Eleanor Parker, Lecturer in Medieval English Literature, Brasenose College, Oxford, gives the fifth and final talk in the Tolkien: The Maker of Middle Earth lecture series. This lecture focuses on Tolkien and old norse. The language and literature of medieval Scandinavia and Iceland had a profound influence on Tolkien's imagination, and this talk will introduce the language through exploring some of the Old Norse sagas, poems and legends which particularly interested Tolkien in his scholarly and creative work.

This series, convened by Dr Stuart Lee, presents five Oxford academics who examine the medieval languages that J.R.R. Tolkien studied and taught. Each lecture will present a short introduction to a language and its literature. The lectures will show how Tolkien's linguistic and philological scholarship inspired him to create names for characters and places in his literary works, and to invent the languages of Middle-earth.