What You and Tolkien Might (One Day) Have in Common

I never met the man, sadly, but I bet J.R.R. Tolkien was not a big metalhead.

There are the obvious problems with timing; heavy metal as a distinct genre of music was still in its infancy when Tolkien died in 1973. He would have been around to sample the first forays from Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, but he evidently wasn’t keen on The Beatles’ idea of adapting his works – thanks in part to “indescribable” sounds that came from a garage band on his street.

It might have come as quite a shock to him then, to discover that his works were a frequent wellspring of creative inspiration for practitioners of the genre since its earliest days.

There were initial homages from the aforementioned Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, though the latter was of course more prolific in finding Tolkien-spiration. Progressive rock acts like Rush and Camel threw their two-cents in here and there.

Black metal, getting its tentative start in the early 80s and rising to prominence with its infamous Second Wave, boasted an increasing number of artists in Tolkien’s debt. Varg Vikernes (who additionally went under the moniker Count Grishnackh) named his solo project Burzum, after the word in Black Speech for “darkness.” Gorgoroth took their name from the barren plateau in the northwest of Mordor. The album art for Emperor’s In the Nightside Eclipse featured a band of orcs returning to Minas Morgul.

Summoning – Old Mornings Dawn (2013)

Soon an entire subgenre of black metal emerged with Tolkien at its center; band names (Nazgul, Uruk-Hai), albums (Numenor, Valar), even entire discographies (Summoning, Rivendell, Emyn Muil) therein dedicated to the lore of Middle-earth.

The obsession wouldn’t be limited to black metal, either. Before long, the list of bands and albums paying tribute to Tolkien would stretch from Isengard to Cirith Ungol to Amon Amarth; from Battlelore to Blind Guardian to Cruachan to Nightwish and…

What does any of this have to do with becoming a better writer?

Tolkien’s impetus in creating Middle-earth was not to revolutionize literature. He wrote to explore what interested him; philology, religion, mythology. He set his works in fantastical re-imaginings of places he knew and loved. In short, he wrote the kinds of things he wanted to read.

This is the essence of what is meant by “finding your voice” as a writer. No amount of books on technique or story structure, however useful, can tell you how to cultivate your voice – not even mine! And unfortunately finding your voice doesn’t guarantee your work will be financially successful, resonate with your target audience, or even be necessarily good. All it guarantees is that your material will be uniquely, recognizably yours.

Why bother then? After all, poorly written books can still be maddeningly successful, and plenty of writers make a comfortable living without becoming a household name.

But to find and cultivate that special ingredient that sets your work apart could start a chain reaction of creativity that eventually gives birth to something that doesn’t even exist yet. Committing to your creative vision – for better or worse – could influence a generation that has yet to take its first breath.

Thanks to Tolkien’s creative authenticity (which, remember, wasn’t universally well-received at first), I revel in literature, video games, and genres of music that never would have entered his wildest dreams – yet never would have existed without them.

So find your voice, write the things you want to read, and commit to what makes your writing you-esque. It won’t necessarily summon your career. But, then again, it might establish a brand new art form in your honor.