Gauracandra Posted December 23, 2002 Report Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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