Well, if you didn't know already, Tolkien was a professor of Anglo-Saxon language. He would handle medieval manuscripts a lot for research, and well, his job. He had an interest in them. And if you've ever seen a picture (or one in person) of a medieval manuscript, you'll understand when I say they're beautiful. The artwork sprinkles the pages, making the paper come alive. It must have inspired Tolkien too, because if you compare the drawings of the dragons from his maps in The Hobbit, and other places he's drawn his dragon sketches, with the dragons from medieval manuscripts, you'll see just how similar they are.
Take a look!
Medieval Manuscript:
Pretty similar, huh? So next time you pick up a copy of The Hobbit, remember what those drawings were inspired by. Or, the next time you hear someone say "history is stupid," remind them that it's not so stupid after all and that it inspired an author to write a book which then turned into their favourite movie.
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