Tolkien and the Classical World - Review

By Owain Williams

Most people who know of Tolkien – who doesn’t? – will likely know of him as, aside from being the highest regarded fantasy author of all time, a medievalist. Most famously, he was a professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford, responsible for changing academic attitudes to the epic poem Beowulf. Tolkien’s academic work certainly influenced his Legendarium (the secondary world – Arda – within which Tolkien’s fantasy takes place). Old English literature, as well as that of other Germanic mythologies, have long been thought to have been the primary inspiration behind Middle-earth. One of the most important figures of Tolkien’s works is an almost one-to-one mirror of the Old English word éarendel; the names of the Dwarves from The Hobbit are drawn from the Völuspá, a poem from the Poetic Edda, as is Gandalf’s most recognisable name; the very notion of Elves and Dwarves and Trolls comes from Germanic mythology. Consequently, much work has been done to demonstrate this connection. However, more recently, more work has been done to demonstrate the influence of other literary traditions besides the Germanic on Tolkien’s work. The work of authors such as Verlyn Flieger, Dimitra Fimi, and Carl Phelpstead, among others, have demonstrated how ‘Celtic’ literature (referring to the literature of Wales, Ireland, Cornwall, and Brittany) was an important source of inspiration to Tolkien, despite his “certain distaste” for “things Celtic” (Letters, no. 19). Now, in Tolkien and the Classical World, a number of scholars have gathered to, according to the publisher, demonstrate the “various ways in which Tolkien’s literary creations were shaped by classical epic, myth, poetry, history, philosophy, drama, and language”.

Of course, Tolkien’s connection to ancient Greece and Rome is not a new revelation. Tolkien himself cited the story of Oedipus as part of the inspiration behind the Children of Húrin (Letters, no. 131), and even wrote of how he was “brought up in the Classics, and first discovered the sensation of literary pleasure in Homer” (Letters, no. 142). Yet very little work has been done to demonstrate this connection. For example, in the first edition of A Companion to J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Stuart Lee, there was no chapter on ancient Greco-Roman influences (subsequently added in the second edition). Even in this new volume, the relative dearth of such studies can be seen in the repetition of several articles across the bibliographies of each chapter. Thus, Tolkien and the Classical World is a very welcome addition to Tolkien studies. 

Divided into thematic sections – history, epic and poetry, philosophy, and the relationship between the Greco-Roman world and wider antiquity – each chapter covers a different element of Tolkien’s writings. There is some overlap, such as that between the essays written by Clare and Kleu, both on Númenor (its relation to ancient history and philosophy, respectively), but each chapter is distinct, offering different, nuanced perspectives on the relationship between Tolkien and the ancient Greco-Roman world. As Hamish Williams, the editor of the volume, stresses, the essays are not simply seeking parallels, but are, instead, but aim “to illustrate that Tolkien’s fantasies are encoded with data, patterns, and ideas received from the Classical world and Classical traditions” (pp. xii–xviii). Before these essays begin, however, the book – to paraphrase Tolkien (see Letters, no. 144) – wisely starts with a map of Tolkien’s interactions with the ancient Greco-Roman world, from his early education through to his later life, establishing how, after switching to the English department during his undergraduate studies, Tolkien did not abandon an interest in the ancient Greeks and Romans.

There is a fine line between simply finding parallels in Tolkien’s Legendarium and in ancient Greco-Roman literature and with engaging with how Tolkien incorporated elements from ancient literature into his own works. The one is simply noting how, for example, that Tolkien’s descriptions of the Easterlings and Wainriders resembles ancient accounts of steppe peoples, especially the Scythians. The other involves a critical examination of both texts in question, finding parallels where they seem to appear, and determining whether such parallels are merely superficial or whether there was an engagement with the ancient text on Tolkien’s part, consciously or otherwise. Thankfully, only infrequently do simple parallels take up part of the discussions. Sometimes, as with Clare’s examination of the description of maritime powers in ancient histories and Tolkien’s description of the Númenorean Empire, the author notes how similarities in the subjects can seem superficial. Other times, however, connections between Tolkien and the ancient world can seem forced, as if the author is trying to make Tolkien’s narratives fit an ancient mould, as in Neubauer’s essay exploring the connection between the One Ring and the Ring of Gyges in Plato’s Republic, when the author notes how “the two narratives [of finding the rings] follow roughly the same path” (p. 229). Yet Neubauer had already mentioned Tolkien’s “compilatory method” (p. 219) regarding the One Ring, and the similarities between the narratives is not a core element of the analysis. Frequently, it felt as though the length of the essays was a factor in how similarities were presented and whether they came across as simple parallels, as though authors had more to say.

The ancient topics covered by the authors can appear to be quite daunting to casual readers. Similarly, readers would benefit from a good understanding of Tolkien’s writings beyond The Lord of the Rings, especially The Silmarillion. However, each author endeavours to make their essays as approachable as possible, both for Tolkien fans who may not be familiar with the ancient world and for academics who may not know much about Tolkien’s writings, offering summaries of ancient texts and Tolkien’s stories, as well as different ancient concepts, such as Roman pietas. Despite these aids to accessibility, the book is not meant to be an introductory volume, and readers would benefit from some familiarity with Tolkien prior to reading Tolkien and the Classical World.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Each chapter offered new, interesting ways to consider Tolkien’s works, but also the ancient world. One chapter I particularly enjoyed was Freeman’s exploration of how Tolkien possibly utilised the Roman notion of pietas in his construction of the virtue of estel. However, seeing as how this book combines two of my favourite topics – the ancient Greco-Roman world and Tolkien – I am an ideal audience. Yet there is much to admire here for readers without such dual interests. Fans of Tolkien’s works will find new ways to appreciate Tolkien’s genius, while people with an interest in the ancient Greco-Roman world will certainly enjoy reading about how the histories and myths were shaped to fit a modern narrative. Tolkien and the Classical World demonstrates how there is far more to Tolkien’s works than many may assume. I hope that the books sparks a new interest in Tolkien’s reception of Greco-Roman antiquity – and, for that matter, the fantasy genre’s reception more generally.

Tolkien and the Classical World, Cormarë Series No. 45, edited by Hamish Williams (ISBN: ISBN: 9783905703450), is available from Walking Tree Publishers.