The medievalist and fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien derived the characters, stories, places, and languages of Middle-earth from many sources. Among these are Norse mythology, which depicts a reckless
Ragnarök is one of the elements scholars have identified in The Lord of the Rings. Battle of the Doomed Gods by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine, 1882
"Great horns of the North wildly blowing": Tolkien's account of the arrival of the Riders of Rohan at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, seen here in Peter Jackson's film The Return of the King, has been read as exemplifying the "heroic Northern world".
First Age Elves such as Fëanor (left) and Fingolfin expressed Northern courage in different ways. Artwork by Tom Loback, 2007
Byrhtnoth, prideful loser of the 991 Battle of Maldon
The Battle of the Pelennor Fields, in J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, was the defence of the city of Minas Tirith by the forces of Gondor and the cavalry of its ally Rohan, against the
Northern courage in Middle-earth
…but he, like his friend Merry, is courageous, carrying on without hope. Shippey states that Tolkien announces the arrival of the Riders of Rohan at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields with the phrase "Great horns of the North wildly blowing", meaning bravado and recklessness", and exemplifying the "heroic Northern world". The scholar…
The battle, and in particular the death of Théoden, has been compared to the historic Battle of the Catalaunian Fields. Painting by Alphonse de Neuville.
"Great horns of the North wildly blowing": here, one made from a horn of an aurochs
Albrecht Altdorfer's 1529 oil painting The Battle of Alexander at Issus inspired Peter Jackson's film depiction.
A left-arm vambrace; the bend would be placed at the knight's elbow