The Ancient Greek Myth That Inspired Lord of the Rings Author J.R.R. Tolkien

Tolkien was inspired by the ancient Greek story of Atlantis. Credit: Віщун, / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

British writer J. R. R. Tolkien is beloved worldwide arsenic the begetter of the literate phantasy genre, having written the immensely fashionable The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit, arsenic good arsenic respective posthumous works further exploring Middle Earth edited by his lad Christopher.

Tolkien is champion known for his “worldbuilding”, that is to say, the instauration of affluent and fantastical settings for his books, implicit with fictional languages specified arsenic Quenya and Sindarin.

The lore of Middle Earth was astir heavy inspired by Northern European mythology and history, particularly that of the Anglo-Saxons and Norse, which is unsurprising fixed Tolkien’s philological studies of Old English.

However, 1 of the stories astir cardinal to Tolkien’s literate instauration is the communicative of Númenor, and it is this which bears a striking resemblance to the past Greek story of Atlantis.

Númenor: Tolkien’s retelling of an past Greek myth

According to research by the student Maria bash Rosário Monteiro, “Tolkien’s statement of the drowning of Númenor undoubtedly echoes that of Atlantis?” So, however precisely bash these 2 tales compare?

In Tolkien’s writings, Númenor is described arsenic an past kingdom located connected a ample land to the westbound of Middle Earth. It is inhabited by the top human civilization to person existed and is fundamentally an idyllic utopia ruled by omniscient kings. The land itself was a acquisition presented by the Valar – angelic godlike figures – to the ancestors of the Númenóreans as a reward for facing the Dark Lord Morgoth successful battle.

However, implicit time, the Númenórean civilization is corrupted. The occupation started erstwhile the past king of Númenor, Ar-Pharazôn, defeated Sauron, the lieutenant of Morgoth, and brought him backmost arsenic a captive to the land kingdom. Sauron, who was remarkably deceitful, managed to person the Númenórean king that helium could unrecorded eternally if lone helium worshiped Morgoth arsenic a god.

Consequently, the Númenóreans ceased their worship of Eru Ilúvatar, the One God successful Tolkien’s mythos, and catastrophe ensues. For their hubris and corruption, they were punished with the sinking of their island. Only a fewer of the virtuous Númenóreans escaped to Middle Earth, wherever they founded the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor.

Striking similarities to Atlantis

The parallels betwixt the past Greek story of Atlantis and Númenor are abundant. Both, astatine their essence, are cautionary tales against hubris, resulting successful the demise of an full civilization.

Like Númenor, Atlanis is initially described by Plato arsenic an land utopia. The land itself was said to beryllium located beyond the Pillars of Heracles, presumably successful the Atlantic Ocean, and was “larger than Libya and Asia together.”

The Atlanteans were an precocious people, divinely favored by the oversea deity Poseidon. Their land location was the tract of respective architectural marvels and they utilized their maritime prowess to found a immense overseas empire.

However, similar the Númenóreans, the Atlanteans grew greedy and immoral. They were yet defeated by the past Athenians successful conflict and were subjected to full annihilation erstwhile Atlantis sank beneath the waves. Quoting Timaeus, Plato wrote of Atlantis:

“But afterwards determination occurred convulsive earthquakes and floods; and successful a azygous time and nighttime of misfortune each your warlike men successful a assemblage sank into the earth, and the land of Atlantis successful similar mode disappeared successful the depths of the sea. For which crushed the oversea successful those parts is impassable and impenetrable, due to the fact that determination is simply a shoal of mud successful the way; and this was caused by the subsidence of the island”

Tolkien dreamed of Atlantis

As explained by Dr. Philip Irving Mitchell, a Professor of English, Tolkien had a recurring nightmare successful which helium dreamed of the last apocalyptic destiny of Atlantis. In 1964, Tolkien described the imagination successful a missive to Christopher Bretherton:

“This fable oregon story oregon dim representation of immoderate past past has ever troubled me. In slumber I had the dreadful imagination of the ineluctable Wave, either coming retired of the quiescent sea, oregon coming successful towering implicit the greenish inlands. It inactive occurs occasionally, though present exorcized by penning astir it. It ever ends by surrender, and I aftermath gasping retired of heavy water. I utilized to gully it oregon constitute atrocious poems astir it.”

“The Atlantis story had an evident idiosyncratic meaning to Tolkien,” comments Dr. Mitchell. “He considered it a imaginable radical representation descended down though his family. It besides represented to him an embodiment of definite European longings.”