The Elder EddaLegends from the Ancient North brings together some of the magical texts that most influenced Tolkien 'I was in the East, battling giants, wicked hearted women, who wandered the fells; great would be the giant race, if they all lived mankind would be nothing under, middle earth. What did you do meantime, Grey beard?' J. R. R. Tolkien spent much of his life studying, translating and teaching the great epic stories of northern Europe, filled with