Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Which parts of D&D came from Tolkien?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Sacrosanct" data-source="post: 7264750" data-attributes="member: 15700"><p>OK, sorry to be pedantic, but this is bothering me. This is exactly what I (and others) mean when we say we are crediting Tolkien for things he didn't create.</p><p></p><p>Giant eagles were not his idea. The rukk (roc) is an Arabic myth, and a pretty popular one at that. Even down to the "rescuing sailors by carrying them away" part.</p><p>Giant spiders? Giant any animals have been around for eons. Just making a giant nasty animal giant doesn't mean he came up with it.</p><p>Were-bears. lycanthropy as a concept existed for thousands of years. And wasn't just wolves. It was largely regional. For example, lycanthropes in Asia were leopards or tigers. So the idea of shapechanging into an apex predator is one that has been around for a long time</p><p>Wights. Go play Skyrim. Ok, that's a bit tongue in cheek, but it's an example we're probably all familiar with where the concept of undead wights fighting living men has been around for centuries.</p><p></p><p>The point is, is that almost everything Tolkien did was pulled directly from other existing myths, many of them with very little variation. We know Gary pulled the exact same inspiration. So while there are clearly Tolkien creations ported into D&D, it's not nearly as much as people are crediting him for.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sacrosanct, post: 7264750, member: 15700"] OK, sorry to be pedantic, but this is bothering me. This is exactly what I (and others) mean when we say we are crediting Tolkien for things he didn't create. Giant eagles were not his idea. The rukk (roc) is an Arabic myth, and a pretty popular one at that. Even down to the "rescuing sailors by carrying them away" part. Giant spiders? Giant any animals have been around for eons. Just making a giant nasty animal giant doesn't mean he came up with it. Were-bears. lycanthropy as a concept existed for thousands of years. And wasn't just wolves. It was largely regional. For example, lycanthropes in Asia were leopards or tigers. So the idea of shapechanging into an apex predator is one that has been around for a long time Wights. Go play Skyrim. Ok, that's a bit tongue in cheek, but it's an example we're probably all familiar with where the concept of undead wights fighting living men has been around for centuries. The point is, is that almost everything Tolkien did was pulled directly from other existing myths, many of them with very little variation. We know Gary pulled the exact same inspiration. So while there are clearly Tolkien creations ported into D&D, it's not nearly as much as people are crediting him for. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Which parts of D&D came from Tolkien?
Top