Works inspired by Tolkien

The works of J. R. R. Tolkien have served as the inspiration to painters, musicians, film-makers and writers, to such an extent that he is sometimes seen as the "father" of the entire genre of high fantasy.

But once upon a time (my crest has long since fallen) I had a mind to make a body of more or less connected legend, ranging from the large and cosmogonic to the level of romantic fairy-story...

Tolkien was very critical of this work, and in 1946 he rejected illustrations by Horus Engels for the German edition of the Hobbit as "too 'Disnified' for my taste: Bilbo with a dribbling nose, and Gandalf as a figure of vulgar fun rather than the Odinic wanderer that I think of".

Tolkien felt her impressionistic style did not suit the story, and she was replaced by Pauline Baynes, who later also supplied the illustrations for The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (1962) and Smith of Wootton Major (1967).

[11] Other artists who have found inspiration in Tolkien's works include Inger Edelfeldt who illustrated the covers of Swedish translations of several of his books,[12] Anke Eißmann,[13] Michael Hague,[14] Tove Jansson (of Moomin fame, illustrator of Swedish and Finnish translations of The Hobbit),[7] Paul Raymond Gregory,[15] Tim Kirk,[16] Angus McBride who illustrated Iron Crown's Tolkien-based role-playing games,[17] Jef Murray,[18] Colleen Doran,[19] Jenny Dolfen who has made watercolour paintings of scenes from The Silmarillion,[20] Alexander Korotich, who made a series of scraperboard engravings of The Lord of the Rings,[21] and Peter Xavier Price.

[23][24] The 2005–2010 Narnia film trilogy adapted from the novel series by Tolkien's friend C. S. Lewis were produced due to the popularity of The Lord of the Rings.

[25][26] An early draft for George Lucas's 1977 Star Wars film is said to have included an exchange of dialogue between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker taken directly from the conversation between Gandalf and Bilbo in Chapter 1 of The Hobbit, where Gandalf/Kenobi says "Good morning!"

According to the Star Wars website, Darth Vader is compared by Filoni to the Balrog rather than Sauron, and the Prancing Pony bar may have inspired the Mos Eisley cantina, the introduction of Han Solo suggestively matching that of Strider (Aragorn).

[33][34][a] Among the Tolkienian archetypes in the Earthsea books are wizards (including the protagonist, Ged), a disinherited prince (Arren in The Farthest Shore), a magical ring (the ring of Erreth-Akbe in The Tombs of Atuan), a Middle-earth style quest (in The Farthest Shore), and powerful dragons (like the dragon of Pendor, in A Wizard of Earthsea).

[32] Patricia A. McKillip's The Forgotten Beasts of Eld and Jane Yolen's The Magic Three of Solatia were Tolkien-inspired fantasies for young adults written in the mid-1970s.

[31] Lester del Rey, however, sought for new books that would mirror Tolkien's work, and published Terry Brooks' The Sword of Shannara, David Eddings's Belgariad, and Stephen R. Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever.

[31] Guy Gavriel Kay, who had assisted Christopher Tolkien with the editing of The Silmarillion, later wrote his own Tolkien-influenced fantasy trilogy, The Fionavar Tapestry, complete with dwarfs and mages.

[37] Fantasy series such as Terry Pratchett's Discworld and Orson Scott Card's The Tales of Alvin Maker were "undoubtedly" influenced by Tolkien.

[39] From 1980, the term "fantasy" became synonymous with the general aspects of Tolkien's work: multiple races including dwarves and elves, a quest to destroy a magical artifact, and an evil that seeks to control the world.

Stirling's "Emberverse" series, published starting in 2004, includes a character obsessed with The Lord of the Rings who creates a post-apocalyptic community based upon the Elves and Dúnedain of Middle-earth.

Other prominent fantasy writers including George R. R. Martin, Michael Swanwick, Raymond E. Feist, Poul Anderson, Karen Haber, Harry Turtledove, Charles De Lint, and Orson Scott Card have acknowledged Tolkien's work as an inspiration.

[48] Progressive rock acts which have composed songs based on Tolkien's characters and stories include Rush ("Rivendell"),[49] Camel ("Nimrodel", "The White Rider"),[50] Mostly Autumn (Music Inspired by The Lord of the Rings CD, 2001),[51] Glass Hammer (The Middle-Earth Album, 2001),[52] Bo Hansson (Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings, 1970),[53] and the indie rock band Gatsbys American Dream.

[54] The hard rock and classic metal band Led Zeppelin wrote several songs inspired by Tolkien's works including "The Battle of Evermore", "Misty Mountain Hop", "Ramble On", and "Over the Hills and Far Away" (with debate about some parts of "Stairway to Heaven").

[59] Bob Catley, lead singer of the British prog rock band Magnum, released a solo album titled Middle Earth.

[60] Among the heavy metal artists influenced by Tolkien are Blind Guardian, who composed numerous songs relating to Middle-earth, including the whole of the concept album Nightfall in Middle Earth, based on The Silmarillion.

[64] Battlelore's lyrics are about Middle-earth characters and events in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, as well as medieval literature and the Kalevala,[65] as is their pseudo-medieval stage show, in which each member is dressed as "ferocious warriors", "dirty thieves" or "beautiful female elves".

[72] Sally Oldfield's first solo album, Water Bearer (1978) was inspired by Tolkien's works, particularly "Songs of the Quendi", which quote from his poems.

[76][74] Other folk rock and new age musicians inspired by Tolkien include Za Frûmi (singing in Orkish), Nickel Creek, David Arkenstone and Lyriel, among others.

[79] The Norwegian classical composer Martin Romberg has written three full-scale symphonic poems, Quendi (2008), Telperion et Laurelin (2014), and Fëanor (2017), inspired by passages from the Silmarillion.

1, "The Lord of the Rings", for concert band, is in five movements, each illustrating a personage or an important episode from the novel: Gandalf, Lothlorien, Gollum, Journey in the Dark (The Mines of Moria /The Bridge of Khazad-Dum), and Hobbits.

[87][88] The Tolkien Ensemble published four CDs from 1997 to 2005 with the aim to create "the world's first complete musical interpretation of the poems and songs from The Lord of the Rings".

[92] The Australian musician, Patrick Flegg, late husband of Tolkien illustrator Mary Fairburn, composed a piano suite, Anduin: The Mighty River, recorded by Wendy Rowlands (2001).

In a broader sense, many fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) and DragonQuest feature Tolkienesque creatures and were influenced by Tolkien's works.