Navigate

About

Profile
Astrology
Favorites
Likes & Dislikes

Collections

Books
Breyers
CDs
DVDs
MP3s

Creations

Art & Photos (DOWN)
Writing

Writing / Schoolwork

Allusion to Mythology in The Silmarillion

Spring 2003
Com. 2
5245 words

Allusions to World Mythology in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion

    Professor J.R.R. Tolkien was truly one of the great imaginative thinkers of the 20th century. From this one man’s mind came a world many people are familiar with: Middle-Earth. Most people know this place from Tolkien’s most famous work, The Lord of the Rings. When one reads this masterpiece, he or she is overcome with the sense that there is more to the land of Middle-Earth than the plot of The Lord of the Rings reveals. And there is. Tolkien created a history, mythology, whole cultures, and languages for Middle-Earth. Most of this background is revealed in The Silmarillion, a history of Middle-Earth from its creation till the first War of the Rings. Middle-Earth’s history as revealed in The Silmarillion is rich with mythological allusion, and is more of an epic like the Odyssey, mixing mythology and history. Although the history and mythology in The Silmarillion is original, one can spot many similarities and parallels between it and myths from real cultures. Many cultures around the world share common myths, and by making use of these common archetypes and myths, specifically those of the Judeo-Christian, Greco-Roman, and European (Scandinavian, Celtic, etc.) traditions, that most people can identify with, Tolkien makes his world of Middle-Earth much more plausible and life-like.

    John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, born in 1892, was already an avid linguist at a young age. His mother taught him Latin, French, and German. He later learned Finnish, Gothic, Greek, Italian, Middle and Old English, Old Norse, Spanish, and Welsh. (Noel, 3) He also had an interest in creating languages of his own. Although he created many languages, one of the most important was Quenya, which was based on Finnish and would later become the ancient language of the Elves. Unlike many fantasy stories, where a few words of a language are created to give the story a cultural flavor, Tolkien built his languages first, and then began to build a world in which these languages were used. As Ruth S. Noel states in her book, The Languages of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, "Perhaps the critical influence that directed Tolkien’s creative genius toward the works for which he is best known occurred when, at the age of twenty-one, he read the Old English religious poem Crist by Cynewulf. Two lines stood out vividly:

Eala Earendel engla beorhtast
ofer midangeard monnum sended.
Hail Earendel, brightest of angels,
Above Middle-earth sent unto men."

    Later, about these words, Tolkien would write: "There was something remote and beautiful behind those words, if I could grasp it, far beyond ancient English." (Carpenter, 72) Tolkien was also familiar with Prose Edda, an ancient Icelandic work about a mariner called Orentil (which was also the name of a star). Tolkien combined the figure Earendel from Crist, "an angelic light sent purposefully to mankind" (Noel, 4), with the mariner Orentil to create Eärendil, who will be discussed further later in this paper. Tolkien began to use his language to write poetry about Eärendil, and eventually this grew to become the series of tales that was The Silmarillion. As Humphrey Carpenter says in his biography of Tolkien, "This notion of the star-mariner whose ship leaps into the sky had grown from the reference to 'Earendel' in the Cynewulf lines. But the poem that it produced was entirely original. It was in fact the beginning of Tolkien’s own mythology." (Carpenter, 80) Tolkien had already begun developing these tales in 1917. He had found that the Aegean world, Europe, Scandinavia, and just about every other place in the world had a mythological background, but England had nothing besides the tales of King Arthur and his knights. After reading the Finnish epic poem the Kalevala, he wrote, "I would that we had more of it left – something of the same sort that belonged to the English." (Carpenter, 100) Tolkien intended for his stories to fill that void. These stories kept evolving and growing, and although The Silmarillion was the first thing he began work on, it was rejected by the publishing companies. He began work on other stories set in Middle-Earth that took place many years after the stories in The Silmarillion: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Over the years, he continued trying to get The Silmarillion published, only to fail. In 1977, four years after Tolkien’s death in 1973, his son, Christopher Tolkien, managed to finally get The Silmarillion published.

    The Silmarillion is a compilation of tales which record the history of Middle-Earth, from its creation till the end of the Second Age (to give a means of comparison, the story of The Lord of the Rings occurs near the end of the Third Age). The Silmarillion is divided into four parts: Ainulindalë ("The Music of the Ainur") tells of the creation of the world by Ilúvatar. Valaquenta ("Account of the Valar") tells of all the Valar, who are similar to gods or angels. Quenta Silmarillion ("The History of the Silmarils"), the main story in The Silmarillion, for which it is named after, tells of the life of the Valar in Middle-Earth before the arrival of people, the birth of the Elves and their doings and deeds in Middle Earth, the enemy Morgoth and all the evil he sows, and most importantly, the Silmarils, three jewels which incur greed, desire, and hatred among friends and relatives, and which lead to great wars. Akallabêth ("The Downfall of Númenor") tells of the rise and fall of the race of Men. The Silmarillion ends with “Of the Rings of Power,” which gives the background to the story told in The Lord of the Rings.

    The Silmarillion begins much in the way one would expect a religious text to:

    "There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made."

    Already, one finds an allusion to monotheistic religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Ilúvatar is God, "the One." However, unlike the God of the three previously mentioned religions, Ilúvatar is a deus ostiosus, a "hidden god," or a god who might create the world and mankind but other than that does not interfere in anything. He dwelt alone in the Timeless Halls until he created the Ainur, holy beings who he had sing for him. Singing together, their harmony created the world and its fate. Ilúvatar said "Eä! Let these things be!" and the creation of the Ainur's song came into being. The Ainur were given the choice of staying with Ilúvatar in the Timeless Halls or living on the new world, which was called Arda. Some stayed behind, but others left. The Ainur that chose to go to Arda were called the Valar.

    Although Tolkien presents us with a monotheistic One God and lesser holy beings which he created, the Valar -- the Ainur living on Arda -- are more like the gods of the Greco-Roman or European pantheons than the angels of today’s monotheistic religions. Unlike Ilúvatar, who does not play any part in the world or its people besides creation them, the Valar do take an active part in the happenings on Arda. Each of the Valar has a specific calling which they attend to, and thus are similar to many Greco-Roman and European gods. As Humphrey Carpenter says in his book, Tolkien: A Biography:

    "Tolkien cast his mythology in this form because he wanted it to be remote and strange, and yet at the same time not to be a lie. He wanted the mythological and legendary stories to express his own moral view of the universe; and as a Christian he could not place this view in a cosmos without the God that he worshiped. At the same time, to set his stories 'realistically' in the known world, where religious beliefs were explicitly Christian, would deprive them of imaginative colour. So while God is present in Tolkien’s universe, He remains unseen."

    Manwë is the Lord of all the Valar, ruling from the highest peak on Arda. In this he is similar to the Greek Zeus (Roman Jupiter), who rules over all the Olympian gods from Mount Olympus, and to Odin, the chief god of Norse mythology, and to many other "rulers of the gods" in other religious traditions. He is also the Lord of Air, and controls both the wind and birds. Varda, his spouse, is the most beautiful of all the Valar. In this respect, she is like many goddesses of love, particularly Greek Aphrodite (Roman Venus) and Norse Freyja. She also loves light (like Apollo, the Greco-Roman god of light) and created the stars. Aulë is similar to the Greek Hephaestus (Roman Vulcan). Both are smiths who were masters of creating weapons and jewelry for their peers. His spouse is Yavanna, the "Giver of Fruits," who loves all things that grow. In the past, when ancient cultures began to tend crops, the cycles of plant life were considered sacred, and therefore, most ancient religions centered on a Mother Goddess figure who represented growth and fertility. After the trend of the Mother Goddess had faded, many polytheistic religions still kept the tradition of a goddess of fertility, who was the cause of the turning of seasons and who was the patron goddess of the harvest. The most well-known of these goddesses is the Greek Demeter (Roman Ceres). Oromë is The Lord of Forests (making him similar to Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt, who dwelt in the forests) and is a great slayer of monsters, like many famous mythological heroes. Vána, his spouse, is called "the Ever-young;" "all flowers spring as she passes and open if she glances upon them; and all birds sing at her coming." (Tolkien, 20) This flower imagery could connect her to the Celtic Blodeuedd, "the fairest woman in the world, [who] was conjured out of blossoms..." (Cotterell, 108) Mandos is "the keeper of the Houses of the Dead," and rules over the spirits of the dead, much like the Greek Hades (Roman Pluto). Vairë, the spouse of Mandos, is a Weaver, "who weaves all things that have ever been in Time into her storied webs." In this she is like the Greek Athena (Roman Minerva) who despite being the goddess of war, was also the goddess of wisdom and the arts, and was a master weaver. Lórien is the "master of visions and dreams," and thus is similar to the Greek Morpheus, the god of dreams, and the Greco-Roman Apollo, who besides being the god of light, was also the god of prophecy. Estë, his spouse, is "healer of hurts and weariness," much like the aforementioned Apollo, who also was a god of healing. Tulkas, although also like Apollo in that he is an athlete, is more like Greek Dionysus (Roman Bacchus), being cheerful and merry. His spouse Nessa loves deer, and can outrun them, "swift as an arrow with the wind in her hair." (Tolkien, 20) She is most like the Greek Artemis (Roman Diana), the swift, forest-dwelling goddess of the hunt. Ulmo is the Lord of the Waters, and rules over all seas, rivers, lakes, and springs. He is somewhat similar to the Greek Poseidon (Roman Neptune), although Poseidon ruled over only the sea, while rivers and lakes where looked over by lesser gods. Also, unlike Poseidon, Ulmo loved the people of Arda, and continued to do so even when the other Valar were angry at them. Nienna dwells alone and "mourns for every wound that Arda has suffered in the marring of Melkor.”" (Tolkien, 19) Perhaps Nienna can be likened to Greek Persephone, who was kidnapped by Hades and made Lady of the Underworld, which is a gloomy place filled with the dead.

    Melkor is another of the Valar. He was one of the most powerful of the Ainur. However, when the Ainur began singing Ilúvatar’s song, Melkor contended with it, trying to create his own music, and created discord; this discord in turn created things in the world that were not originally intended to be there, such as "bitter cold" and "heats and fire without restraint." After Melkor has done this, Ilúvatar reprimands him, saying:

    "Mighty are the Ainur, and mightiest among them is Melkor; but that he may know, and all the Ainur, that I am Ilúvatar, those things that ye have sung, I will show them forth, that ye may see what ye have done. And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined."

    At Ilúvatar’s words, Melkor became ashamed and filled with a secret anger. When the Valar went to Arda, they were filled with joy at the prospect of the beautiful things they would create there, but all that Melkor could do was envy the gifts that Ilúvatar had promised to give to the inhabitants of Arda when they came to be, "and he himself wished to have subjects and servants, and to be called Lord, and to be a master over other wills." Melkor even wished to claim the world as his own, but Manwë thwarted him, and Melkor fled to the dark reaches of Arda, where he dwelt in Darkness and withdrew further and further into evil. From this point on, Melkor was called Morgoth, the "Dark Enemy." All religions try to explain the existence of bad things in the world, and The Silmarillion offers Morgoth (as he will be referred to in the rest of this paper) as the explanation. Morgoth is much like the fallen angel, Lucifer, of the Christian tradition. Lucifer was one of the most powerful angels, who rose up against God and, as a result, was sent to dwell in Hell. Morgoth was the most powerful of the Ainur, who rose up against Ilúvatar, although instead of punishing him, Ilúvatar let him be, and Morgoth went on to create his own sort of Hell in the dark corners of the world in which he inhabited. Morgoth is also like the Norse Loki, "the trickster god, [who] was at first just a playful prankster, but became so dark and twisted that the gods realized he was evil and resolved to imprison him." (Cotterell, 209) Like Loki, Morgoth walked amongst the populace of Arda, sowing mistrust and mischief so as to achieve his own evil ends, until eventually the Valar captured and imprisoned him.

    The Maiar are more like the angels of the monotheistic tradition, or the nymphs of the Greco-Roman tradition. They are spirits, "of the same order as the Valar but of less degree," who are the "servants and helpers" of the Valar (Tolkien, 21). Only a few are mentioned in The Silmarillion, and they are Ilmarë, handmaid of Varda, Eönwë, herald of Manwë, Ossë and his wife Uinen, vassals of Ulmo, who reside in the sea, Melian, a beautiful Maia who wed an Elf king, Olórin, “wisest of the Maiar,” known to the inhabitants of Arda as Gandalf, who takes on greater importance in Tolkien’s later stories, and Sauron, a servant of Morgoth, who also later takes on greater importance. Although all of these characters probably have similarities to lesser-known religious figures, the most major of these parallels is between Eönwë the herald and the Greek Hermes (Roman Mercury), who was the messenger of the gods. Ossë and Uinen are similar to Greek Nereids, or sea nymphs. Melian has a larger part in The Silmarillion, and also is portrayed as very nymph-like.

    Arda is for the most part divided into two places: Aman the Blessed Realm, which included Valinor and several islands, and Middle-Earth, or the "Hither Lands," which was all other places. Originally Valinor was located on the same plane as Middle-Earth, just as another continent would, but later, because of the greediness of mankind, it was moved off of Arda and could only be reached by elves, who knew how to follow "the Straight Road." Valinor is like a sort of Judeo-Christian paradise, or like the Celtic version, Annwn (also called Avalon). There it is peaceful and more beautiful than any place on Middle-Earth. Although the elves originally both lived in Valinor and on Middle-Earth, eventually they all came to Valinor and left Middle-Earth to men. Located in Valinor are the Halls of Mandos, where the spirits of the dead go to die. This is more of a Norse influence than a Judeo-Christian or Greco-Roman influence. The Norse believed that when a person died in battle, they went to Valhalla, where they feasted until Ragnarok, the time when the world had ended and was remade. The idea of "Middle-Earth" also comes from Norse mythology. "Midgard," which translates to "Middle-Earth," was the realm of mortal men. It was called "Middle-Earth" because it was the middle of all the Norse worlds. Above it was Asgard, where the gods dwelt, and like Valinor came to be, it was only reachable in certain way, by crossing the Rainbow Bridge on the horses of the Valkyries. The elves reached Valinor, as previously mentioned, by setting off at sea in their ships and following "the Straight Road" until they reached Valinor. In contrast to the paradise of Valinor, the dwellings of Morgoth on Middle-Earth are much like the Christian vision of hell. Fire spews from all places, and fierce demons reign. Captured elves are tortured until they become so disfigured and twisted that they become the evil breed of creatures known as orcs.

    The Valar and Maiar inhabited Arda for quite some time on their own, but eventually the Children of Ilúvatar came into being. The Children of Ilúvatar were the races of elves and mankind. The elves awoke first, and lived many years before mankind awoke. Unlike most mythologies, there is no creation story for these people. The Silmarillion puts it:

    "... in that hour the Children of the Earth awoke, the Firstborn of Ilúvatar. By the starlit mere of Cuiviénen, Water of Awakening, they rose from the sleep of Ilúvatar; and while they dwelt yet silent by Cuiviénen their eyes beheld first of all things the stars of heaven. Therefore they have always loved the starlight, and have revered Varda Elentári above all the Valar."

    And of mankind, The Silmarillion says:

    "At the first rising of the Sun the Younger Children of Ilúvatar awoke in the land of Hildórien in the eastward regions of Middle-Earth..."

    Before either of the Children of Ilúvatar awoke, Aulë tried to create his own people. He was anxious to love and teach them, and was not patient enough to wait for the time when Ilúvatar’s creations would come into being. So he created the dwarves. Ilúvatar knew he had done this, and came to him and chastised him. Aulë would have destroyed the dwarves, but he wept at the prospect of having to kill his creations, and Ilúvatar had pity on him, and set the dwarves to sleep to awaken only after his own Firstborn had awoken. Aulë’s wife, Yavanna, was upset at the fact that the trees would be destroyed by the Children of Ilúvatar, and wished that the trees could defend themselves. Ilúvatar promised her that when his own Firstborn awoke, her thought would awake also. And that thought would become the ents, the shepherds of the trees. The Firstborn Children of Ilúvatar, are almost exactly like the Tuatha Dé Danann of the Celtic tradition. As David Day puts it in his book, Tolkien’s Ring:

    "Tolkien’s Elves are not a race of pixies. They are a powerful, full-blooded people who closely resemble the pre-human Irish race of immortals called the Tuatha Dé Danann. Like the Tuatha Dé Danann, Tolkien’s Elves are taller and stronger than mortals, are incapable of suffering sickness, are possessed of more than human beauty, and are filled with greater wisdom in all things. They possess talismans, jewels and weapons that humans might consider magical in their powers. They ride supernatural horses and understand the languages of animals. They love song, poetry and music – all of which they compose and perform perfectly."

    Like elves, the Tuatha Dé Danann are immortal but can be slain, live apart from mankind and do not usually interfere in the lives of mankind, and eventually retreat to their own immortal lands to let mankind take their place as the masters of the world. Concerning elves, Humphrey Carpenter states that "They are to all intents and purposes men: or rather, they are Man before the Fall which deprived him of his powers of achievement," referring to Judeo-Christian mythology. (Carpenter, 104) Elves can also be found in Norse mythology, and from here Tolkien took the idea of "light-elves" and "dark-elves." However, in his own world, these elves are not categorized by their actual skin color, but whether they had been to Valinor ("light elves") or not ("dark elves"). (Shippey, 228) In Norse mythology, both dwarves and ents can be found. The dwarves are often portrayed as master smiths, as they are in Tolkien’s world. In fact, Tolkien took several of the names of dwarves directly from a passage, listing the names of characters, from the Elder Edda, "a collection of poems written in Old Norse." (Shippey, 14) A parallel to the ents can be found in Tapio, the Finnish forest god, who "dwelt in the depths of the green-wood, clad in moss, and growing a fir-like beard." (Cotterell, 232) The ents also dwelt in the deep forest, and had the appearance of trees.

    The Children of Ilúvatar themselves engage in many deeds and legends that are parallels of world myths. The elf Maedhros was taken captive and secured by his right wrist to the highest peak above Morgoth’s fortress. Eventually, he is rescued by his friend Fingon with the help of a giant eagle. However, in order to escape, his right hand had to be cut off. This is very similar to the Greco-Roman story of the god Prometheus, who, as punishment for giving the secret of fire to humans, was imprisoned on a mountainside, where each day a giant eagle would come to pick out his liver, which regrew each the night. Although Maedhros was rescued by an eagle, instead of being tortured daily by one, he still had to undergo severe pain to escape. There is also a Norse legend of the trickster god Loki, who, after enraging the gods, was bound to a rock beneath the dripping mouth of a venomous snake.

    Another tale from The Silmarillion is that of Eöl and Aredhel. Eöl was a grim elf who lived in alone in a dark forest, working as a smith, and was known as the Dark Elf. Aredhel was a beautiful elven princess, who, on the way to visit some old friends, was separated from her party and came to the woods of Eöl. He seduced her, married her, and they had a child together. Eventually, persuaded by her son, Aredhel tried to escape, but Eöl followed her, and they were both killed in the turmoil that followed. This tale is similar to the Greco-Roman myth of Persephone, the beautiful daughter of the goddess Demeter. Persephone was abducted by Hades, lord of the underworld, and made his queen.

    Lúthien, the beautiful daughter of the Maia Melian and the elf king Thingol, met and fell and love with the human man Beren. When Lúthien’s father learned of their love, he demanded a Silmaril in return for his daughter’s hand, thinking that Beren would be discouraged and leave Lúthien be, for at this time, the Silmarils were positioned in the crown of Morgoth. However, Beren went off on his quest, and Lúthien ran away to help him. Although they did accomplish their quest and take one Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth, Beren was slain by a minion of Morgoth shortly after their escape. Lúthien died of grief sometime after. However, in the Halls of Mandos, Lúthien sang a sorrowful song that moved even Mandos himself. Lúthien was given the choice of returning to an immortal life in Valinor without Beren, or returning to Middle-Earth to a mortal life with Beren. She chose the latter, and they returned to Middle-Earth where they lived till the end of their days. This story is much like the sorrowful Greco-Roman tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus was a musician, and Eurydice was his new wife. However, soon after their marriage, Eurydice was bitten by a poisonous snake, and died. Orpheus was so sad that he went on a journey into the Underworld to bring her back. There he sings to Hades, who is so moved by his song that he agrees to let Eurydice go back to the world of the living with Orpheus, on one condition: that Orpheus never look back at her until they are both on solid ground. Orpheus follows his instructions, never looking back at his wife as they leave the Underworld by way of the River Styx, until he sets foot on the shore and turns to see his wife. However, Eurydice was not yet out of the boat, and so Orpheus could only watch in horror as her spirit went back into the Underworld.

    The tale of Eärendil is an important tale, because, as mentioned previously, it was one of the first tales that Tolkien began developing. Eärendil was the son of an elven princess and the human man Tuor. He married Elwing, the granddaughter of Beren and Lúthien, and the keeper of her parents’ Silmaril. They had two sons, Elrond and Elros. They lived by the sea, and Eärendil was a mariner and was seldom at home. Once, while he was out at sea, the city in which his family lived was attacked by other elves who wanted the Silmaril for themselves. Eärendil’s sons were kidnapped, and his wife, not wanting the Silmaril to be taken, cast herself into the sea. Ulmo, the Lord of the Waters, saved her, and transformed her into a bird, and she flew with the Silmaril to Eärendil out at sea. With the Silmaril, they were able to sail to Valinor, something no others had done before them. There they pleaded the Valar to save the people of Middle-Earth from the evils of Morgoth. Eärendil and Elwing stayed in Valinor, and Eärendil often went sailing into the sky with the Silmaril, which became the Morning and Evening star. Eärendil is similar in name and in legend to Orentil, an "Odysseus-like mariner" from the medieval Icelandic Prose Edda. According to Ruth S. Noel, "Orentil was also the name of a star – probably the morning star – said to have been created when the god Thor carried the mariner across a freezing river. Orentil’s toe froze off in the crossing, and Thor threw it skyward where it shone ever after." (Noel, 4) Many cultures use mythology as a means of telling how the stars and constellations came to be. There are many Greek tales of mortals or demi-gods who were thrown into the sky as punishment or as a means to escape enraged gods, and thus became the constellations we are familiar with today.

    Eärendil’s wife Elwing’s transformation into a bird is also similar to a Greco-Roman myth about Alcyone and her husband King Ceyx. Ceyx left on a sea voyage to the Oracle of Delphi, but on the way, his ship was sunk in a storm. Alcyone, at home, awaiting her husband’s return, dreamt of her husband, who told her that he had been killed at sea. Alcyone, grieving, went out to the ocean, where she found her husband’s body floating near the shore. As she rushed into the sea, she transformed into a bird, and when she touched Ceyx’s lips with her beak, he also became a bird, and they flew off together. (Osborne, 13)

    Morgoth had walked among mankind, sowing distrust in them for the elves. For this reason, the loyal men who did not give into Morgoth and remained allies with the elves were rewarded after Morgoth was imprisoned by the Valar. The Valar gave them an island called Númenor to dwell on that was halfway between Middle-Earth and Valinor (when it was still on Arda). There was only one condition: the men could never sail west and try to come to Valinor. At first the men of Númenor were great men; they remained friends with the elves who resided both in Valinor and Middle-Earth, and they often sailed to Middle-Earth to lend aid in battles. They rooted out Morgoth’s henchman, Sauron, and took him as a captive back to Númenor. This was a mistake, for Sauron did the same thing his master had once done: he told the men lies in order to get them to mistrust the elves. He went from being a prisoner to being an advisor easily, and he urged the men of Númenor to explore west to see what the Valar were hiding from them. The men did so, and as they set foot there, Valinor was raised up off Arda and made so that it could never be reached by mortal men again. As punishment for disobeying, Númenor was covered in the waters of the ocean. Only those men who remained faithful were left alive, escaping in boats, and they went on to establish kingdoms on Middle-Earth.

    Tolkien deliberately created the story of Númenor as an explanation for the myth of Atlantis. The story of Atlantis, like that of Númenor, is a story of a people who became so corrupt and greedy that the gods punished them by sinking the island. The archetype of the flood is also found in both Mesopotamian and Judeo-Christian tales. In the familiar Judeo-Christian story, God grew angry with mankind and purged the world of their evil by sending a massive flood. In the Mesopotamian tale, the gods grew tired of humanity and wiped them out with a flood, except for one man and his family, who, like the Judeo-Christian Noah, escaped in a boat filled with all the animals of the world.

    The last theme discussed in The Silmarillion is that of the Rings of Power. Most people know the story of the Rings of Power from The Lord of the Rings. A great elven smith created rings for the races of Middle-Earth that would help those in power rule their domains. Unknown to these people, Morgoth’s apprentice Sauron, who had escaped the downfall of Númenor, created for himself a ring that would rule all the others, giving him the power to rule the world. Rings of Power were a symbol of power among the Vikings. The Norse god Odin had a ring named Draupnir which dripped eight rings every night, accumulating in a massive collection of wealth. Another famous Norse ring was Andvarinaut, which had a curse on it and ruined many people’s lives (Cotterell, 238).

    Although these are just a few of the many parallels between Tolkien’s The Silmarillion and ancient myths, many more are to be found in The Silmarillion alone, and together with the parallels found in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and any other of Tolkien’s numerous works, the amount of similarities is huge. Using these allusions and parallels has helped shape his tales into something more believable, something which definitely helped fulfill his plan of creating a mythological background for England.

Works Cited

Carpenter, Humphrey. Tolkien: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books, 1977.

Cotterell, Arthur, and Storm, Rachel. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology. New York: Hermes House, 2002.

Day, David. Tolkien’s Ring. New York: Metro Books, 2001.

Noel, Ruth S. The Languages of Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974.

Osborne, Mary Pope. Favorite Greek Myths. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1989.

Shippey, Tom. J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.

Tolkien, J.R.R.The Silmarillion. New York: Ballantine Books, 1977.