Letter 226

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Letter 226
Recipient	L.W. Forster
Date	December 31, 1960
Subject(s)	Influences

Letter 226 is a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien and published in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Summary

Tolkien tells L.W. Forster of his influences. Since the writing of The Lord of the Rings had already reached Bree in 1937, the Second World War and the atomic bomb had no influence on the writing. Neither did World War I, though the Dead Marshes owe something to Northern France after the Battle of the Somme. However, it owes more to William Morris' The House of the Wolfings and The Roots of the Mountains.

Notes

• Though not identified, professor Forster is likely L.W. Forster, Schröder professor in German at Cambridge University.