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I'm Hello and welcome to the history of Vikings.

Today we'll be discussing the way in which medieval Icelandic

literature inspired the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Joining me to discuss this topic is Dr. Armand

Yacobson, Professor of Medieval Icelandic Literature at the University of Iceland. Dr.

Yacobson, thank you so much for joining me today. Yeah, thank you for having me.

It's a pleasure, and I'm excited to have you on the podcast.

Well, you know, the popularity of Tolkien's work has been unprecedented over the last century.

The famous Lord of the Rings is one of the best-selling novels ever written, having sold over 150 million copies.

Most people know that Tolkien had a great deal of academic interest in Old Norse language

and myth.

But how does this interest impact the popularity of his work?

Well, his work is very much influenced by his philological interests, and that, of course, includes interests in Old

Norse, and Icelanders who read Tolkien, of course, recognize his usage of Old Norse names,

and especially the dwarf names in the Hobbit, very obvious influence.

And this makes him interesting to Icelanders.

Of course, his work is ubiquitously popular, also in Iceland.

So I'm not sure to what extent the Icelandic influences have an impact,

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