Gauracandra Posted December 23, 2002 Report Posted December 23, 2002 I was watching a National Geographic special on the history of Lord of the Rings. Apparently JRR Tolkien based the elvish world on Finland and was heavily inspired by a group of writings called the Kalevala. From what I could tell, perusing through the internet, the Kalevala is actually a compilation of Finnish folk tales, and was not a complete work. I’m not real positive on this. It can be read at: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/kveng/index.htm Anyways, I haven’t had time to read through it yet. I came across a few references that suggested that the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi claims it is the Finnish Rig Veda. I haven’t studied it, but would be curious if there are any stories that are similar to Vedic stories. From my basic looking into, I seriously doubt Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, especially if as I believe these were disparate folk tales that were compiled in the last few hundred years. Here is the National Geographic online article: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngbeyond/rings/language.html The program had the last of the “rune” singers in Finland reciting the Kalevala and it was rather beautiful to listen to. Quote
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