old English. For instance, many of them have the prefix o-, the Old English word for horse3, referring to the fact that the Rohirrim are a race of horse riders. Important characters such as owyn (wyn meaning joy) and omer (derived frommaermeaning glorious or heroic), also have a suitable Old English suffix to their name. When, in the novel, we first encounter the Rohirrim, it is Aragorn who introduce them with an adaptation of an Old English poem from the 11th century titled The Wanderer. It is beautifully touching and, as Legolas observes, "laden with the sadness of Mortal Men."4 This addition of Old English verse makes Tolkiens work infinitely more poetic and adds greatly to the deep sentimentality of most of the novels prose. Another very important character in The Lord of the Rings with an Old English name is Saruman. Commonly named the White Wizard, he is a major antagonist in the story. While he was sent in Middle-Earth to battle Sauron,
2

Solopova, Elizabeth. Languages, Myths and History: An Introduction to the Linguistic and Literary Background of J.R.R. Tolkien's Fiction, p.67 3 The Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionarys entry for o 4 The Two Towers, chapter 6.

the Dark Lord and main antagonist in the novel, he was corrupted and began seeking power for himself. His name itself is very deeply steeped in Old English. Searu means cunning, treacherous5, but, as the lexicographers themselves explain, it is uncertain whether the word is being used with a good or a bad meaning6. This particularity is very meaningful for the readers comprehension of the story. By knowing what searu means, the reader can then question the intentions of the character, even before anything happens. Saruman, the White Wizard, leader of all Wizards of Middle-Earth and someone that begins as a positive force, will turn out to be a vile, power-seeking, dictator of evil. He will betray the order of Wizards, as well as Gandalf his former friend and one of the main protagonists of the novel. It is to be noted that Tolkien chose to use Saruman as opposed to Searuman. This was done deliberately by the author to give the character a more Mercian form7, representing Sarumans position in the realm of Rohan, a Mercian-influenced people as noted earlier. The Old English root of this characters name is therefore a major influence in the readers perception of him and the story that revolves around him. Beowulf is now regarded as one of the most important pieces of Old English literature. Tolkien is no stranger to this recognition since he was one of the foremost supporters of this epic poem and has written one of the most important essays on the subject, Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.Beowulfs influence on The Lord of the Rings is palpable and present in many aspects of the novel. First, Aragorn, one of the main protagonists in the novel, is clearly reminiscent of the character Beowulf. Aragorn, son of Arathorn, is an immensely skilled warrior who, we discover, is the rightful heir of the throne of the realm of Gondor. Beowulf, son of
5 6

The Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionarys entry for Searu Tolley, Clive. Beowulf & Other Stories: A New Introduction to Old English, Old Icelandic and Anglo-Norman Literatures. p.56 7 Ibid.

Ecgtheow, is also a legendary warrior, supposedly possessing the strength of thirty men. He is also the future king of Geatland.8 While these characteristics could well apply to many characters throughout literary history, the resemblance does not end there; like Beowulf, whose father Ecgtheow is at best a violent renegade passing through one kingdom after another, Aragorn is a man with a dubious family past.9 Furthermore, both men do not take the crown from ambition or seeking any kind of power. They are persuaded into sitting on the throne by their companions after harbouring doubts about [their] own suitability for the role.10Finally, a certain romantic feeling of sadness also doom both characters. Aragorn display a certain vibe of disillusion towards the kingdoms of men and their relationships between them. Beowulf, as depicted in the poem, is a man, and that for him and many is sufficient tragedy.11This likeness is not fortuitous and it is very tempting to think that Aragorn was in fact based on the epics hero, even more so when we think that Tolkien was such an adamant defender of Beowulf and would have happily done anything to keep the poetic work from being forgotten. Even further evidence of the relationship between Beowulf and The Lord of the Rings lies in lines 224-230 of the former and chapter 6 of the third book in the latter. It is the opening paragraph of the speech a guard tells the companions, on one part of Beowulf and on the other of Aragorn, who wish to enter the gates of a city. In Beowulf, the guard exclaims: What kind of men are you who arrive / rigged out for combat in coats of mail, / sailing here over the sea-lanes / in your steep-hulled boat? I have / been stationed / as lookout on this coast for a long time. When Aragorn and his companions want to enter Meduseld and speak to Thoden, King of Rohan, the guards speak: Whoare you that come heedless over the plain thus strangely clad, riding horses like to our own
8

Tolley, Clive. Beowulf & Other Stories: A New Introduction to Old English, Old Icelandic and Anglo-Norman Literatures. p.39 9 Ibid. 10 Ibid. 11 Beowulf, 68.

horses? Long have we kept guard here, and we have watched you from afar.12 The difference is strictly context-wise, horses instead of a ship. The content is the same and it is impossible to deny the clear influence Beowulf has had on Tolkiens own heroic story. It is rare for a novel written with such an academic background to achieve mass popularity. J.R.R. Tolkien has used his extensive knowledge of Old English and, in particular, the epic poem Beowulf to write a magnificent novel that is sure to remain in literary history forever. Be it because of the inherent poetry of the now all but foreign language or the clear resemblance between two now legendary characters, J.R.R. Tolkien has managed to write The Lord of the Rings in such a fashion that he was able to open for the glad reader a boundless, marvelous world in which history, linguistics and poetry are forever bound.

12

Tolley, Clive. Beowulf & Other Stories: A New Introduction to Old English, Old Icelandic and Anglo-Norman Literatures. p.43

Works cited Books

North, Richard, and Joe Allard, eds. Beowulf & Other Stories: A New Introduction to Old English, Old Icelandic and Anglo-Norman Literatures. London: Longman, 2007. Print. Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2000. Print. Tolley, Clive. "Old English Inuence on The Lord of the Rings." Beowulf & Other Stories: A New Introduction to Old English, Old Icelandic and Anglo-Norman Literatures. Ed. Richard North and Joe Allard. London: Longman, 2007. 38-62. Print. Solopova, Elizabeth. Languages, Myths and History: An Introduction to the Linguistic and Literary Background of J.R.R. Tolkien's Fiction. [S.l.]: North Landing, 2009. Print. Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings. Ed. Alan Lee. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. Print.

Website Bosworth, Joseph, and Thomas Northcote Toller. An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary: Based on the Manuscript Collections of Joseph Bosworth. London: Oxford UP, 1966. Web. 27 Apr. 2012.