I was not a fan of Tom Bombadil in LOTR, so found this article interesting, as it gave me an appreciation of why he was included and what he represented.
I’m so glad to read this as your presentation was one I really wanted to see but I think missed due to it being OHGOD am here in the US Pacific time zone lol. This was gorgeous and everything I hoped it would be, and an excellent example of how Tolkien is responsible for my own journey into being an animist!
Ah I so appreciate this! Sorry you missed the presentation, but glad you could finally see where I'm at with the project. I had the same experience re: Tolkien and animism, so this has been a very special paper to work on. <3
I'm a fan of Nordic ethnology and folklore study and didn't know about Tolkien's interest in Kalevala. Regarding the Finnish language and the translation of Kalevala: vanha can mean both ancient and old. Väinämöinen is also called "tietäjä iänikuinen" (which translates literally as "knower eternal/age-old" but the meaning is closer to “eternal sage” or “shaman”.
In Finland there were no witch hunts in the same sense as in the US or Europe and those who practiced magic or cast spells were usually men , like Väinämöinen, called tietäjä, later also noita (=witch). Women were mostly healers and seers.
A bit off-topic, but I thought it might interest you, unless you already knew all of this!
I was not a fan of Tom Bombadil in LOTR, so found this article interesting, as it gave me an appreciation of why he was included and what he represented.
I’m so glad to read this as your presentation was one I really wanted to see but I think missed due to it being OHGOD am here in the US Pacific time zone lol. This was gorgeous and everything I hoped it would be, and an excellent example of how Tolkien is responsible for my own journey into being an animist!
Ah I so appreciate this! Sorry you missed the presentation, but glad you could finally see where I'm at with the project. I had the same experience re: Tolkien and animism, so this has been a very special paper to work on. <3
What an interesting read!
I'm a fan of Nordic ethnology and folklore study and didn't know about Tolkien's interest in Kalevala. Regarding the Finnish language and the translation of Kalevala: vanha can mean both ancient and old. Väinämöinen is also called "tietäjä iänikuinen" (which translates literally as "knower eternal/age-old" but the meaning is closer to “eternal sage” or “shaman”.
In Finland there were no witch hunts in the same sense as in the US or Europe and those who practiced magic or cast spells were usually men , like Väinämöinen, called tietäjä, later also noita (=witch). Women were mostly healers and seers.
A bit off-topic, but I thought it might interest you, unless you already knew all of this!
More about the witch history in Finland you'll find for example from Mirkka Lappalainen https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/mirkka-lappalainen