Hobbits are to English as Elves are to .....eh...does anyone know?? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

littlemanpoet · 03-05-2002, 07:47 PM

Read the Mabinogion, about the Tuatha de Danaan. They are one of the sources for Tolkien's Elves. And no, it is not true that Tolkien just made them up out of his own highly original genius, highly original though it was. Nor is that true about Dwarves or Orcs. Remember, in The Hobbit orcs, for example, were called Goblins.

Way back in the beginnings of the courtly era, Cretien de Troyes took Celtic myths and retold them as contemporary love stories with knights and ladies; the knights and ladies were Celtic gods and goddesses reconstituted, so to speak. The result of de Troyes' popularity was the Arthurian mythos, with the Lady of the Lake (very elvish - or I should say, faerie). It's important also to remember that Tolkien wrote of his and others' creations in these areas as 'Faerie'.

Check out the Arthurian Legends, the Mabinogion, and compare them to the SPIRIT of Tolkien's "Smith of Wooton Major". I think you'll see the connections.

03-05-2002, 07:47 PM	#8
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	Read the Mabinogion, about the Tuatha de Danaan. They are one of the sources for Tolkien's Elves. And no, it is not true that Tolkien just made them up out of his own highly original genius, highly original though it was. Nor is that true about Dwarves or Orcs. Remember, in The Hobbit orcs, for example, were called Goblins. Way back in the beginnings of the courtly era, Cretien de Troyes took Celtic myths and retold them as contemporary love stories with knights and ladies; the knights and ladies were Celtic gods and goddesses reconstituted, so to speak. The result of de Troyes' popularity was the Arthurian mythos, with the Lady of the Lake (very elvish - or I should say, faerie). It's important also to remember that Tolkien wrote of his and others' creations in these areas as 'Faerie'. Check out the Arthurian Legends, the Mabinogion, and compare them to the SPIRIT of Tolkien's "Smith of Wooton Major". I think you'll see the connections.