I recently read The House of the Wolfings by William Morris. Written and published in 1888 this is very early "fantasy" literature and arguably an inspiration for many later fantasy authors. The House of the Wolfings is a tale in the heroic tradition which itself seems inspired by the ancient Germanic sagas. The story is one of a tragic hero who is fated to die , but whose death acquires meaning through the preservation of his tribe. There are many themes borrowed from history in this tale, and although a fictional piece, it borrows heavily from history making it all the more "believable" by doing so.
The main character, Thiodolf, is a chieftain of the Germanic Goths. He is in relationship with a woodland immortal - the Wood Sun - and together they have a half-mortal child, a young woman with the powers of foresight - the Hall Sun - who is herself a heroic character who takes a leadership role in guiding the tribe through troubled times during a Roman invasion, but leadership of a less martial nature being more preserving and spiritual.
The tale is entertaining enough, but what continued to astound me are the parallels I see with another work of fantasy fiction - The Lord of the Rings. The Men of the Mark, for that is the way William Morris describes his Wolfings and their cousins among the other Germanic tribes, all live along a river called the Mirkwood. Thiodolf carries an iconic sword and at times dons a dwarf-made mail corselet that will turn aside any blade. The House of the Wolfings is written in a poetic style - including many stanzas of rhyme, which both imitates older epics such as Beowulf and reminds me of some of the stanzas in J.R.R. Tolkien's writing. I have already mentioned the heroine who reminds me of Tolkien's sword maiden of Rohan.
Inspiration for one's fantasies can be found in many (often unexpected) places. Ideas are built upon previous ideas. William Morris is an acknowledged influence on the good professor, but I am a bit surprised at how much of that luminary's work I found presaged in The House of the Wolfings.
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