Was J.R.R. Tolkien Influenced by H.P. Lovecraft?

Q: Was J.R.R. Tolkien Influenced by H.P. Lovecraft?

ANSWER: There are two passages in The Lord of the Rings that sometimes lead people to ask if J.R.R. Tolkien might have read or been influenced by H.P. Lovecraft. The first passage is the scene where the Watcher in the water attempts to take Frodo: its large tentacles reach out of the still waters beside the west-gate of Khazad-dûm and grasp Frodo in the dark. David Day is credited with calling this creature a Kraken in his ill-received Tolkien Bestiary; J.E.A. Tyler assumed it was a “cold-drake” (Tolkien uses the name elsewhere in The Lord of the Rings). Tolkien himself never referred to the thing directly, and only alluded to it as “the Watcher in the water” in one of the notes recorded in the Book of Mazarbul.

The other passage that has led some people to ask if there is a Lovecraftian influence in Middle-earth is the scene where Gandalf describes his battle with the Balrog for Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli:

‘We fought far under the living earth, where time is not counted. Ever he clutched me, and ever I hewed him, till at last he fled into dark tunnels. They were not made by Durin’s folk, Gimli son of Glóin. Far, far below the deepest delving of the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he. Now I have walked there, but I will bring no report to darken the light of day. In that despair my enemy was my only hope, and I pursued him, clutching at his heel. Thus he brought me back at last to the secret ways of Khazad-dûm: too well he knew them all. Ever up now we went, until we came to the Endless Stair.’

The tentative identification of these “nameless things” with Lovecraft is hardly defensible but the comparison is certainly understandable. Tolkien himself had a certain fondness for horror and the horrific — hence, Peter Jackson has struck many as the perfect director to bring Tolkien’s visions of horror to life. Whether you agree with that judgment or not, there are two types of horror that stand out from Tolkien’s Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings for most people: spiders and Nazgûl.

Encounters with these creatures instill almost soul-shaking fear in Tolkien’s heroes, who nonetheless rise above their fears to overcome the terrible creatures threatening them. And while Gollum is certainly driven mad by his lust-hate relationship with Sauron’s Ring, there are other aspects of Tolkien’s fiction that deal with insanity or insane-like behavior, particularly where his heroes face the dragons. Insanity is a trademark quality associated with Lovecraft’s work although that may be due more to fannish adaptations (such as insanity rolls in various role-playing games).

Lovecraft vs. Tolkien: Similarities and Differences

Lovecraft wrote about forbidden knowledge (and lost arcana) just as Tolkien did; and Lovecraft’s stories concerned ancient beings who had a considerable impact upon humanity just as Tolkien’s Valar and Maiar did; Lovecraft also wrote about families or bloodlines that were closely associated with guilt and Tolkien’s “curse of the Noldor” or “curse of the Valar (upon the Noldor)” resembles that theme. And sometimes Lovecraft’s characters are compelled against their wills or better judgments to participate in events they would rather not — they have no control over their own fates, much as many of Melkor’s victims were unable to escape the consequences of his own “curses” or evil will.

Lovecraft and Tolkien have both drawn scrutiny for what might seem to be anti-modernist worlds (civilization declines or decays and everything in the past is better), and for perceived racism (more blatant in Lovecraft’s fiction and used differently in Tolkien’s fiction). But Tolkien and Lovecraft were diametrically opposed on matters of faith in a higher being: Tolkien was a devout Roman Catholic and Lovecraft was an atheist. Tolkien’s world is pre-Biblical but nonetheless cast in a monotheistic perspective that aligns loyal angels and their allies against rebellious angels and their servants; in Lovecraft’s fiction religion is either a tool used by corrupt beings to enslave “lesser” beings (humans) or it is something to be challenged and disowned through rational contemplation and severe scientific scrutiny.

Themes and Ideas Found in Both Authors’ Works

While it seems unlikely to many (or most if not all) Tolkien scholars that J.R.R. Tolkien was directly influenced by H.P. Lovecraft, both writers acknowledged influences from common sources. In fact, many of their shared or similar themes extend back through all European mythology and even to the Epic of Gilgamesh. Hence, the fact that both authors used horror to explore certain ideas does not have to mean that either author might have had an influence on the other. Lovecraft died in 1937 and Tolkien as a reader of science fiction might have seen some of Lovecraft’s stories. Lovecraft, however, would not have seen any of Tolkien’s published works.

Lovecraft’s Cthulhu “elder gods” were incorporated into a full mythos by Lovecraft’s correspondent and long-distance friend August Derleth after Lovecraft died of cancer in 1937. Tolkien makes no mention of Derleth’s work (so far as I am aware) and I think it unlikely that Tolkien would have taken much of an interest in Lovecraft. Furthermore, Lovecraft and Tolkien seem to have pointed their exploration of the shared themes I mention above in different directions. Lovecraft’s horror strikes me as representing the incomprehensibility of the cosmos, whereas Tolkien’s horror represents the corruption of the soul and the damage it inflicts on the human condition.

Basic Differences between Middle-earth and the Cthulhu Mythos

In other words, Lovecraft’s monsters may have been born as monsters (or as whatever they are but perceived as monstrous by uncomprehending humans) whereas Tolkien’s monsters are all made from within by corruption, starting with Melkor who was once the mightiest of the Ainur. Furthermore, Tolkien detested racism and he frequently injected it into his fiction as a sign of the flaws his characters and cultures had to struggle with; he often used racist themes to undermine the arrogance of his highly conflicted heroes. Tolkien never espoused the idea of a supreme race or a superior caste among men; rather, he strove to portray all men as worthy of God’s love if they chose to accept it because God’s love is extended to all men.

Whereas in Lovecraft there is a tendency for an ill will to have the final word in any conflict between men and the unknown, in Tolkien there is a tendency for a divine will to intercede on behalf of men in some way that is unknown and unforeseen by the things that have fallen into evil. This complete inversity in cosmological foundations seems to support the view that Tolkien’s fiction was not influenced by Lovecraft’s — or that at most Tolkien’s stories refuted Lovecraft’s. To Tolkien horror represented the world in a distorted form whereas to Lovecraft horror represented the human inability to accept the world’s supposed distortions as truth. These are fundamentally irreconcilable points of view.

Conclusion

I should also point out the evidence that Tolkien read at least one Lovecraftian story, “The Doom that came to Sarnath”, in 1964 when he reviewed an anthology. Tolkien’s notes were transcribed by Carl Hostetter in 2012 (Cf. here). There is no way to use this information to show that Tolkien had read any Lovecraftian stories prior to the composition of either The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit.

See Also

What Happened to Sauron’s Monsters When He Died?

What Are the Nameless Things Gandalf Refers to Below Khazad-dûm?

How Many Creatures Did J.R.R. Tolkien Invent for Middle-earth?

Are the Stone Giants Supposed To Be Demons Like the Balrog?

What Are the Evil Creatures That Served Sauron?

Kryptic Tales of Middle-earth (Classic Essay)

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