Arwen-Undomiel.com
http://www.arwen-undomiel.com/forum/

sound familiar?
http://www.arwen-undomiel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13877		 Page 3 of 4
Author:  ethelfleda [ February 15th, 2007, 1:10 pm ]
Post subject: 
^ yup, anytime there's a battle in anglo-saxon poetry, they'll be there.

i've just started a thread on medieval literature in the literature section, if you're interested.

oh, and as a little aside - i got 71/90 (a first) for that beowulf essay i was talking about before.
Author:  Aerandir [ February 15th, 2007, 1:18 pm ]
Post subject: 
A first as in you normally get higher, or a first as in you normally get lower?

Right. *goes off to check out the Medieval literature thread*
Author:  ethelfleda [ February 15th, 2007, 4:25 pm ]
Post subject: 
woops, didn't really explain myself. a first is a top grade at degree level - kind of like the equivalent of an A grade. so far my marks have ranged from 63 to 78, so 71 is about average for me.
Author:  Aerandir [ February 16th, 2007, 2:26 am ]
Post subject: 
Ah, okay. I think I understand it now. Thanks.
Author:  Frodos-Guide [ March 7th, 2007, 1:15 pm ]
Post subject: 
I think that this is brilliant! Both poems are beautiful. but yes it is clear to see that Tolkien most likely gained inspiration from reading this poem. Wow, i love learning about Tolkiens inspirations...thanks for sharing that :)
Author:  Aerandir [ March 7th, 2007, 2:03 pm ]
Post subject: 
There's probably a site somewhere on the web that contains a list of all the stuff that Tolkien obviously drew inspiration from. I should find it. :)
Author:  Iritarimel Noramírë [ March 10th, 2007, 12:37 am ]
Post subject: 
Tolkien was trying to create a mythology for England, so I'm not at all surprised to see these many similarities. He used the Exeter Book of Riddles for inspiration for his riddles, the Battle of Pelennor fields (I think. Or something. The one in which Theoden dies. *brain dies*) was taken from The Battle of Maldon, and Boromir's burial comes from Beowulf.
Author:  ethelfleda [ March 10th, 2007, 10:18 am ]
Post subject: 
^ three very good examples. and the similarities don't surprise me at all, i just like being able to make those connections.

'the battle of maldon' is such a great poem. i absolutely love how it could only have been written by an englishman - it shows our unique ability to celebrate our defeats ('charge of the light brigade' does the same thing), and the terribly english idea of playing life by the rules of cricket.
Author:  Aerandir [ March 10th, 2007, 11:27 am ]
Post subject: 
The Battle of Maldon? :blink: I've never heard of it. I need to look it up on Wikipedia or something. :)
Author:  Firaeya Laisidhiel [ April 23rd, 2007, 6:26 pm ]
Post subject: 
Well, I know Tolkien was inspired by many old texts, this was probably one of them. LotR itself was inspired by Beowulf, a Norse (or Finnish? I don't remember) poem.
Author:  silfa [ December 15th, 2007, 4:24 am ]
Post subject: 
Oh did they copy it! oooh, that's irritating!
Author:  Naerwen [ December 27th, 2007, 7:54 am ]
Post subject: 
Wow thats interesting. I'd love to have Tolkien's knowledge of old poetry and such. That original poem is great!
Author:  Daisy-lass [ October 20th, 2008, 12:08 pm ]
Post subject: 
Ooh I saw that comparrison of the two poems in a book I have on the Anglo Saxons. There's a whole chapter on Tolkien :D - very interesting!

The book is called 'The Anglo Saxons: The Verdict of History' by Paul Hill if anyone is interested.
Author:  glorfindil3 [ October 27th, 2008, 1:54 pm ]
Post subject: 
interisting I hate it when people argue I like how Tolkein took his insperaton from this poem
Author:  ethelfleda [ December 29th, 2008, 11:05 am ]
Post subject: 
looks like this thread died out a little after i abandoned it.

i was just reading through, and i want to correct myself on one thing - i said

Quote:
judging from the proper nouns of the two languages, and the fact that their modern ancestors are so dissimilar, i'd say they weren't too alike. i think it's the presence of both cultures in britain and the impact they had on english language and literature that gets most people confused.


but a) i should have written "modern descendants" instead of "modern ancestors", and b) i was totally wrong.

since i wrote that, i've learnt a lot more about the two languages, and old english and old norse were actually pretty similar. maybe not mutually intelligible, but not poles apart. for example, compare OE "church" and ON "kirk", or OE "bridge" and ON "brigg" - the vowel sounds are identical, it's just that the ON consonants were harsher. and then compare ON "fyrst" and english "first" - same word, diffeent spelling. also, english pronouns are mosty taken from old norse. modern english and scandinavian languages only differ so much because of the huge impact french had on old english post-conquest.

so yeah, i stand corrected.
Author:  Freya Baggins [ December 29th, 2008, 11:14 am ]
Post subject: 
No one touched on this... I'm surprized.

You mentioned that the poem mentions "middle-earth". That is because in norse mythology there are nesting worlds and middle-earth was the name of the one in the middle... I think...
Page 3 of 4 All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/