Editing The Lord of the Rings (section)

=== Influences ===

{{Main|J. R. R. Tolkien's influences}}

[[File:Beowulf eotenas ylfe orcneas.jpg|thumb|upright=2|right|''[[Beowulf]]''{{'}}s ''eotenas ond<!--was [ond], indicating expansion of abbreviation with a handwritten symbol--> ylfe ond orcneas'', "ogres and elves and devil-corpses" helped to inspire Tolkien to create the [[Orc]]s and [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]] of [[Middle-earth]].<ref name="Shippey 2005 Beowulf"/>]]

Tolkien drew on [[J. R. R. Tolkien's influences|a wide array of influences]] including language,<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1997|pp=162–197 "English and Welsh"}}</ref> Christianity,<ref name="letters" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=letter #142 to Robert Murray, S. J., 2 December 1953 }}</ref> [[mythology]] and [[Germanic heroic legend]] including the Norse ''[[Völsunga saga]]'',<ref name="Lee Solopova 2005">{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Stuart D. |author1-link=Stuart D. Lee |last2=Solopova |first2=Elizabeth |author2-link=Elizabeth Solopova |title=The Keys of Middle-earth: Discovering Medieval Literature Through the Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien |title-link=The Keys of Middle-earth |date=2005 |publisher=Palgrave |isbn=978-1-4039-4671-3 |pages=124–125}}</ref> [[archaeology]], especially at the Temple of [[Nodens]],<ref name="Anger 2013">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Anger |first=Don N. |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |title=Report on the Excavation of the Prehistoric, Roman and Post-Roman Site in Lydney Park, Gloucestershire |encyclopedia=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |pages=563–564}}</ref> ancient and modern literature, like Finnish 19th-century [[epic poetry]] ''[[Kalevala|The Kalevala]]'' by [[Elias Lönnrot]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Noble Smith|title=The Wisdom of the Shire: A Short Guide to a Long and Happy Life|chapter=Chapter 5: Dealing with "the Big People"|page=46|publisher=[[St. Martin's Press|St. Martin's Griffin]]|year=2013|isbn=978-1250038296}}</ref> and personal experience. He was inspired primarily by his profession, [[philology]];<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=letter #165 to [[Houghton Mifflin]], 30 June 1955 }}</ref> his work centred on the study of [[Old English]] literature, especially ''[[Beowulf]]'', and he acknowledged [[Beowulf in Middle-earth|its importance to his writings]].<ref name="Shippey 2005 Beowulf">{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shippey |title=The Road to Middle-earth |date=2005 |edition=Third |orig-year=1982 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-261-10275-0 |pages=74, 169–170 and passim}}</ref>
He was a gifted linguist, influenced by Celtic,<ref name="Burns 2005">{{cite book |last=Burns |first=Marjorie |author-link=Marjorie Burns |title=Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-earth |title-link=Perilous Realms |year=2005 |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |isbn=978-0-8020-3806-7 |pages=13–29 and passim}}</ref><ref name="Lee Solopova 2005"/> Finnish,<ref name=Kalevala>{{cite news |first=Brian |last=Handwerk |title=''Lord of the Rings'' Inspired by an Ancient Epic |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/12/1219_tolkienroots.html |work=National Geographic News |publisher=[[National Geographic Society]] |pages=1–2 |date=1 March 2004 |access-date=4 October 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060316192124/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/12/1219_tolkienroots.html |archive-date=16 March 2006 }}</ref> Slavic,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kuzmenko.org.ua/uk/tolkienslavic |first=Dmitry |last=Kuzmenko |title=Slavic echoes in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien |language=uk |access-date=6 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425143036/http://kuzmenko.org.ua/uk/tolkienslavic |archive-date=25 April 2012 }}</ref> and Greek language and mythology.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stanton |first=Michael |title=Hobbits, Elves, and Wizards: Exploring the Wonders and Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2001 |page=18 |isbn=1-4039-6025-9}}</ref>
Commentators have attempted to identify literary and topological antecedents for characters, places and events in Tolkien's writings; he acknowledged that he had enjoyed adventure stories by authors such as [[John Buchan]] and [[Rider Haggard]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Resnick |first=Henry |year=1967 |title=An Interview with Tolkien |journal=[[Niekas]] |pages=37–47}}</ref><ref name="Nelson 2013">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Nelson |first=Dale |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |title=Literary Influences, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries |encyclopedia=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |pages=366–377}}</ref><ref name="Hooker 2011">{{cite book |last=Hooker |first=Mark T. |editor-last=Fisher |editor-first=Jason |chapter=Reading John Buchan in Search of Tolkien |title=Tolkien and the Study of his Sources: Critical essays |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-7864-6482-1 |oclc=731009810 |pages=162–192}}</ref> The [[Arts and Crafts]] polymath [[William Morris]] was a major influence,<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=letter #19 to [[Stanley Unwin (publisher)|Stanley Unwin]], 31 December 1960 }}</ref> and Tolkien undoubtedly made use of some real place-names, such as Bag End, the name of his aunt's home.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lord of the Rings inspiration in the archives |url=https://www.explorethepast.co.uk/2013/05/lord-of-the-rings-inspiration-in-the-archives/ |website=Explore the Past (Worcestershire Historic Environment Record) |date=29 May 2013}}</ref>
Tolkien stated, too, that he had been influenced by his childhood experiences of the English countryside of [[Worcestershire]] near [[Sarehole Mill]], and its urbanization by the growth of [[Birmingham]],<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=letter #178 to Allen & Unwin, 12 December 1955, and #303 to Nicholas Thomas, 6 May 1968 }}</ref> and his personal experience of [[Trench warfare|fighting in the trenches]] of the [[First World War]].<ref name=shellshocked>{{cite news |last=Livingston |first=Michael |title=The Shellshocked Hobbit: The First World War and Tolkien's Trauma of the Ring |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+shell-shocked+hobbit%3A+the+First+World+War+and+Tolkien's+trauma+of...-a0154698400 |work=[[Mythlore]] |publisher=Mythopoeic Society |pages=77–92 |year=2006 |access-date=3 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111223203526/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+shell-shocked+hobbit%3A+the+First+World+War+and+Tolkien%27s+trauma+of...-a0154698400 |archive-date=23 December 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> Moreover, the militarization and industrialization inspired the character of Sauron and his forces. The Orcs represented the worst of it as workers that have been tortured and brutalized by the war and industry.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ahmed|first=Ali Arslan|date=8 May 2020|title=How War Inspired JRR Tolkien To Write Lord Of The Rings|url=https://dankanator.com/62698/how-war-inspired-j-r-r-tolkien-write-lord-of-the-rings/|website=Dankanator}}</ref>