Lord Of The Rings Vs Beowulf Research Paper

Joey Aly
Mrs. Norman
English III
15 December 2014
Lord of the Rings Vs. Beowulf

It is not common for fictional stories to be closely related nowadays. Creative individuals, who are diverse in their writings, write popular novels and series that are currently being created. An exception to this statement was J.R.R. Tolkien, who was an Anglo-Saxon professor at Oxford, who wrote The Lord of the Ring, which was created in 1954. This novel was created while Tolkien was still teaching at Oxford. When reading The Lord of the Rings, it is obvious that the studies taught by Tolkien gave the novel its depth, complexity, and features. Because Tolkien was an expert on Anglo-Saxon culture, he was able to incorporate Old English roots into his story.

J.R.R. Tolkien based some buildings and cities on those of Beowulf. One of the areas that have a strong connection can be seen in the destruction of Rohan (The Two Towers), which is under the rule of King Théoden and the destruction of Hrothgar's Hall. In Beowulf, a place known as, "The Hall", was important in the Anglo-Saxon culture, and is plagued by the monster Grendel; this hall was abandoned and fell into disuse as result of the evil surrounding it. The destruction of Rohan was caused by Grima Wormtongue using powers given to him by Saruman to posse Theoden and made him submit to the advice given to him by councilor Wormtongue. Just like Hrothgar's Hall in Beowulf, Rohan became infested with evil as orcs filled the land. In both stories the inhabitants of the land were assisted with help from the outside. Beowulf came to the aid of the people of Denmark by challenging the monster Grendel while in Lord of the Rings, Gandalf came to the aid of the people of Rohan by forcing the removal of Saurman's influence from Théoden’s

The Swords of Bilbo (Lord of the Rings) and Beowulf (Beowulf) are both similar in the ways the weapons were both enchanted and passed down to a new carrier. Sting was Bilbo’s sword, which is later, passed down to Frodo. Sting is an enchanted weapon that shone a blue light whenever orcs were nearby. When battling Grendel’s mother, Beowulf used his magic sword to defeat her. Also, as Beowulf was dying, he passed down his armored sword to Wiglaf, just as Bilbo passed down his sword to Frodo. In both scenarios, the gesture is symbolic as they both passed down the responsibility they held. After the transfer of responsibility, Frodo took Bilbo’s place as an adventurer and hero while Wiglaf took Beowulf’s place as leader of the Geats. An additional connection of the two swords, and other weaponry in these two tales, is that special and enchanted weapons found in Lord of the Rings and Beowulf have been given special