Weeks 1 - 3 Blog Response
4. How did Tolkien draw on the Old Norse and Old English texts in his The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings fantasy novels? Provide some concrete examples. Tolkien’s work was heavily influenced through his academic specialization of languages, primarily the study of old and middle-English and in the closely linked field of Old Norse (Shippey, 2014.). These connections can be seen in many ways and this blog entry will focus two. Firstly, we will begin with the obvious similarities in ‘Beowulf’ and ‘The Hobbit’ with a scene in both texts depicting a dragon destroying a town. This can be seen in the following passage from Tolkien’s (1997; 1937) ‘The Hobbit’: “Fire leaped from the dragon's jaws. He circled for a while high in the air above them lighting all the lake; the trees by the shores shone like copper and like blood with leaping shadows of dense black at their feet. Then down he swooped straight through the arrowstorm, reckless in his rage, taking no heed to turn his scaly