Quote:
Originally Posted by combatmedic
That would rule.
It might just be the similiarity of the names Variag and Varyag, but I like to imagine the Variags of Khand as a little bit like the Norse/Rus of Kiev.
Yes, I'm well aware that LotR is not a historical allegory. Tolkien might have had a certain vague similiarity in mind-- or maybe he just liked the sound of the word.
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It might lie halfway between, JRRT did visualize the world of the Third Age as being our world in an imaginary past. For ex, it always struck me as likely that
in Tolkien's world, very ancient, pre-dynastic Egypt probably had considerable cultural influence from the Dunedain of Gondor and Umbar. It's in the right place, more-or-less, since Gondor and Mordor are probably under what is now the Mediterranean Sea, and there are some similarities.