The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien’s impact on the fantasy genre
With the new Amazon Prequel Television Series coming out later next year, now is the perfect time to watch Peter Jackson’s epic book to screen adaptation J.R.R Tolkien’s masterpiece; The Lord of the Rings. That being said, I would be remiss and a lost opportunity to discuss how much Tolkien and this story impacted the fantasy genre as a whole. Tolkien’s story is the basis for modern fantasy storytelling, and his influence on the genre is monumental because his work was the first to create a large expansive universe that had history and a creationist mythology. This mythology for Britain that he created was heavily inspired by the mythology and epics of Ancient Greece and those found in Viking epics and sagas. In fact, the Old Norse name for the the earth is Midgard which means ‘Middle Earth’.
In the trenches in World War I, Tolkien began to create a mythology starting with stories and concepts that would eventually turn into what today is known as The Silmarillion, his retelling of the history of Middle-Earth, before Sauron and the ring of power. The Silmarillion encompasses thousands of years and discusses how the angelic beings of Arda (the known universe), created songs to form the world, how they created the Elves, Men and Dwarves and how Melkor one of the angelic beings, became corrupted and evil, rebelling against the music of the Ainur. This story acts very Biblical, and Melkor (eventually known as Morgoth, the ‘dark enemy’, a name he was granted by the Noldorin Elves), is not much unlike Lucifer, being cast out of Heaven, as Morgoth is cast out of the music of the Ainur, and dwelled in Utumno, which is essentially Hell. This bordering on Biblical story forms the basis of world building and has characters such as Sauron, Galadriel, Glorfindel and Elrond, and serves as a explanation and backstory for many characters, races and kingdoms. It is not essential, but it serves as the foundation and building blocks for Tolkien’s wider story. Of course, The Lord of the Rings (and indeed, The Hobbit), are Tolkien’s most famous works, so I will focus on those more, but if you get a chance, read The Silmarillion, it’s better than the Bible!
With the success of The Hobbit, Tolkien’s publishers pressured him to write a sequel and as such, that sequel became extremely influential as it garnered a demand for fantasy fiction set in different worlds with works of imitation spanning from The Sword of Shannara to Dungeons and Dragons. The inspiration Tolkien has had on fantasy is so large, that most films, books and video games of the genre include creatures like orcs, elves, goblins, halflings, half-elves, dragons, and wizards to name a few. Thus, ‘fantasy’ became synonymous with Tolkien’s work. He changed fantasy from being fairtyles, but to being alternative worlds with their own histories, races and stories. As his popularity grew, so did his work being reflected in other mediums.
In the 70s, the role-playing game genre grew in popularity and the most popular of those games is the long-running Dungeons and Dragons. Created by Gary Gygax, a lot of the game’s elements are virtually identical to Tolkien’s world. Gygax often downplayed how much he was inspired but it cannot be overstated how much of an influence Tolkien’s work was. The quest to destroy the One Ring, is in itself an example of a Dungeons and Dragons storyline. Peter Jackson’s film trilogy is the closest we will ever get to a live action Dungeons and Dragons quest. The presence of elves, goblins, orcs, halflings, men, dwarves, dragons and ents drew so many comparisons that Tolkien Enterprises prompted Gygax to change the names of Hobbits to ‘Halflings’ and Ents to ‘Tree-Ents” with the years going forward. Gygax eventually commented on this stating that Tolkien’s work had an immense impact on his creation. The influence is even prevalent with the games class system that were clearly inspired by the Fellowship of the Ring. For example in game:
- Elves make good archers, rangers, scouts and are effective with a bow and arrow. They dwell in the forests and woods or are noble lore-masters. This race and their classes was inspired obviously by Legolas of Mirkwood, Haldir and other Eldar such as Galadriel and Elrond.
- Dwarves make sturdy fighters and warriors, often represented as miners, smiths and craftsmen. This race and class was inspired by the dwarf Gimli and the members of Thorin Oakenshield’s company.
- Halflings make good rogues, scouts, burglars and stealth archetypes. This was clearly inspired by the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins as he was a member of Thorin Oakensheild’s company, tasked with retrieving the Arkenstone from the fire drake, Smaug the terrible.
- Humans in Dungeons and Dragons are most of the time rangers, paladins or warriors — all of these classes were inspired by Aragorn, and he really fits in all of them. The Numenorean archetype of a paladin, while having extensive knowledge of healing capabilities, as well as being a ranger from the North and a talented warrior.
Other special mentions, when the lawsuit by Tolkien Enterprises happened, Gyagax had to change other creatures’ names. This included changing Nazgul to ‘Wraiths’ and Balrogs to ‘Balor.’
Tolkien himself took both Elves and Dwarves from Norse mythology, as the Dwarves were great smiths and craftsmen in that mythology too, and there too were both Light and Dark Elves in those stories. It is through Norse mythology were Tolkien got the concept of Elves being tall, beautiful and almost the perfect alien humans. If it wasn’t for Tolkien adapting those traits for his own Elves, we wouldnt have Dungeons and Dragons Elves, Warhammer Elves, or The Elder Scrolls Elves. Before Tolkien took Elves from Norse mythology, they were often small in stature, like the ones that Santa gets to run his workshop.
If it wasn’t for Tolkien popularising the idea that Elves dwelled in the woods of either Doriath, Lothlorien, the Greenwood or had magical Kingdoms like Rivendell, then both the Wood Elves and High Elves from The Elder Scrolls, or those found in the Warhammer Strategy Battle Game simply wouldn't exist. Tolkien popularised their appearance, where and how they lived, as well as their cultures. There are also subsets of Elves in Tolkien’s work too that people often forget as he had both Dark Elves, Light Elves and High Elves, it’s just that the fantasy fiction that came after took those concept literally and made the Elves have darker skin, for example Dark Elves became Drow Elves, and were considered sinister in some cases. Half-elves are also loosely based off of Elrond Half-elven.
Halflings are especially inspired by Tolkien and if you refuse to acknowledge that comparison you are delusional. The word ‘halfling’ is used to descibe Hobbits in The Lord of the Rings itself, and as I have mentioned, early versions of DnD used Hobbits until they were forced to stop. The similarities are undeniable and halflings in game are exactly how they are depicted in LOTR, down to their personalities, appearance (of being short) and abilities. On the DnD website halflings are described as ‘…affable and cheerful people. They cherish the bonds of family and friendship, as well as the comforts of hearth and home… they love discovering new things, even simple things such as an exotic food or clothing.” That is LITERALLY what a Hobbit is, Tolkien describes them as being a simple folk, enjoying the simple things, a warm hearth, the comforts of home and exotic foods and clothing, all of which Bag End HAS.
The Dwarves is another undeniably huge thing that DnD took from Tolkien. Like Elves, Tolkien popularised what Dwarves did, and that was mining, crafting and being expert warriors usually with a two-handed axe. The members of Thorin’s Company and Gimli were clearly the main inspirations. Like Elves, Tolkien popularised that they were bearded and short. Another undeniable thing is that DnD took the metal Mithril from Tolkien, as well as the DnD dwarven cities Gautlygrym and Mithral Hall, are very similar to Moria. One of the most famous scenes in The Fellowship of the Ring is when the Doors of Moria could only be found by moonlight and a special password had to be used to open it. The exact same thing occurs in the Underdark campaign to reclaim the Mithral Hall. Tolkien’s influence doesn’t just extended to DnD, the dwarves in MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft are exactly the same, they’re great miners and craftsmen, the same can be said for the Warhammer tabletop strategy battle game.
Finally, orcs and goblins weren’t talked about until Tolkien used them in his stories. He explained the difference between them, as goblins were of a shorter stature to orcs (about the same height as a hobbit), even though they hailed from the same genic network of corrupted elves by both Sauron and Morgoth. Tolkien popularised the idea that orcs and goblins were war-like, ugly and brutish. All these concepts were used in Warhammer, Dungeons and Dragons and World of Warcraft. The DnD orcs like Tolkien’s are a tribal race of hostile monsters.
Today, the comparisons between both Tolkien’s works and DnD arent downplayed due to lawsuits, they are acknowledge within the context of the climate of the 70s which was heavily inspired by Tolkien and his characters and themes. The ancestry of DnD can be traced back to LOTR, but DnD itself these days is evolving with its own themes and that’s what makes it its own distinct fantasy world known as the Forgotten Realms.