J. R. R. Tolkien's influences J. R. R. Tolkien's influences While highly creative, the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien was influenced by a number of sources. Tolkien was inspired by his academic fields of philology and early Germanic literature, especially poetry and mythology, as well as a wide range of other beliefs, culture, and experiences. "The Lord of the Rings" is a sequel to "The Hobbit" and so shares influences with it. At the same time, it is a novel which is much greater in scale and scope and so encompasses many other influences as well. Tolkien once described "The Lord of the Rings"
Christopher Tolkien "Beren and Lúthien " is an editorial work and was published as a stand-alone book in 2017. The next year, "The Fall of Gondolin " was published also as an editorial work. The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, and The Fall of Gondolin make up the three "Great Tales" of the Elder Days which J.R.R. Tolkien considered to be the biggest stories of the First Age. HarperCollins published other J. R. R. Tolkien work edited by Christopher Tolkien which is not connected to the Middle-earth legendarium. "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún" appeared in May 2009, a verse retelling