The Greek Myth That Inspired Tolkien

British author J. R. R. Tolkien is beloved worldwide as the father of the literary fantasy genre, having written the immensely popular The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit, as well as several posthumous works further exploring Middle Earth edited by his son Christopher.

Tolkien is best known for his “worldbuilding”, that is to say, the creation of rich and fantastical settings for his books, complete with fictional languages such as Quenya and Sindarin.

The lore of Middle Earth was most heavily inspired by Northern European mythology and history, especially that of the Anglo-Saxons and Norse, which is unsurprising given Tolkien’s philological studies of Old English.

However, one of the stories most central to Tolkien’s literary creation is the tale of Númenor, and it is this which bears a striking resemblance to the ancient Greek myth of Atlantis.

Númenor: Tolkien’s retelling of an ancient Greek myth

According to research by the scholar Maria do Rosário Monteiro, “Tolkien’s description of the drowning of Númenor undoubtedly echoes that of Atlantis?” So, how exactly do these two tales compare?

In Tolkien’s writings, Númenor is described as an ancient kingdom located on a large island to the west of Middle Earth. It is inhabited by the greatest human civilization to have existed and is essentially an idyllic utopia ruled by wise kings. The island itself was a gift presented by the Valar – angelic godlike figures – to the ancestors of the Númenóreans as a reward for facing the Dark Lord Morgoth in battle.

However, over time, the Númenórean civilization is corrupted. The trouble started when the last king of Númenor, Ar-Pharazôn, defeated Sauron, the lieutenant of Morgoth, and brought him back as a prisoner to the island kingdom. Sauron, who was remarkably deceitful, managed to convince the Númenórean king that he could live eternally if only he worshiped Morgoth as a god.

Consequently, the Númenóreans ceased their worship of Eru Ilúvatar, the One God in Tolkien’s mythos, and disaster ensues. For their hubris and corruption, they were punished with the sinking of their island. Only a few of the virtuous Númenóreans escaped to Middle Earth, where they founded the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor.

Striking similarities to Atlantis

The parallels between the ancient Greek myth of Atlantis and Númenor are abundant. Both, at their essence, are cautionary tales against hubris, resulting in the demise of an entire civilization.

Like Númenor, Atlanis is initially described by Plato as an island utopia. The island itself was said to be located beyond the Pillars of Heracles, presumably in the Atlantic Ocean, and was “larger than Libya and Asia together.”

The Atlanteans were an advanced people, divinely favored by the sea god Poseidon. Their island home was the site of several architectural marvels and they used their maritime prowess to establish a vast overseas empire.

However, like the Númenóreans, the Atlanteans grew greedy and immoral. They were eventually defeated by the ancient Athenians in battle and were subjected to total annihilation when Atlantis sank beneath the waves. Quoting Timaeus, Plato wrote of Atlantis:

“But afterwards there occurred violent earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea. For which reason the sea in those parts is impassable and impenetrable, because there is a shoal of mud in the way; and this was caused by the subsidence of the island”

Tolkien dreamed of Atlantis

As explained by Dr. Philip Irving Mitchell, a Professor of English, Tolkien had a recurring nightmare in which he dreamed of the final apocalyptic fate of Atlantis. In 1964, Tolkien described the dream in a letter to Christopher Bretherton:

“This legend or myth or dim memory of some ancient history has always troubled me. In sleep I had the dreadful dream of the ineluctable Wave, either coming out of the quiet sea, or coming in towering over the green inlands. It still occurs occasionally, though now exorcized by writing about it. It always ends by surrender, and I wake gasping out of deep water. I used to draw it or write bad poems about it.”

“The Atlantis myth had an obvious personal meaning to Tolkien,” comments Dr. Mitchell. “He considered it a possible racial memory descended down though his family. It also represented to him an embodiment of certain European longings.”