Roger Echo-hawk

Tolkien in Pawneeland: the Secret Sources of Middle-earth Roger Echo-hawk 1. izdevums

Creating the mythic world of Middle-earth, JRR Tolkien drew inspiration from well-known Northern European traditional literatures. But Tolkien in Pawneeland points to an obscure book never mentioned by Tolkien ? a book unknown to lovers of Middle-earth. Comparison of textual elements shows that Tolkien drew inspiration from a 1904 book, Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee. He used this material to invent his creation story and to colorize such characters as Ungoliant, Tom Bombadil, hobbits, Gollum, Gandalf, stone-giants, Beorn, and Smaug. This unexpected journey into a hidden story suggests that Pawnee traditional history served as one of JRR Tolkien?s most important sources for the making of Middle-earth. This secret means that actual historical narratives lay at the foundations of Tolkien?s fictional tales, and Tolkien?s mythmaking has given rise to a truly global mythology.