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| Behold the coming of spring! |
Alright, so maybe it wasn't so warm, but compared to how the winter has been for us, it was glorious.
Which brings us to Tolkien...(Yeah, I just wanted to talk about him today and couldn't think of a good transition).
It isn't necessary for me to write about how much J.R.R. Tolkien has influenced modern literature (even far beyond the fantasy genre), or for me to write about how much the man has inspired my own writing (indeed, my most recent novel on Norse Britain was partially my own humble attempt to provide a mythic expression for the Norwegian-American experience, in Tolkien's vein).
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| Tolkien in his 1914 WWI uniform. |
Check out this passage from the old Icelandic saga of Norwegian kings, the Heimskringla (uploaded lovingly from Project Gutenberg, of course):
When he was eighteen years old he took his kingdom in Agder, and went immediately to Vestfold, where he divided that kingdom, as before related, with his brother Olaf. The same autumn he went with an army to Vingulmark against King Gandalf. They had many battles, and sometimes one, sometimes the other gained the victory; but at last they agreed that Halfdan should have half of Vingulmark, as his father Gudrod had had it before. Then King Halfdan proceeded to Raumarike, and subdued it.
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| Raumarike (Credits: Tommy Gildseth, Wikipedia) |
And again, later on:
After Halfdan the Black's death, many chiefs coveted the dominions he had left. Among these King Gandalf was the first; then Hogne and Frode, sons of Eystein, king of Hedemark; and also Hogne Karuson came from Ringerike. Hake, the son of Gandalf, began with an expedition of 300 men against Vestfold, marched by the main road through some valleys, and expected to come suddenly upon King Harald; while his father Gandalf sat at home with his army, and prepared to cross over the fiord into Vestfold.
As it turns out, Gandalf was an old Norse name that was also the name of a famous dwarf/elf from Norse mythology who was king of the Elves in the Eddas, from whence most of our knowledge of Norse mythology comes.
Apparently, the name "Gandalf" comes from the words gandr meaning staff or cane, and alfr, meaning Elf, hence, 'wand elf.'
Not only that, but in Lord of the Rings, Gandalf was called by many different names depending on his location, many of which had to do with traveling ('The Grey Pilgrim', etc.). Interestingly enough, so did Odin, the chief of the gods in Norse mythology, who was often called 'The Wanderer' by humans for the god's love of wandering the earth with his big hat (pulled down over his left eye, which he pulled out to drink from the well of wisdom...it's a long story) and cane.
Indeed, Tolkien himself apparently conceived of Gandalf as an "Odinic wanderer."
Which is why, though Tolkien originally set out to create a mythos for the English people, I think he also inadvertently created a bridge between English and Norwegian, or at the very least, Old English and Old Norse culture, for those living in a culture somewhere between those spaces.
After Halfdan the Black's death, many chiefs coveted the dominions he had left. Among these King Gandalf was the first; then Hogne and Frode, sons of Eystein, king of Hedemark; and also Hogne Karuson came from Ringerike. Hake, the son of Gandalf, began with an expedition of 300 men against Vestfold, marched by the main road through some valleys, and expected to come suddenly upon King Harald; while his father Gandalf sat at home with his army, and prepared to cross over the fiord into Vestfold.
As it turns out, Gandalf was an old Norse name that was also the name of a famous dwarf/elf from Norse mythology who was king of the Elves in the Eddas, from whence most of our knowledge of Norse mythology comes.
Apparently, the name "Gandalf" comes from the words gandr meaning staff or cane, and alfr, meaning Elf, hence, 'wand elf.'
Not only that, but in Lord of the Rings, Gandalf was called by many different names depending on his location, many of which had to do with traveling ('The Grey Pilgrim', etc.). Interestingly enough, so did Odin, the chief of the gods in Norse mythology, who was often called 'The Wanderer' by humans for the god's love of wandering the earth with his big hat (pulled down over his left eye, which he pulled out to drink from the well of wisdom...it's a long story) and cane.
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| A picture of Odin circa 1886. I think I've seen this guy somewhere before. |
Indeed, Tolkien himself apparently conceived of Gandalf as an "Odinic wanderer."
Which is why, though Tolkien originally set out to create a mythos for the English people, I think he also inadvertently created a bridge between English and Norwegian, or at the very least, Old English and Old Norse culture, for those living in a culture somewhere between those spaces.
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| Greensted from the side |
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| Greensted church; one of England's only stave churches from the Anglo-Saxon era, and one of the few stave churches ( I believe) outside of Norway. |
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