Gods and Fighting Men by Lady Gregory

by Brian O'Donnchadha
(North Dakota, USA)

Paths of the Dead

Considering how central to Tolkien's work was his love of mythology, and given how much other country's mythologies inspired him to write The Lord of the Rings, I feel it incumbent on me to recommend Gods and Fighting Men.

Gods and Fighting Men is a collection of Irish mythology that tells the stories of the people and heroes of the Tuatha Dé Danann, upon whom Tolkien based the elves of Middle-earth.

In addition many of the mythological themes present in his work can be found here; the importance of the number 3, the death and re-birth of heroes, etc. This book is one of the best compilations of Irish Mythology, as distinct from Irish folklore, and is well worth a read.

Follow it up with:

Cú Chulainn of Muirthemne

Note from Webmaster

Thank you for this excellent suggestion & review Brian. Gods and Fighting Men is one of my own favorite collections of mythology, and one of the most easily readable collections available.

This very title, in fact, was brought up in my Tolkien discussion group last month as the best source of information on Irish myth and legend.

Tolkien did indeed know the Celtic myth cycles and no doubt mined them for ideas associated to his created world.

I would also add, however, that his Elves have as much (or more) in common with the Vanir of Nordic mythology as with the Tuatha of Irish myth, and Tolkien himself professed a certain distaste for the themes of Irish myth.

Tolkien mentioned, in a note to his publisher in 1937:

The Letters of JRR Tolkien

While I don't necessarily agree with Professor Tolkien's assessment (I am more fond of the Irish myths myself) he was certainly partial to the "northern" mythologies - Lönnrot's Kalevala and the prose and poetic Eddas of Norse Mythology.