This forum was closed on October 1st, 2010. However, the archives are open to the public and filled with vast amounts of good reading and information for you to enjoy. If you wish to meet some Wardrobians, please visit the Into the Wardrobe Facebook group.

Works of Inspiration for both Lewis and Tolkien

Works of Inspiration for both Lewis and Tolkien

Postby Cuinn » May 2nd, 2006, 5:24 pm

I realize that this is a thread meant for homework leads, so it may eventually be placed elsewhere. (Sorry, Sven!)

Alright, this has been driving me batty. I've previously learned in my Inklings class this past semester that Lewis and Tolkien shared at least five "influential texts" (as I remember) which eventually helped bring them together as friends. The professor used a model so that we can remember more easily, but, being the klutz that I am, have forgotten already a bit of it.

There's an Old Norse influence, an Old English, a Middle English, a Victorian work, and a 19th century work. Old Norse would be Beowulf, of course--that I remember. The Victorian work can either be Pilgrim's Progress or Grimm's Tales, and the the 19th century work is the Kalevala. However, it's the Old and Middle English works that I've forgotten.

I want to say that the Middle English is Spenser's "Faerie Queene", but I'm not sure that they both enjoyed that piece (at the least Tolkien), and the Old English being Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" or Dante's "Paradise Lost". I'd rather not have left the Inklings class already forgetting the major influences of both Tolkien and Lewis, so if anyone knows these two for sure, then I'd be most grateful. Thanks!
"I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia."

C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair

Member of the Religious Tolerance Cabal of the Wardrobe
User avatar
Cuinn
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 92
Joined: Apr 2006
Location: Grand Rapids, MI

re: Works of Inspiration for both Lewis and Tolkien

Postby Theo » May 2nd, 2006, 5:28 pm

Well, Chaucer is Middle English and Spenser is... what do you call it? Elizabethan English? By this time it's clearly recognizable as English, which isn't always the case with Middle English (particularly audially).

Beowulf is Old English, not Old Norse (although it's set in southern Sweden, it's written in Anglo-Saxon). So I'd say the Old English is Beowulf and the Middle English is Chaucer. The Old Norse stuff is probably something from the Edda - The Voluspá (The Prophecy of the Vala), perhaps? It's the most archetypical of the Edda poem, telling of the creation and end of the world.
Member of the Religious Tolerance Cabal of the Wardrobe

“First they came for Abdul Rahman and I spoke out because I was a Muslim. Then they came for the Palestinians and I raised hell because I was a Jew. Then they came for the Iraqis and I protested because I was an American. Then they came for the Muslims and I spoke out because I was a Christian, Then they came for the poor and I spoke out because I was rich. By the time they came for me, I had all the support a man could ask for.”
User avatar
Theo
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 777
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: Uppsala, Sweden

re: Works of Inspiration for both Lewis and Tolkien

Postby Cuinn » May 2nd, 2006, 5:37 pm

I was wondering about the Edda, and I wasn't to sure if it was something that only Tolkien appreciated (and he may have indeed had more of a liking to it than Lewis, seeing how it greatly influenced his fashioning of Middle-Earth).

Beowulf and Chaucer both seem the fit in your suggestions--I just now realized that Beowulf wasn't in Norse, but Old English (eegads, how much I forget when school's out!).

However, where did Faerie Queene fit in? I know both made plenty of references to it, so it had to fit somewhere. Perhaps Tolkien wasn't kidding when he said he disliked it?

Thanks, Theo! I'll try to remember where they all fit from now on.
"I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia."

C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair

Member of the Religious Tolerance Cabal of the Wardrobe
User avatar
Cuinn
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 92
Joined: Apr 2006
Location: Grand Rapids, MI

Re: Works of Inspiration for both Lewis and Tolkien

Postby carol » May 7th, 2006, 9:15 am

Image
carol
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 3673
Joined: Apr 1999
Location: New Zealand

Re: Works of Inspiration for both Lewis and Tolkien

Postby Cuinn » May 8th, 2006, 4:06 am

"I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia."

C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair

Member of the Religious Tolerance Cabal of the Wardrobe
User avatar
Cuinn
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 92
Joined: Apr 2006
Location: Grand Rapids, MI

Re: Works of Inspiration for both Lewis and Tolkien

Postby carol » May 8th, 2006, 8:59 am

Image
carol
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 3673
Joined: Apr 1999
Location: New Zealand

re: Works of Inspiration for both Lewis and Tolkien

Postby bekados » May 8th, 2006, 11:38 am

Diamonds on the soles of my shoes...

No harm in him: only needs a smack or so.
C.S. Lewis' first impression of Tolkien
User avatar
bekados
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 310
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: Florida--Hurricane Alley

re: Works of Inspiration for both Lewis and Tolkien

Postby carol » May 8th, 2006, 8:44 pm

Image
carol
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 3673
Joined: Apr 1999
Location: New Zealand

Re: re: Works of Inspiration for both Lewis and Tolkien

Postby Cuinn » May 10th, 2006, 5:00 am

"I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia."

C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair

Member of the Religious Tolerance Cabal of the Wardrobe
User avatar
Cuinn
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 92
Joined: Apr 2006
Location: Grand Rapids, MI

re: Works of Inspiration for both Lewis and Tolkien

Postby bekados » May 10th, 2006, 11:53 am

Diamonds on the soles of my shoes...

No harm in him: only needs a smack or so.
C.S. Lewis' first impression of Tolkien
User avatar
bekados
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 310
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: Florida--Hurricane Alley

re: Works of Inspiration for both Lewis and Tolkien

Postby carol » May 10th, 2006, 8:52 pm

Image
carol
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 3673
Joined: Apr 1999
Location: New Zealand

re: Works of Inspiration for both Lewis and Tolkien

Postby Lorna » July 13th, 2006, 10:12 am

Lorna
 


Return to Questions & Answers

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered members and 10 guests

cron