What was the inspiration behind The Hobbit?

What was the inspiration behind The Hobbit?

An Oxford professor from 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was heavily inspired by the writings, languages and fantasies of Icelandic linguistic traditions, particularly Old Norse sagas like the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda. Iconic English literature may also have played a role in Tolkien’s first novel.

How many books are in Tolkien’s Legendarium?

12 volumes
Now edited and published as The History of Middle-earth by his son and literary executor, Christopher Tolkien, these 12 volumes provide a record of the growth of J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythology from its beginnings in 1917 to the time of his death more than 50 years later.

Is Gandalf the White a God?

Gandalf is, in an incredibly simplified version, a lesser God. He takes the form of a man in Middle Earth because that’s the role he is to assume there to be able to walk among mortals. Gandalf the Grey is one of five “wizards” sent to Middle Earth to combat evil, such as Sauron.

How did Tolkien write The Hobbit?

In a 1955 letter to W. H. Auden, Tolkien recollects that he began work on The Hobbit one day early in the 1930s, when he was marking School Certificate papers. He found a blank page. Suddenly inspired, he wrote the words, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”

Why did Tolkien write LOTR?

The reason J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings was that his readers wanted to read more about hobbits. Baggins seems to have exhibited so fully both the Took and the Baggins side of their nature” (Tolkien, “The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien”, p. 24).

What order should I read Tolkien’s books?

A Tolkien Reading Order

1. The Hobbit. – I myself read The Hobbit after The Lord of the Rings, but while it is perfectly do-able, I think it’s a mistake.
2. The Lord of the Rings.
3. The Silmarillion.
4. The Children of Húrin.
5. Unfinished Tales.
6. Beren and Lúthien.
7. The Fall of Gondolin.
8. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Who did Tolkien marry?

Edith Tolkienm. 1916–1971
J. R. R. Tolkien/Spouse

What is JRR Tolkien’s legendarium?

Tolkien’s legendarium. Tolkien’s legendarium is the body of J. R. R. Tolkien’s mythopoeic writing that forms the background to his The Lord of the Rings, a high fantasy novel which is widely considered to be his magnum opus.

What is the history of the legendarium?

The legendarium’s origins date back to 1914, when he began writing poems and story sketches, drawing maps, and inventing languages and names as a private project to create a unique English mythology. The earliest story drafts (of The Book of Lost Tales) are from 1916; he revised and rewrote these for most of his adult life.

What did JRR Tolkien do for Middle-earth?

He collects, translates from Old English, and writes the mythology that appears in The History of Middle-earth.

Why did Tolkien write the two time travel novels?

The two time-travel novels were attempts to create a frame story for The Silmarillion. Tolkien described his works as a legendarium in four letters from 1951 to 1955, a period in which he was attempting to have his unfinished The Silmarillion published alongside the more complete The Lord of the Rings.