Where did J.R get the idea for the books?

Can someone tell me the where the original idea for the Lord of the Rings books came? J.R'S inspiration and such. Or a site which can give me some information along those lines. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. =)

The main inspiration was Norse mythology, though though there is no totallt simple answer to this.

He copied parts from various mythologies. He was trying ostentatiously to create a mythology for the British Isles.

WHOA! No. He wanted to create a mythology for ENGLAND. Specifically not one for Britain- Arthurian legend already did that.

I think the main source of inspiration for him were still languages - I mean, first came the language(s), then the peoples to speak it... and peoples need history...

hmmmm....let me think ...how 'bout his faith?....
his relationship with Jesus Christ? i think thats where some of his inspiration came from...now we can argue up and down how he hated alagories and such...but your religious persona can show up in your writing anyway without him meaning it to show up...
also he once said that he himself WAS a hobbit...with the exception of stature...he enjoyed pipe...and food...ect...
one of my fav quotes from tolkien is this:...which i don't remember exactly:
"as i was writing i had not the slightest idea more than frodo who strider was when i came to bree..."...
he wrote it just as if he was a hobbit traveling along...which i'm sure he knew some things ahead...but i like how some things are never resolved...simply because a hobbit would never know how they are resolved or here news of it...examples are...shelobs fate
arwen's talk with her father before elrond leaves...we never know about these things because a news never reached the shire of shelob so a hobbit could never 'record' these things down...nobody was up on the mountain to 'hear' arwen's conversation with her father...so it is never known...i like those things...
ok a little off topic but i kinda whent off on a tangit....😄

Originally posted by Ushgarak
WHOA! No. He wanted to create a mythology for ENGLAND. Specifically not one for Britain- Arthurian legend already did that.

you're so correct...he wanted to create a myth that was solely for and of England...hmmm?

*must like tolkien also...but is quite sly it seems*

he certaintly did not want it based on any one myth already written nor tainted with any religious references, but somehow or other he could not escape if fully...many of the metaphors and stories are similar to many stories already written at his time..

Originally posted by Ushgarak
WHOA! No. He wanted to create a mythology for ENGLAND. Specifically not one for Britain- Arthurian legend already did that.

contrary to popular belief king arthur and his round table and such....was actually from norway....

but your right that it was just for england

hi sauron!

Originally posted by sauron
contrary to popular belief king arthur and his round table and such....was actually from norway....

but your right that it was just for england

That's true in the 'being complete nonsense' sense. It is a Romano-British legend that predates the influence of the Scandinavians in Britain, based on a genuine British warlord at the time (not that he would have been even remotely like the legend).

From my understanding, it he got the idea when he was in the trenches of WWII or maybe it was WWI. It was in a documentary on the history channel I saw.

Eziel

ush, king arthur was a norweigan (sp) legend, which was told often fter the norman invasion, so it became like an english legend....

trust me 😛

Nope, I don't believe you at all, this is actually an area I know a lot about. What the heck would the Norman Invasion have to do with it anyway?

Like all myth it has taken in a lot of influences over time but the base of it is the struggle of the Romano British against the Saxons several centuries before even the Danes came to Britain.

And that Tolkien considered it British is why he rejected it as a English mythology.

erm, well in that case i suggest you read the letters of tolkien, and also watch the special featured on thr fotr EE dvd, where in both it states he wanted to create english mythlogy, someone said why, we have arthur...., we do not have arthur, it was a norweigian legend, adopted over here

I have read the letters of Tolkien, where he specifically calls it British.

"I was from early days grieved by the poverty of my own beloved country; it had no stories of its own... there were Greek, Celtic, Romance, Germanic, Scandinavian and Finnish (which greatly affected me) but nothing English... of course, there was and is all the Arthurian World, but powerful as it is... it is with the soil of BRITAIN BUT NOT WITH ENGLISH..."

And whoever said that on the DVD, I do not believe. Either back it, or do not expect me to believe it. This is an area I have made great study of and unless you can provide me with some evidence, which contradicts all the evidence that says the other way and explains why a Norse based legend would have Welsh celts in it, I am not going to be slightly impressed.

The Arthurian legend is British. It is NOT English and 'we' as English do not 'have' it.

LOTR IS English.

well. i am not going to follow the route this conversation is going and argue with you again....you believe what you like, and i what i

Feel free, if you want to believe something in the complete absence of all sense and evidence- that is your right, but it reflects upon you.

I would also note, though I know a lot of you think he did it subconsciously, that Tolkien also criticises Arthurian legend, just after that passage I just quoted, because 'It is involved in and explicitly contains the Christian religion."

He really did not want religion as a source for his books.

may i ask, even if i am wrong....it is my belief, so why must you try to rub it into the mud, while yours is apparently always correct

Because I see no reason to encourage belief in the face of contrary facts. And I would never so insist in any belief of mine that was not factually backable.