Tolkien's Ring

by David Day

Book Overview

A reissue of the literary detective work examining Tolkien's sources and inspiration, beautifully illustrated by the lead conceptual artist for the LOTR film trilogy, of whom Peter Jackson said "His... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0760718997
• ISBN13: 9780760718995
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Length: 183 Pages
• Weight: 2.55 lbs.

Customer Reviews

It's about Ring Stories

I think what a lot of reviewers here miss is that it's a book about ring stories. If you like reading up on old stories and connecting themes, this is a good book. If you want a Tolkien rimjob, you're not going to find it here. I personally found it very intriguing to see the similarities between old stories that came from different areas. The book doesn't put it in that order, but you can see how one ring story influences another through the ages. It's very well written and Alan Lee's drawings are spectacular as always.

Must read for serious Tolkien fans

David Day's book is an excellent compilation of almost every imaginable legend, myth, or folk tale that relates in some way to Tolkien and his writings. While the central task of the book is to relate past legends to Tolkien, Day also makes a point to briefly summarize some of the more important tales before making the Tolkien connection, so in this way the book can also be viewed as a source for Anglo-saxon, Celtic, Scandinavian, and Germanic tales and epics. Thus I found the book compelling, both as a source of ancient legends and an intelligent discussion of how these myths relate to the masters of modern fantasy like Tolkien. When I wrote my thesis in college on archetypes in fantasy literature this book was invaluable. Probably my most important and heavily drawn upon source. David Day has definetly done his homework on the subject, and the result is a masterful book containing some of humanities most influential myths and legends. Definetly recommended, even if you're more interested in the mythological aspect of the book, and not so much the Tolkien connection. And of course, Alan Lee's artwork is excellent as usual.

Handy Addition For Your Tolkien Library

I thought this was a really nice little book, easy to read, and full of information on various mythologies and how they may have influenced Tolkien. Tolkien once said that he wanted to develop a mythology for Britain, and his background work in northern European mythology was well-suited. Readers looking for exact, specific references may be disappointed. Christians who want to lay claim to Tolkien's work as a "Christian influenced" work may be disappointed also; there is little of the Bible here since it's influence on the trilogy was minimal.

Suitable for a gift, yet affordable

Alan Lee illustrates Tolkien Ring, with black and white and some color drawings accompanying a literary investigation of Tolkien's inspirations and stories. Suitable for a gift, yet affordable enough for personal enjoyment.

The history and mythology that inspired Tolkien

This book is a piece of "literary detective work"; it seeks to find the myths and stories that inspired Tolkien in his creation of his three great works: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion. The author states something of a disclaimer at the beginning though:"In Tolkien's Ring, we will survey a vast body of myth and legend in search of Tolkien's sources. We will look at other rings and ring quests, and we will see where many elements of his epic tale were provoked into existence. However, we should never mistake Tolkien's creative process as a mere cobbling together of ancient lore. Richer and more profound through Tolkien's writing is for the ancient tradition it draws on, Tolkien's art is by no means imitation. The Lord of the Rings is a highly realized and originally conceived novel that has renewed, invigorated and finally reinvented the ring quest for the twentieth century." (page 17)I think the author correctly identifies the primary time period and location that served as the prime inspiration for Tolkien. To use England as a benchmark, the time period runs from the end of the Roman period in England (406 AD) to the Conquest of William the Conqueror (1066 AD). The location is that is northern Europe; Scandinavia and Germany in particular. The author also makes some interesting insights regarding metallurgy, the Iron Age, alchemy and ring-based mythology. The ring in that time period (especially in Scandinavia) was a symbol of power (e.g. Kings are "ring-givers") and it became the central symbol of the struggling pagan religions of Europe against the Christian symbol of the Cross. In many of the ring myths, the hero is always questing for a ring, which will provide him the power to rule the world, increase his physical strength, increase his wisdom or provide him with other such powers. This reflects the discovery of iron making; those who know how to make iron had a clear advantage of those who did not. Iron knowledge was thus precious and often kept secret. The knowledge to control and manipulate iron was often combined with magical/alchemical ideas; this led to the idea of the sorcerer-smith. The Niebelungenlied (a Germanic epic) and the Volsunga Saga (Norse; unknown date. Probably within 400-1000 AD) were the prime examples of what Tolkien called the "noble northern spirit," of Germany and Scandinavia. Tolkien's tale leans more towards to German epic with its sense of morality reinforced by strong elements of Arthurian legend. The idea of a sorcerer/magician as a wandering old man with beard and hat was clearly modeled on the depiction of Odin (to draw a rough analogy; he is the Norse version of Zeus) in the Volsunga Saga.In reading this book, there were times where I thought the author was really stretching his source material. It may be interesting to investigate the ring mythology of Tibet, but this was not exactly a significant influence on Tolkien. There were other times where the author simply summarized the myt