”Beowulf” and the Influence of Old English on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings

Thanks to Medievalists.net for this:

"It is uncommon for a popular work of art to take roots in an academic context. Many popular novels and films, possibly the two most common mediums of art we encounter nowadays, are written by talented creative writers and aim to achieve a high level of realism to help the reader connect with the work. An exception to this came to popularity nearly sixty years ago. J.R.R. Tolkien, then an Anglo-Saxon professor in the University of Oxford, published his second novel, titled The Lord of the Rings, in 1954. It is while being a full-time professor that Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings, an uncommon fact for the third best-selling novel ever written at more than 150 million copies sold.

Reading The Lord of the Rings, however, it is clear that the academic context in which the novel was written contributed greatly to the complexity, depth and aesthetic prowess of the novel. Tolkien being an expert in Anglo-Saxon, nearly all of the names employed in the novel share Old English roots. Moreover, perhaps the greatest and best-known work written in Old English was the heroic epic poem Beowulf. Tolkien is often said to ‘‘have helped to rescue the poem for posterity’’1 by not only writing one of his most important essays on the subject, Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, but by basing a lot of The Lord of the Rings on the Anglo-Saxon poem."

The full text of this article by Joly Morin from the 30 April, 2012 edition of Academia may be read here.

‘Thor: The Dark World’: Christopher Eccleston is villain Malekith

So the "Dark World" in question is apparently Svartalfheim?

"“Thor: The Dark World” has cast its villain. Christopher Eccleston, known for his work in “Doctor Who,” will play Malekith in next year’s sequel to the 2011 Marvel blockbuster that starred Christopher Hemsworth in the title role.

In the comics, Malekith is the ruler of the dark elves of Svartalfheim, one of the nine worlds of Asgard. The dark elves possess superhuman strength, stamina, speed and smarts. Malekith can also teleport, fly by transforming into mist and cast illusions. He is served by minions Bitterhand, Wormwood and Grendell."

Read the full article at the Los Angeles Times's Hero Complex site.

The Girl and the North Wind

A retelling of this children's story. Note that the girl's name is Kari, which is also the name of the Etin associated with the wind, especially the North Wind of Winter. The story is posted at Sheer Poetry.

DRAGONSBANE: 'Kirby as Channeled By Robert Rodi'

"It's safe to say that Robert Rodi is pretty comfortable with mythology — at Marvel, he's written Thor stories from the Loki miniseries to the current Thor: The Deviants Saga. He's exploring the Norse worlds and more in Kirby: Genesis – Dragonsbane, a new ongoing series debuting in January 2012 from Dynamite." Read more about this new comic, inspired by Norse mytholoy, at Newsarama.

Review: Francesca Simon's The Sleeping Army

"Imagine a world in which Christianity was merely an exotic minor cult that died out before the end of the Roman Empire. A world in which the official state religion of these islands is that of the pagan Saxons and Vikings, and people still worship the old Norse gods. It's a neat idea, and one that allows Horrid Henry author Francesca Simon to explore the Norse myths in a quest tale with a contemporary central character, and have a whale of a time in the process."  Read the full review at the Guardian.

'Percy Jackson' author planning book on Norse gods

""There are so many fantastic stories and I want to bring Thor and Odin and the other gods into the modern world, just like I did with the Greeks and Percy Jackson," (Rick) Riordan said. "I'll give the books an urban setting and have young people interacting with the Norse gods." Read the full story at the Utica Monitor.