In his writings, in particular the fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings as well as the related novel The Hobbit and the posthumously published collection of stories The Silmarillion, J. R. R. Tolkien is cited as having had a number of influences. Several critics have made the assumption that Tolkien’s novel was directly derived from Richard Wagner's the Der Ring des Nibelungen. Many parts of his work were, as he freely admitted, influenced by othe...
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In his writings, in particular the fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings as well as the related novel The Hobbit and the posthumously published collection of stories The Silmarillion, J. R. R. Tolkien is cited as having had a number of influences. Several critics have made the assumption that Tolkien’s novel was directly derived from Richard Wagner's the Der Ring des Nibelungen. Many parts of his work were, as he freely admitted, influenced by other sources. Some of the influences include philology (his field), religion (particularly Roman Catholicism), fairy tales, and Anglo-Saxon and Norse mythology. Tolkien was also influenced by his and his son's personal military service experiences during World War I and World War II, respectively.
One of the greatest influences on Tolkien was the Arts and Crafts polymath William Morris. Tolkien wished to imitate Morris's prose and poetry romances, along with the general style and approach; he took elements such as the Dead Marshes in The Lord of...
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