The whole Lord or the Rings schtick is even more complex: the most complete version of Norse mythology comes from an Icelandic skald, Snorri Sturlesson (sp?), and many of the given names which appear in LOTR come from Snorri's list of the names of the Norns and the Dwarves--most notably, Gandalf. Tolkien used names and story lines from Norse, Gothic, Teutonic and Anglo-Saxon myth and saga cycles to create his imaginative world.
I read the book and saw the movies of LOTR only in English so I just know a little bit about the German translations. The Shire is called Auenland which is more of a description of the country - green, rolling hills more or less. Can't think of a real translation at the moment...
But I loved the original language so much I did not go to see movies until they finally showed them in English in our town. Of course I had to go all by myself because all my friends thought I was crazy...
What's wrong with being crazy?
I really don't know, Setanta. In fact, I enjoy it :-)
