How? Does The Lord of the Rings have a close connection with Ireland? Incredible as it may seem, it’s true. Although Peter Jackson’s films are set in beautiful New Zealand, JRR Tolkien ‘s Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion are said to have their roots in Ireland. According to academics specializing in the author, Tolkien drew inspiration from the Burren region (Co. Clare), as well as Irish legends, to propel his story… Theory or fact? Find out more here!
The Burren – © gabriel12
So yes, we already know what you’re going to tell us… The Lord of the Rings has nothing to do with Ireland… It’s just a pretext to make the most of a country for tourism purposes…
But we can assure you that Dr. Liam Campbell, an eminent academic at the University of Milwaukee and a specialist in Tolkien’s work, is unequivocal. There are many connections between The Lord of the Rings and Ireland.
The latter presented his findings at the Burren Tolkien Society Festival, an Irish event celebrating Tolkien’s work. And his arguments are convincing.
For Dr Campbell, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, Language and Creative Writing at the University of Ulster and North West Regional College, things are clear:
An unexpected body of evidence is beginning to emerge. They unmask Ireland and, in particular, the Burren as a significant influence on Tolkien’s creative imagination.
Tuatha Dé Danann – Nationalmuseet – cc
For Campbell, Irish mythology and Irish landscapes are deeply rooted in Tolkien’s original concept for his secondary world of Middle-earth. This theory is all the more substantiated, as JRR Tolkien is said to have visited Ireland regularly during his lifetime… and mainly County Clare, where the Burren lands are located.
The latter is said to have visited the west of Ireland on several occasions, and spent considerable time in the Burren when he held the post of external examiner in the English department of NUI Galway between 1949 and 1959. Strangely enough, it was during this period that he revised and published “The Lord of the Rings”.
A strange coincidence?
My research has shown that some late modifications of The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien himself refer to the Burren. There’s an entire passage that evokes an elevated, rugged landscape, reflecting the Burren in some extremely revealing and specific ways. says Dr. Campbell.
Better still, for the Tolkien scholar, there are also clear parallels between the Tuatha de Danann, Tolkien’s Elves and their lands in the fiction of The Lord of the Rings.
Tolkien was well versed in Celtic mythology, but also in the specificities of the Tuatha de Danann. He even mentioned them to his son Christopher as a founding myth inspiring certain aspects of his fiction. This also applies to the great wars between the Tuatha and the Formorians… If we add all this to the fact that Tolkien often took a sketchbook with him and actually created detailed drawings and even watercolors of the Irish landscape, we certainly have something remarkable here.
It’s a nice theory, and one that continues to fuel speculation among the author’s fans. Many people like to compare Middle-earth to County Clare, renowned for its verdant landscapes and warm inhabitants.
All the more reason for the Irish to be proud of their heritage!
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