Tolkien’s Finn and Hengest is a very technical, scholarly discussion of some features of the story of the battle of Finnesburgh, a tale known only from the old English poem Beowulf where part of it is retold beginning at Beowulf Section XVII and from the Finnesburgh Fragment.Īs Walter indicates, the book is intended for people who have some previous interest in its subject matter. The name is also given to a prominent leader in the Finnesburgh story, usually now identified by scholars with the legendary English founding father. Hengest means ‘stallion’ in Old English and according to later English and Welsh legendary tradition was the name of the first Germanic leader to settle in what later became England. I suspect Huckleberry Finn is supposed to have Irish ancestry.Ĭompare Mickey Finn. This name would have nothing to do with Finns or Finnland. Oral tales of the famous hero Finn mac Cumhail were still prevelent in Ireland and Scotland in the early twentieth century. I believe the etymology of the name is unknown.įinn is also a Gaelic name meaning ‘white, fair’ and not an horribly uncommon surname and given name in Ireland. This book will be of interest not only to students of Old English and all those interested in the history of northern Europe and Anglo-Saxon England, but also admirers of The Lord of the Rings who will be fascinated to see how Tolkien handled a story which he did not invent.The Finn in the story of the battle of Finnesburgh is a Frisian. The story has the added attraction that it describes the events immediately preceding the first Germanic invasion of Britain which was led by Hengest himself. Tolkien’s original and persuasive solution of the many problems raised by the story ranged widely through the early history and legend of the Germanic peoples.

Bringing his unique combination of philological erudition and poetic imagination to the task, however, Tolkien revealed a classic tragedy of divided loyalties, of vengeance, blood and death. The story is told in two Old English poems, Beowulf and The Fights at Finnesburg, but told so obscurely and allusively that its interpretation had been a matter of controversy for over 100 years. His most significant contribution to Anglo-Saxon studies is to be found in his lectures on Finn and Hengest (pronounced Hen-jist), two fifth-century heroes in northern Europe. Professor J.R.R.Tolkien is most widely known as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but he was also a distinguished scholar in the field of Mediaeval English language and literature. Tolkien’s famous translations and lectures on the story of two fifth-century heroes in northern Europe.

Finn and Hengest by J.R.R. Tolkien