Changes in Tolkienian based Mythologies.

[Eric the Orange]

I find it interesting how the various Mythologies based of of Tolkienes works have changed over the years. How like Dwarfs, Dragons, Elves, ect. have changed over the years.

Some examples of Tolkienian based mythologies are, DnD, Warhammer, and Warcraft.

So I made this topic for people to state and discuss the differences and changes made to these things.

 

[Bailos]

Well none of those examples were actually made BY Tolkien. Just saying.

 

[maturin]

Well, you get mythologies like TES with all the Tolkien/Gygax trappings (minus the short dwarves) that actively subvert and deconstruct all the cliche concepts.

 

[Lilani]

I find it interesting how the various Mythologies based of of Tolkienes works have changed over the years. How like Dwarfs, Dragons, Elves, ect. have changed over the years.

Some examples of Tolkienian based mythologies are, DnD, Warhammer, and Warcraft.

So I made this topic for people to state and discuss the differences and changes made to these things.

As Bailos said, none of those creatures were conceived by Tolkien himself. All of them have existed in multiple ancient mythologies, in one form or another. Sure, Tolkien took the liberty of making them his own, and one could argue that many people who "copy" him seem to go straight to his versions of the creatures rather than the older ones, but you can never be certain. Concept art goes through a lot of phases and revisions.

And really, there isn't too much you can do if you're going to call something a "dwarf." By its name it has to be short, and it would figure that a creature like a dwarf would be a little ball of muscle and fight, given the Napoleon Complex it most likely has with the rest of the big, big world.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Tolkien style fantasy is used in most fantasy mmo's and video games, WoW and Runescape both rip their character designs straight from the book, I think Dragon Age does as well.

The thing about Tolkien was that for his books he completely rewrote certain mythological races. Before Tolkien Elves were tiny squat things that made shoes, or christmas presents (or rice crispies) They were crafters and tradesmen, but Tolkien turned them into hippyish nature lovers, archers, tall, thin and aryan.
Any subversions of Tolkienesque fantasy isn't really a subversion, as he neither created the races, nor holds any authority on how they should be portrayed. Depicting an elf as a small, tricksy cobbler isn't really a subversion of Tolkien, it's just a depiction of the original style, and thus isn't related or influenced by Tolkien at all.

It's kind of like if someone made a vampire movie where the vampire can transform into a bat, and you said it was a subversion of Twilight, since their vampires don't have any reference to bats. It's not a subversion, because it is not influenced or rebelling against Twilight mythology, it is simply taking its references from a different source.

 

[Nieroshai]

Two things I disliked about Tolkien's otherwise wonderful mythos:
1. Elves are arrogant and feel that humans are inferior just because they're not magical.
2. Women don't exist from the neck down. I'm not saying we need Bilbo sex scenes, but you know Johnny Tolkien, romance and physical attraction can be pretty powerful character motivators.

 

[Eric the Orange]

And really, there isn't too much you can do if you're going to call something a "dwarf." By its name it has to be short, and it would figure that a creature like a dwarf would be a little ball of muscle and fight, given the Napoleon Complex it most likely has with the rest of the big, big world.

dwarfs in the original Nordic mythology were actually much more akin to how Tolkien describes goblins. Short, scraggly, with dusky black skin, that never saw the light of day. there one claim to fame being that they could craft just about anything.

 

[Eric the Orange]

Well none of those examples were actually made BY Tolkien. Just saying.

Yes but his view of those things are very different from the original source material (primarily nordic mythology). and the likes of DnD, warhammer, ect. pretty much bodily ripped off his views of how these things should be, rather then how they were originally made.

 

[Erana]

Things that changed from tolkenian lore? The height of elves. You've got short DnD elves, human-sized elves, and of course the hulking grapes of Warcraft.

Seriously, for the lithe, delicate superhumans of Tolkenian lore, Nelves are bodybuilders.

Spoiler: SO MUCH MUSCLE

Legolas is afraid.

 

[Yokai]

Well, despite Blizzard pilfering many of Games Workshop's ideas, I think they may have been among the first to portray orcs as noble and intelligent, if still fierce and warlike. It's a change that allows for a lot of interesting ideas.

Things that changed from tolkenian lore? The height of elves. You've got short DnD elves, human-sized elves, and of course the hulking grapes of Warcraft.

Seriously, for the lithe, delicate superhumans of Tolkenian lore, Nelves are bodybuilders.

Spoiler: SO MUCH MUSCLE

Legolas is afraid.

You have Samwise Didier [http://www.sonsofthestorm.com/gallery.php?artist=samwise] to thank for that. The man's incapable of drawing male humanoids without at least two hundred pounds of muscle.

That said, I do like the idea of beefy elves with beards.

 

[fletch_talon]

Before Tolkien Elves were tiny squat things that made shoes, or christmas presents (or rice crispies) They were crafters and tradesmen, but Tolkien turned them into hippyish nature lovers, archers, tall, thin and aryan.
Any subversions of Tolkienesque fantasy isn't really a subversion, as he neither created the races, nor holds any authority on how they should be portrayed. Depicting an elf as a small, tricksy cobbler isn't really a subversion of Tolkien, it's just a depiction of the original style, and thus isn't related or influenced by Tolkien at all.

Actually you'll find that before they were tiny squat things that worked for Santa, they were tall thin and aryan. Or at least similar to Tolkien's elves.
Tolkien drew a lot of inspiration from Norse mythology in which elves were as he described. The impish tricksters in more modern folklore came later I believe. I've read somewhere that it came with the rise in Christianity.