Tolkien's Inspiration - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

02-07-2003, 01:22 PM

Tolkien had a life-long love of languages (especially Anglo-Saxon) and often played with the original meanings of words, such as Gandalf, which means "Wand Elf", which brought to mind a Wizard with a staff.

He wrote some of his earliest tales (which later became The Silmarillion) in the trenches of World War I, long before he ever met CS Lewis.

[ February 07, 2003: Message edited by: Barahir ]

02-07-2003, 01:22 PM	#4
Barahir Guest Posts: n/a	Tolkien had a life-long love of languages (especially Anglo-Saxon) and often played with the original meanings of words, such as Gandalf, which means "Wand Elf", which brought to mind a Wizard with a staff. He wrote some of his earliest tales (which later became The Silmarillion) in the trenches of World War I, long before he ever met CS Lewis. [ February 07, 2003: Message edited by: Barahir ]