The Lord of the Rings Inspiration: Silvian’s Ring

3 rings for elves, 7 rings for dwarves, 9 rings for humans… Last week Amazon Prime Video on the platform, in Middle Earth The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series, which tells about the period when the rings of power were not yet created, started broadcasting. The universe of Middle-earth created by Tolkien is a vast sea. The voices of his corpus resonate even today, and as fans we talk about the fine details elaborated in his works.

The languages, cultures, songs, wars and important objects of the races in the universe that came to life from the pen of such a sharp genius; In short, we want to know the inspiration and starting point of everything he creates. The most important thing that Tolkien created and we wondered about is the One Ring. Some sources include Tolkien’s Nibelungen Although he says he was inspired by the ring in his epic, the most concrete evidence that he was inspired is the Roman period found in Silchester. It is the ring of Silvianus. Let’s take a closer look at the story of this ring.

The ring was intended to be found in Silchester in 1785. It was sold, changed hands and the fate of the ring changed.

One day, in the English countryside, famous for Roman buildings Silchester In the region, as always, a couple who plowed their land found a golden ring with ancient letters and symbols on it. “SENECIAN VIVAS IIN DE” was written on the ring. It was obvious that this object, whose value was not yet fully understood, had a historical quality.

The couple who found the ring soon sold the ring to the Chute family, who were prominent in the town of Silchester and were fond of valuable antiques. There were many ruins from the period in the region, as in every place where the Romans set foot. Some of these remains recorded in historical sources were numerous gold and silver rings known to belong to the Romans. Chute familygave this historical object the necessary importance over time and the ring took its place among the rarest pieces in the family’s home.

Archaeologists found a lead tablet in 1929.

There are famous Nodens temples in the Lydney Park area, which is about 130 km away from Silchester, which is famous for its Roman structures and artifacts in England. Archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler During excavations in this area in 1929, he found a lead tablet.

In order to examine the tablet in detail, Wheeler informed Tolkien, a linguist and professor at Oxford University, and invited him to the site of the Nodens temple. The ring was almost calling Tolkien.

“Silvian has lost his ring.”

The names Silvianus and Senicianus were mentioned on the tablet. There was an inscription engraved on a lead sheet. The tablet tells of a Roman soldier named Silvianus, who lost his ring and thought that a man named Senician had stolen it, invoking the god Nodens, accompanied by his curses. “God Nodens for. Silvianus lost his ring and donated half its value to the Nodens. May those who bear the name Senicianus not recover until they bring the ring back to the temple of Nodens.”

The tablet on which this curse is inscribed will tell you, too, when you realize you’ve lost the ring in the Misty Mountains. Gollum’s Did he remind you of the wails he groaned around? Archaeologist Wheeler recalled the gold ring found at Silchester nearly a century and a half ago. He knew about the Roman-era gold ring in the Chute family’s collection on the Silchester estate. For Wheeler, things were slowly falling into place.

On the ring of Silvianus “SENICIANE VIVAS IIN DE” has inscription.

After Silvian loses his ring, the person who takes the ring adds his own name to it. on the ring “Vivas in deo”There is a common Latin pattern used to mean “living well with God”, and there is also a drawing of Venus in Roman mythology. The diameter of the ring is 2.5 cm and the weight is 12 grams. The ring was last displayed in the house of the Chute family, whose fate changed in 2013. Known as The Vyne, this historic house was originally built in the VIII century. A Tudor structure built by Henry for one of his lords.

Nodens is the god of the seas and forests in Celtic mythology.

Nodens, who have an important place in Celtic mythology seas, hunting, forests and the god of healing. According to sources, in Roman culture the god is associated with Neptune, Mars, Mercury and Sylvanus. Roman Silvianus, who lost his precious ring while visiting the temples of the god Nodens, with whom he has a similar name, is the story that is considered to be the beginning of a series of strange coincidences.

Tolkien visited the temples of the Nodens many times, and the foundations of a legend were thus laid.

Tolkien was working on Nodens and its etymology even before the tablet containing the lead curse was discovered. He visited the region many times and made meticulous examinations on the tablet and prepared relevant reports after the excavations and discoveries. Silvian’s ring wasn’t the only thing Tolkien drew inspiration from. Tolkien is from these lands and the Lydney region with the iconic green of the typical English countryside around the temples of the Nodens. Dwarfs Hill (Dwarf Hill) It was also inspired by the hollow-like mounds known as Within a year the hobbit He began to write his work. Thus, Tolkien laid the foundations of a legend that would affect even the fictional world and fantastic literature works created in the later periods after him.

One of the rare works that have the quality of a corpus Middle Earth There are many details in the universe that we still do not fully know. Tolkien is a master writer who has transferred every emotion and event he has experienced throughout his life into his works with great grace. Who knows, maybe if we had the opportunity to go back in time for a cup of coffee, we would ask him everything we were curious about.

Source: Independent, EverythingGP