“He Had Named Himself the Stranger”: From 'Germanic' Heroic Hospitality to Elvish Memorial Mediation in Tolkien’s Book of Lost Tales

Authors

• Paolo Pizzimento Dr., University of Messina (Italy)Follow

Abstract

This article examines the narrative functions of strangeness and hospitality in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Book of Lost Tales, focusing on Eriol’s transformation from foreign traveller into listener, witness, and transmitter of Elvish tradition. Through a comparative reading of selected Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon texts—particularly Hávamál, Gylfaginning, and Beowulf—it identifies recurrent literary configurations in which hospitality regulates admission, identity, reciprocity, danger, and access to knowledge. The comparison is morphological rather than genetic: it does not posit direct derivation or a uniform Germanic code. Drawing on Jan Assmann’s theory of cultural memory, the article argues that Tolkien redirects the heroic hospitality of earlier traditions towards an epistemological and memorial function. Eriol’s admission to Tol Eressëa, his reception in the Cottage of Lost Play, his request for limpë, and his eventual commitment to writing constitute stages in a narrative apprenticeship. Tolkien thus transforms the guest from a hero whose deeds secure fame into a cultural mediator whose listening and inscription preserve a threatened mythic tradition.

Recommended Citation

Pizzimento, Paolo Dr. (2026) "“He Had Named Himself the Stranger”: From 'Germanic' Heroic Hospitality to Elvish Memorial Mediation in Tolkien’s Book of Lost Tales," Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 24: Iss. 2, Article 12.
Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol24/iss2/12