Well, if anyone is interested, here is the completed rough draft, which I'm turning in for class critique tomorrow.
Tolkien’s mythos has spawned followings in various fandoms since it was almost single-handedly responsible for the fantasy renaissance of the sixties, and recent years have seen a huge upsurge in their popularity even among the general population. While most Tolkien fandom expresses itself in pre-pubescent girls writing Legolas slash or older science fiction faans discussing Lord of the Rings trivia, there is another, more unexpected contingent of people who feel an attraction to the world of Middle-earth. While most people who read the trilogy identify with the protangonists, black metallers instead feel an affinity for the darkness and evil of Mordor. Black metal is itself a genre of music meant to give form to darkness, and given its brand of aural violence and the physical violence that marked its birth, it is surprising to find black metal musicians and giggling fourteen-year-old girls attracted to the same mythos. However, a closer examination of the influences shared by the worlds of Middle-earth and black metal as well as the strangely parallel lives of the respective originators reveals how natural it is for a Tolkien influence to exist in black metal.
Although the majority of Tolkien influence comes in the form of band names such as Amon Amarth, Burzum, Ephal Duath, Gorgoroth, Marillion and Sauron, many black metal bands, and, indeed, metal bands in general, show a distinct Tolkien influence in their lyrical themes as well. The well-known power metal band Blind Guardian has written opuses such as their album “Nightfall in Middle Earth” based on Tolkien’s works. Most black metal is, of course, more focused on the doings of Mordor; Summoning, like Blind Guardian, have made their musical career based around Tolkien, but with songs such as “Lugburz;”
To lay down my will upon the land, Lugburz
No sound disturbs this place of blackened souls
This winter walls of stone and ice behold thy might
Again I'm kneeling down to hear these strange tunes of war
Night, oh beloved night, your wisdom floats into my mind Nuit,
and forms my thoughts of Middle-Earth
to build up a new mighty empire
However, the abundance of Tolkien imagery is not indicative of a universal desire to express Tolkien’s works through music; some choose to utilize the imagery out of a simple attraction to Tolkien’s mythos and a desire to further express the same darkness Tolkien captured. Mike Hudson of the Michigan-based blackened thrash band Sauron expresses this sentiment well when speaking of Tolkien influence, “Tolkien's imaginative world has been a great deal of inspiration to us. We've all read the trilogy (and then some) and we all enjoy it. We chose the name as Sauron is the embodiment of all evil and it seemed to fit the music” (
http://www.geocities.com/ deathmetalside/sauron.html). Varg Vikernes expresses very similar sentiments, though he also feels a connection with the base of Norse mythology on which Tolkien built, “…I sympathize with Sauron….I was drawn to Sauron, who was supposedly ‘dark and evil,” so I realzied there had to be a connection. That’s the reason I liked the book in the first place, because of the veil of hidden mythology” (Moynihan and Søderlind 158). This points to less of a direct Tolkien influence on black metal, and more of a kind of parallelism; what C.S. Lewis called “northernness” holds a fascination for more than just the Inklings.
The influence of Norse mythology on Tolkien’s works is undeniable. The most prominent examples come in “The Cottage of Lost Play,” wherein the main character Eriol is told of the Valar. The structure of the story, Eriol’s wanderings and the questions and answers which shape the narrative, is the same structure as “The Delusion of King Gylfi” in the Younger Edda, in which Snorri Sturluson uses the device of King Gylfi in the same way to talk about the Aesir, the Norse pantheon. King Gylfi wanders the land in disguise in order to gain wisdom, and comes upon a mysterious hall containing unbelievable sights, wherein he is told the stories that make up Norse mythology. The Valar that Eriol learns of are clearly based on the Aesir;
Though the matching of Tolkien’s Valar to the Northern gods is by no means exact (there is too much Tolkien would wish to change), it is easy enough to pair certain Valar with certain Asgard gods. Among Tolkien’s queens, gentle Estë is a clear version of Fir, the Norse goddess of healing. Yavanna, giver of fruits, is an easy match for Asgard’s Idun, whose apples keep the gods young – though Vána, as the Ever-young, echoes Idun as well. Nienna, the Vala of lamentation, is (at least in later drafts) a more kindly, more genteel version of the weeping goddess figure, one that the Norse represent both in Odin’s wife, Frigg, and in Freyja (at those times when Freyja is seen not as a seductress but as a grieving wife shedding tears of gold) (Burns 168).
The most prominent Aesir import into the world of Middle Earth is Odin. He is primarily a god of battle, and has dominion over wolves and ravens, and some of the spirits of the dead. In addition, he is a sky god and a god of poetry, among other things. All of these appear in the Valar;
Manwë, the chief of the Valar, is closely linked to Odin through his Allfather title (used predominantly in the Quenta manuscripts), his power over brides, his “splendour of poesy” (BLT1, 59), his sky-blue robes, and his similar, high-seated throne. In The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf (an emissary of Manwë) continues the Odin connection – most obviously by wearing a broad-brimmed hat and carrying a walking staff, as the wandering Odin does, though Gandalf’s association with eagles, his enmity with wolves, and his ownership of a nearly supernatural horse add to this as well (Burns 169).
The two biggest differences between the Aesir and the Valar come in their organization and their personalities. Most Aesir, like Odin, have dominion over multiple concepts, and multiple facets and roles. The Valar, on the other hand, are much more neatly organized; Tolkien picks and chooses what attributes to give to the Valar, unlike the organic growth of true mythology. He has also Christianized them, giving them a kindlier disposition and making them all just, beautiful and good. The Aesir, on the other hand, are even bloodier and lustier than the Greco-Roman pantheon. Asgard is a place of epic battles, wild revelry and wanton sexual acts; Freyja, for example, sleeps one night each with four dwarves to obtain a gold necklace, hardly an act that Nienna would consider. However, this is not to say that Tolkien ignores what he considered the negative aspects of the Aesir completely. He simply gave them a convenient place to reside in Melkor, who, like Odin and Loki, is warlike and associated with wolves. Like Loki, he is bound, but continues to wreak destruction regardless. Tolkien also had a version of Ragnarök, Dagor Dagorath, in which Manwë’s son Fionwë will fight Morgoth; this echoes the contest between Odin’s son Vidar fighting Loki’s son Fenrir, an enormous grey wolf.
Tolkien does lose almost all of the aspect of fertility the Aesir have, however. The fertility found in the Valar is of the agricultural type, with Yavanna bestowing fruit and Vána causing flowers to bloom wherever she walks. Tolkien, like Sturluson, was striving to create a world palatable to the Christian ideal, and as such, needed a monotheistic world, and one that absolved the divine being from evil. Melkor plays the same role as Lucifer in the Christian bible; although he came forth from the One, he choose to accept the evil of the world into himself, allowing the One and the Valar to be the embodiment of good.
However, Tolkien does not treat the Valar as true gods, but “Powers,” and says of them, as Struluson, a Christian of the twelfth century, says of the tales of the Edda, that any conception of them as such is due to human mistake. Tolkien draws more than just the aspects of the Valar from Norse mythology, however. The figure of Gandalf is heavily inspired by the attitudes found in the mythology of the Edda and Kalevala, as well as many of the general values found in Middle-earth;
…what Snorri’s Edda and the Kalevala did for Tolkien was to give him two quite different but complementary views of a pre-Christian age, both the product of Christians looking back at but still in touch with pagan imaginations. The fierce and uncompromising Norse mythology gave Tolkien Gandalf, the divine messenger with a short temper, heavy hand, and strong if unpredictable sense of humor. The romantic and mysterious Finnish mythology contributed a sense of grief and loss, together with a powerful foundation in natural beauty and love of the native land….As for what gives the “flavour,” the “atmosphere” the “virtue” of “rootedness…” [it] must be the sense of many minds, not just one, pouring their thought and emotion in to the greatest issues of human life – and death (Shippey 160).
Death is a prominent motif in works such as The Lord of the Rings, and the way in which the characters face death is highly reflective of Norse attitudes. Boromir’s death in battle, although fated for him the moment he gave into the temptation of the Ring, redeems him. He is given what amounts to a Viking funeral, sent down the river in a boat, the rest of the Fellowship literally singing his praises.
This is the same attitude found in most Old Norse literature. As Tom Shippey notes;
Old Norse literature is notoriously the most hard-hearted in Europe, its very emblem the heart that is cut from Högni and brought to his brother Gunnar. Gunnar looks at it approvingly – his captors have earlier tried to fool him by bringing a base-born heart and passing it off as Högni’s – and recognizes it by its lack of (literal) trepidation:
Here I have the heart of Högni the brave,
Not like the heart of Hjalli the coward.
Little does it tremble as it lies on the plate.
It trembled much the less when it lay in his breast.
There is no room for sentiment in the heroic tradition (Shippey 155).
In addition, Tolkien takes the idea for the death scene at the end of Tale of Túin from Kullervo’s death scene in the Kalevala, in which he is answered by his sword when he asks it if it will kill him. However, although much of the attitude toward death is taken from the Norse traditions, it, like the attributes of the Aesir into the Valar, is softened in its translation into Middle Earth;
Among the Valar there is no divvying up of the battle-slain as there is among Odin, Tyr, and Thor….And rather than Loki’s daughter, Hel (half living woman, half rotting corpse), who takes as her own those who die in sickness and old age, Tolkien has Mandos, a keeper of the dead, wise and good, though a habitual speaker of doom (Burns 171).
Tolkien is only one of many to be heavily influenced by northernness. Nearly every black metal band draws not only its lyrical content but its sound from the tales of the Edda and Kalevala, as well as the Scandinavian landscape itself. Black metal culture, too, draws from the Old Norse attitudes toward sentiment, war and death. From its birth to the wide splintering of the genre that exists today, northernness is inescapable in any discussion of black metal.
Black metal as we know it today owes its existence to the Norwegian scene of the early nineties that centered around Mayhem, Burzum, Darkthrone, Immortal and other so-called “second wave” black metal bands. They took the sound pioneered by Bathory, Celtic Frost and Venom (whose most famous album, Black Metal, gave the genre its name) and, as Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind describe it, “adopt[ed] the basic framework of the hardest strain of heavy metal, ripping it down to a poisoned, jagged splinter of aural hate” (xxv). Most second wave black metal is defined by raw production, minimalistic songwriting incorporating fast, aggressive percussion and guitars, often with tremolo picking, and lyrics preoccupied with death, darkness and cold. The poor production values of “true” black metal are meant to give it a cold, evil sound, creating aural landscapes filled with cruel, icy winds and haunted by grim spectres. Darkthrone in particular impacted the basic sonic attributes of black metal; their seminal album “A Blaze In The Northern Sky” features a peculiar buzzsaw-like sound to the guitars, very little high or low end in the production, and simple, yet intense, driving riffs. Black metal lyrics, sung in a peculiar croaking screech distinctive to the genre, also often endeavor to reflect northern landscapes of ice and cold; Immortal were the undisputed masters of this – their discography includes an ode to the continent of Antarctica;
Towering in the horizon
An entire continent cloaked in ice
With giant icesheets constantly on the move
Floating nearer with its tide and icy waves
The shadow of Antarctica spreads
With its masses of permafrost
Most of the rest of their songs deal with similar themes, and take much of the language associated with black metal to almost ridiculous extremes, with much talk of mighty mountains, frostbitten kingdoms, and unending grimness.
The visuals associated with black metal reflect this influence as well. It is a (fairly accurate) stereotype of black metal bands to be photographed in the woods in winter, and almost every black metal music video involves nature imagery, usually involving woods, mountains, and snow and ice. Odin’s favored wolves and ravens play prominent roles, as can be seen in Immortal’s epic anthem “Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark)” and the lyrics to Emperor’s “Beyond The Great Vast Forest;”
They shall haunt again, the creatures of the night –
“Phantom der nacht” – Blood is life.
Their art of death is infernal,
Like their life eternal.
See the castle so proud,
But yet so grey and cold.
The frost submerge.
The moon is on the rise.
Hear the nocturnal howling of the wolves…
The children of the night.
The idea of sonic landscapes eventually developed into atmospheric black metal, which strives to put the listener in a stark, bleak landscape utterly devoid of warmth and love, utilizing very minimal vocals, if at all. Accompanying this musical evolution is an ideology of nature worship, eschewing technological advances and longing for a return to a simpler way of life. This tends to merge with a fascination with Viking culture; although Viking metal has grown into a subgenre in its own right, its roots are with Bathory’s album “Blood Fire Death” and were explored fully in the context of black metal by bands such as Enslaved, as can be seen in the lyrics to their song “Heimdallr;”
Heimdall is the name of an Old Norse God;
He is called the Old White Norse God;
He is great and holy;
His teeth are made of gold;
His horse is named Goldtop.
He lives where it's called the mountain in the sky besides Bifrost.
He needs less sleep than a bird;
He sees night as clear as day
One thousand miles away from where he is;
He also hear the grass grow from the soil,
Or the wool on the sheep and everything that can be heard.
He possess the horn that is called the Gjallarhorn,
And they can hear him blowing the horn in all the homes.
The influence of northernness on black metal goes beyond the music, however, as black metal itself is strongly tied to an ideology of life based on the ideals embraced by Viking culture. Just as Beowulf was driven by a will to do, the progenitors of black metal were driven by a will to destroy; the kvlt ideal abhors weakness and seeks to destroy the causes of weakness in the human race. This usually manifests itself in a hatred of Christianity; black metal is sometimes conceived of as a literal war against the Christian church. However, it is not the control of the church itself that black metal seeks to strive against, but the fact it is a religion based on love and forgiveness for everyone. If nothing else, black metal seeks to be the musical embodiment of hatred; most black metal bands at least ostensibly embrace Satanism or Asatru, the Norse pagan religion. There is no room for forgiveness or other such phenomena that are regarded as fostering weakness and complacence in either of these ideologies, and the actions of black metallers can reflect this. The height came during the early nineties, when Varg Vikernes (known at the time as Lord Grishnakh) and Euronymous burned several churches in Norway, the most infamous of which was Fantoft stave church. They saw this as a purposeful action taken against Christianity, a move calculated to spread fear and hatred and weaken the hold of the hated institution.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of black metal culture is the overwhelming similarities to the Scandinavian/Germanic tradition of the Oskorei, or Wild Hunt. In Norse mythology Odin was believed to lead legions of the dead on a violent ride through the world of the living on Yule Eve, stealing horses and threatening the lives of mortals. This mythology gave rise to a tradition of young men in the rural countryside enacting a version of the Wild Ride in which they would steal horses from farms and ride them almost to foundering, taking beer, liquor and foodstuffs from farmers. This tradition was believed to ensure fertility on the farms. While on the ride the young men would paint their faces with large white or black rings around their eyes in order to achieve as frightening an appearance as possible, and would call themselves by false names to preserve their anonymity. They would sing and chant in hoarse whispers or falsetto screams, and use percussion instruments and bells to put themselves in a state of spiritual ecstasy.
All of these aspects have parallels in black metal culture. Corpsepaint (see appendix A) is one of the distinguishing characteristics of almost every black metal band; made famous primarily by Dead of Mayhem, it is based on the makeup technique used to make actors look undead. Black metal musicians apply white paint to their faces, with black around their eyes and mouths. The aesthetic is an ugly one; it is meant to be as demonic and evil as possible. In addition, most black metallers take stage names, often from the names of demons or from Norse mythology. Black metal vocals seem to bear significant similarities to the vocalizations made by the Oskorei, and the ecstatic noise is rooted in much the same ideal as black metal, with its dark, occasionally psychedelic sonic landscapes. Like most metal culture, alcohol consumption is often a part of experiencing music, especially at live shows. There is the same ecstatic, cathartic ideal behind the creation and experience of black metal; suicidal or depressive black, while a more modern development in the genre, takes the idea of emotional release to the extreme, striving to embody human darkness. The Wild Ride itself is depicted on the cover of Bathory’s “Blood Fire Death” (see Appendix B).
The demonic aspect is reflected in more than just the appearance of black metallers. When not dealing with frozen wastes, much of black metal lyrics are preoccupied with demons, Satan and Norse mythology. The sympathies are decidedly on the side of darkness and evil, as in “I Am The Black Wizards” by Emperor;
Once destroyed to feast upon the screaming souls that was destroyed in my future. How many wizards that serve me with evil, I know not. My empires has no limits. From the never ending mountains black, to the bottom lakes. I am the ruler and has been for eternity’s long. My wizards are many, but their essence is mine. Forever there are in the hills in their stone homes of grief. Because I am the spirit of their essence. I am them.
Taken to an even further extreme, the “sacred theft” of the Oskorei can be seen in the violent birth of black metal. The widespread desecration of headstones and destruction of churches by arson falls into a similarly cathartic context as the plundering of horses, liquor and food the Oskorei would perform. The resurgence of traditional Norse values has been explain by Varg Vikernes as a resurgence of Nietzsche-like human truths; perhaps a similar explanation can be inferred about the Oskorei.
Perhaps most remarkable are the similarities between the Inklings, the literary criticism group that Tolkien was part of, and the Black Circle, the nucleus of the Norwegian black metal scene of the early nineties, which was centered around Helvete, the record store owned by Øystein Aarseth, better known as Euronymous in the metal world. The groups themselves served very similar purposes; although the Black Circle was a much looser entity with no official organization, each provided a forum for creative, like-minded men to share their works with each other. Both revolved around two central figures who experienced a close friendship and a cooling of that friendship (although the extremity of black metal was reflected in the relationship of Euronymous and Varg in a way that was absent in Tolkien and Lewis’s friendship), and both have produced works which have had a lasting impact on current subcultures. In addition, Euronymous and Varg bear more than passing similarities to Tolkien and C.S. Lewis themselves.
The most striking similarity in the figures of the Inklings and Black Circle is Lewis and Varg’s religious evolutions. Due in large part to the influence of his tutor, Lewis developed a very rational, atheistic worldview as a young man. However, a study of philosophy resulted in his developing a belief in a kind of universal power he called “the Absolute Mind” or “the Absolute.” This, unfortunately, proved unsatisfactory fairly quickly in his teaching post, as he could not make the concept clear to his pupils. He started referring to it as “the Spirit,” though still distinuishing it from “God.” From there it was a gradual process involving both metaphysical occurrences and logical arguments that lead to his acceptance of Christianity and its ideals. While riding a bus up Headington Hill, he
“…became aware that I was holding something at bay, or shutting something out.” There was a choice to open the door or keep it shut. Next moment he found that he had chosen to open it. From this, which happened in 1927 or 1928, it was only a matter of time before he “admitted that God was God,” a step that he finally took in the summer of 1929. It was then that he “gave in and knelt and prayed.” But even so he had done no more than accept Theism, a simple belief in God. He was not able to perceive the relevance of Christ’s death and resurrection, and he told a friend, Jenkin: “My outlook is now definitely religious. It is not precisely Christianity, though it may turn out that way in the end” (Carpenter 40).
It was Owen Barfield and Tolkien who drove the final nails into his Christian beliefs. Barfield, who made a study of the origins of language and myth, said that language was invented to express universal ideas; just as the Latin word spiritus can mean spirit, breath or wind, thus expressing the idea that all three are the same thing, the stories themselves, although different in different cultures, all have the same basic meaning. Tolkien built on this idea when talking to Lewis of Christianity in 1931;
“[Man] may pervert his thoughts into lies, but he comes from God, and it is from God that he draws his ultimate ideals. Lewis agreed: he had, indeed, accepted something like this notion for many years. Therefore, Tolkien continued, not merely the abstract thoughts of man but also his imaginative inventions must originate with God, and must in consequence reflect something of eternal truth. In making a myth, in practising “mythopoeia” and peopling with world with elves and dragons and goblins, a storyteller, or “sub-creator” as Tolkien liked to call such a person, is actually fulfilling God’s purpose, and reflecting a splintered fragment of the true light (Carpenter 78 ).
Varg Vikernes similar process of religious exploration, although his end was quite different than Lewis. He, too, began his time in the Black Circle as an atheist, long since divorced from the Norwegian church. Like many in the black metal world, he advocated Satanism for a while, but has since converted to Asatru, the current incarnation of the Norse pagan religion. He is disdainful of black metal Satanists, and confident that Asatru will spread;
…if one person becomes Christian, there are also three or four people who become heathen…. And even though some of them go through Satanism, they will eventually end up with Asatru…. I was interested in Satanism to where I advocated it – all the others as well, with the whole Black Metal community, or the Black Metal disorder – but now there’s a growing interest in pan-Germanic heathenism (Moynihan and Søderlind 161).
Another striking similarity is, of course, the interest in northernness shared by the two groups. Both Lewis and Tolkien had a love of Norse mythology which first attracted the two men to each other; as Lewis wrote to his longtime friend Arthur Greeves of an encounter he and Tolkien had;
One week I was up till 2.30 on Monday, talking to the Anglo Saxon professor Tolkien, who came back with me to College from a society and sat discoursing of the gods and giants of Asgard for three hours, then departing in the wind and rain – who could turn him out, for the fire was bright and the talk good (Carpenter 28 ).
The pair originally encountered Norse mythology through the same source, the story of Sigurd and the dragon Fafnir. They both felt the pull of Norse culture; Tolkien described it as being drawn to “the nameless North,” “desir[ing] dragons with a profound desire.” While at school in Birmingham, Tolkien taught himself old Norse and read the myths in the original language; he was seemingly full of boundless energy, organizing several different literary clubs during his school and academic careers. Euronymous was similar in demeanor, throwing himself into many different projects. In addition to acting as frontman for Mayhem and running Helvete, he also ran a label, Deathlike Silences.
The attitude toward and role of women in both these groups also bear similarities. The male friendship ideal was taken very seriously, although perhaps more consciously by the Inklings. Membership in the Inklings was always denied to women, even when their intellectual prowess and interests would have qualified them for membership. It was assumed that any female partner of an Inkling would be left entirely out of the picture (although Lewis’s own breech of that attitude would later contribute to the rift between himself and Tolkien). Metal in general is traditionally a male domain, even moreso in extreme metal. Varg expresses much the same sentiments toward the role of women as the Inklings might have felt;
Sure, women are equals, but they are also different from men, and they should be treated differently and have different goals in life. I think the old-fashioned view is the most positive, and I may add that by old-fashioned I mean the view they had on men and women and their roles in life in Antiquity (in Scandinavia)…. I think it is sad to see how – pardon my French – fucked up modern female culture has become. Today the role of mother is looked down upon and being a “housewife” is an insult to many modern women. This is seen as part of the “male enslavement” of women. To stay home with the children is seen as a nightmare and a burden. Instead they get an education (usually some theoretical nonsense) and do as best they can to become like men. They work like men, dress like men, try to think like men, talk like men and act like men (and some of them even look like men) (
http://www.metalcrypt.com/pages/intervi ... ?intid=170).
Although this is clearly a much more misogynistic view than any of the Inklings would probably have taken, its base is rooted in the same ideals; women and men have separate roles, and women should not try to encroach upon male territory.
Black magic, common in black metal, appears in the history of the Inklings in the person of Charles Williams. Williams, although part of what some would call “The Oxford Christians,” was also interested in the occult; he was part of the Golden Dawn, the spiritual/religious organization which boasted such members as A. E. Waite and Aleister Crowley. In fact, when Waite created a splinter temple of the group, Williams joined it; however, Waite’s temple incorporated Christian beliefs as well as occult magic, using the Rosy Cross as its symbol. Some of Williams’ writings would not be out of place as black metal lyrics; he had a sadistic streak as can be seen in his poem “Antichrist;”
My mind possessed me with delight
To wrack her lovely head
With slow device of subtle pain.
Williams also contributed to the rift that occurred between Lewis and Tolkien. Lewis enthusiastically embraced Williams, speaking to Greeves in a manner reminiscent of his budding friendship with Tolkien;
“He is,” he told Arthur Greeves, “of humble origin (there are still traces of Cockney in his voice), ugly as a chimpanzee but so radiant (he emanates more love than any man I have ever known) that as soon as he begins talking he is transfigured and looks like an angel. He sweeps some people quite off their feet and has many disciples. Women find him so attractive that if he were a bad man he could do what he liked either as a Don Juan or a charlatan” (Carpenter 101).
Tolkien was resentful of this quasi-hero worship, and suspicious of Williams after Lewis’s lavish praise. The rift between the two men only grew as Lewis later found commercial success with his Narnia books;
“We saw less and less of each other after he came under the dominant influence of Charles Williams,” Tolkien wrote of Lewis in 1964. Lewis’s continuing lack of sympathy towards Tolkien’s Catholicism, together with his almost vulgar level of success was what Tolkien once called “Everyman’s Theologian,” had possibly hardened it. Then came “Narnia,” which did not help; though when The Lord of the Rings was eventually published in 1954 and 1955 Tolkien’s reputation as a storyteller rose to a height that certainly equaled Lewis’s and eventually surpassed it (Carpenter 232).
The greatest blow, however, came in the form of Joy Davidson, an American fan of Lewis’s writings and an author in her own right. She and Lewis became close, and thus when the British Home Office refused to renew her license to remain in England in 1956, Lewis married her, ostensibly to allow her to remain in the country. However, the two eventually fell in love. This in and of itself is certainly no bad thing, but not only did Lewis not tell anyone, including Tolkien, of his marriage until far after the fact, but he then expected the rest of the Inklings to accept her as an equal in a way that he had previously refused to allow other females to enjoy. He praised her in much the same manner that he had praised Williams, and to much the same effect on Tolkien. Although their friendship was not shattered, it was certainly changed for the worse. After Lewis’s death in 1963, Tolkien wrote in a letter to one of his children;
“I am sorry that I have not answered your letters sooner; but Jack Lewis’s death on the 22nd has preoccupied me. It is also involving me in some correspondence, as many people still regard me as one of his intimates. Alas! that ceased to be some ten years ago. We were separated first by the sudden apparition of Charles Williams, and then by his marriage. But we owed each a great debt to the other, and that tie, with the deep affection that it begot, remained. He was a great man of whom the cold-blooded official obituaries have only scraped the surface (Carpenter 252).
Euronymous and Varg followed the same general path in their friendship of a closeness and a subsequent rift, although theirs was as bloody and extreme as black metal itself. When Varg first met Euronymous they were both impressed by the other’s musical skills; Varg created his one-man project Burzum after discovering the budding black metal scene while playing with the death metal band Old Funeral, and shows the beginning of the Tolkien influence in black metal;
After leaving Old Funeral, Vikernes formed a one-man band in order to have complete control over his own work. Originally called Uruk-Hai after a J.R.R. Tolkien reference, he then changed the name of the project to Burzum, another coinage from Tolkien meaning “darkness.” Metalion recalled Vikernes’s entry into the Black Metal scene at this point:
Nobody knew who he was. He was starting to talk about his band Burzum at the same time, and all the sudden he had recorded an album, the first Burzum album, and Euronymous was totally excited about it, because it was something extreme and new. They became very close friends (Moynihan and Søderlind 38 ).
The reasons behind Varg’s eventual animosity toward Euronymous are hazy, as some of the things Varg now claims about Euronymous are outlandish and probably exaggerations or outright lies, including accusations of homosexuality and perversions; in the metal scene, Rob Halford notwithstanding, such things are considered laughable at best and violence-worthy at worst. It is true that Euronymous probably cheated Varg out of quite a bit of money; Burzum was signed to Deathlike Silences. Euronymous, however, proved to be a poor businessman; he overpaid in rent for the building that Helvete was housed in, and used some of the money from Deathlike Silences to pay for the cost of the store, thus effectively embezzling from the artists signed to the label such as Varg. Varg himself has also claimed that Euronymous was planning to kill him, although the evidence for this is sparse. Whatever the reason, on August 10, 1993 Varg came to Euronymous’s apartment and brutally stabbed him to death.
Apart from the men involved, both the Inklings and the Black Circle as entities share some similarities. Although when examined closely, the Inklings probably didn’t have a larger purpose than male bonding and literary criticism, some have postulated that there was another reason the men came together;
Some people have suggested that Lewis, Tolkien and Williams saw their work as a movement which would in some way alter the course of literature, or which would at least encourage a particular kind of writing. It has also been suggested that Owen Barfield participated in this literary movement, and that the philosophical books which he wrote in the years after the 1939-45 war were in some way associated with the work of the other three men. One critic has dubbed Lewis and his friends “The Oxford Christians,” explaining that he uses this term “to suggest a shared outlook and to connote both an academic and a religious point of view common to them all.” Another has declared that the work of Lewis, Tolkien, Williams and Barfield represents a conscious attempt to present religion through the medium of romanticism, while a third has talked about “the common Inklings attitude” (Carpenter 153).
There is, of course, absolutely no question that black metal in general and the Black Circle in particular had an agenda beyond fostering creativity in its members; ironically enough, one that would have been the inversion of any agenda of the “The Oxford Christians.”
While seemingly worlds apart, Middle-earth and black metal are close cousins, stemming from the same love of northernness and desire to create a world based on Norse mythology and culture. While the Inklings and the Black Circle would certainly never get along, and, in fact, the Inklings would most likely be appalled at the violence and hatred found among black metallers, there exists an uncanny parallel between the lives of the men involved in the two groups. They seem to be pulling from an archetypal human wellspring, a desire for a return to a simpler time and a warrior’s creed.
If anyone who gave me advice or criticism in this thread would like to be included in the "special thanks" section that will be going in the final draft, let me know.
