Gandalf Made Me Do It: Homeschooling and History with The Lord of the Rings

Picture by Nidoart

One of my favourite ways to study history is through movies.   

Don’t get me wrong, as a former history teacher, I know better than most that Hollywood gets it all wrong way more often than they get it right. But kids are always inspired by a good film. History is the stories of our ancestors with as much evidence and we can muster, and a good story can make facts - and their nuances - not only interesting but memorable.

As long as you watch critically, movies are an excellent learning tool.

So are books and I especially adored historical novels my mother affectionately calls “bodice rippers”.  Fantasy novels are also a great intro to history.  My daughter is addicted to the Percy Jackson series and is an expert in all things ancient Greece.  

Keep the fantasy coming, I always say.

What I never realized, however, was that my absolute favourite fantasy book/movie of all time - The Lord of the Rings - is based on actual historical events.

Get in!

Let me explain:

Our Jonah carries Bilbo's "Sting" around Loch Eck

On our epic Road Trip Great Britain we’ve studied a lot of history. We’ve tried to base our historical studies on the locations we’ve been in.  During February we spent two weeks in Argyll, Scotland. And all of March has seen us in Northumbria.  But it did not occur to us that there might be an important connection between the history of Argyll, Northumbria, and Gandalf.

Argyll was gorgeous if a bit damp.  We adored Loch Eck and you can see from these wintry pictures that even at the dimmest time of year, there is something magical about it.  

Nor did we realize how much there was to see and do in Northumbria.   I thought we’d be in Northumbria for a week, maybe two, tops.  But when we started to explore the place, we found an absolutely inspired land of sand dunes and castles, saints, sinners and kings of olde.

It’s the stuff of epic fantasy novels.

The beach near Seahouses

Our first week was spent in the village of Seahouses, just a few miles down the coast from Bamburgh Castle (pronounced “Bam-burra”). Seahouses is delightful, a traditional English seaside village with award winning fish and chips shop (the Hairy Biker’s favourite chippy is in Seahouses, so you know it must be good).  Seahouses has fantastic white sandy beaches and there is boat access to the Farne Islands where you can watch puffins and other sea birds and seals.

But if you only come to Northumbria to visit one place, visit Bamburgh Castle.  It is one of the oldest occupied castles in Europe - people still live there, including the castle manager and his family and the Armstrongs who own it.

Bamburgh Castle is special for a lot of reasons.  First, it has been rebuilt since it was destroyed during the War of the Roses (a mid to late 1400’s war between the houses of York and Lancaster which Henry VII - a Tudor and a Lancastrian on his mother’s side - won in 1485).  It has all of its walls, windows and doors, as well as furnishings, so you get a real sense of what life in a castle was like.

Until it fell during the War of the Roses, Bamburgh was a royal castle. It had been the royal seat of the kings of Northumbria since the Romans left these shores in the early 5th century.  

And here is where LOTR enters the frame.  One of the great kings of Northumbria was a man named Oswald - Oswald Whitesword - and he was J R R Tolkien’s inspiration for the character of Aragorn.

Oswald lived in the early 7th century.  His father was a warrior king who died in battle when Oswald - the eldest of 6 - was just 12 years old.  An atheling - or prince - had to be prepared to defend his title.  At such a young age, Oswald was ill prepared for this and so his mother, Queen Acha, packed up her children and along with some loyal household servants and her guard, she departed Bamburgh in haste before her brother could seize them all and eliminate his competition for the crown of Northumbria.

Although this time period is deep in the Dark Ages, thanks to the excellent history of the English written by the Venerable Bede, we do know quite a bit about it.

We know that the Romans had made it as far north as present day Glasgow and built a long, straight road to get them there.  We know that the various royal houses and lands held by warlords were in competition with each other, especially with the rise of a new regime in powerful Northumbria.  

Thus Acha’s journey would have been perilous.  She would need to seek sanctuary along the way and could never be certain whether the lords from whom she sought refuge would shelter her or hand her over to her brother in order to gain his favour. Acha and Oswald would have been a valuable prize.

Yet for all their value, Acha and Oswald were given safe passage across Scotland.

We know that Acha negotiated the snow-capped mountain passes that separate Loch Lomand from the lakes and boggy terrain of Argyll.  Whether by boat at the Firth of Clyde or overland, Acha made it up past Loch Eck and Loch Fyne, and over to the port of Oban.  From there, she secured passage to the monastery at Iona.

Oswald of Northumbria

And there she left young Oswald (for a woman could not stay with the monks) to be educated and Christianised by these men.

Oswald would not return to Bamburgh until he was twenty-nine years old.

The Return of the King, indeed.

The similarities between Iona and Rivendale become obvious.

As do the similarities between Bamburgh and Minas Tirith.  Like the Tolkien’s fictional capital of Gondor, Bamburgh sits perched high on an impressive cliff.  It overlooks the sea and the valley that stretches beneath it.  

By all accounts, Oswald was as good a king as we all hope Aragorn became.  Oswald deeded the land on the island of Lindisfarne to the church, and Holy Island, as it would come to be known, became a centre of learning and faith for centuries to come.  

And if Oswald is Aragorn then perhaps there is inspiration for the character of Gandalf.  Raised to adulthood by monks, Oswald held religious men in high esteem.  He was mentored by them, much as Gandalf mentored Aragorn.

Walking up to Lindisfarne Castle.

In fact, St Aidan, who founded the priory at Lindisfarne and became Bishop there, was known to be close to Oswald.  Apparently once he gained the throne, Oswald requested that the monks of Iona send him someone to convert his people. The first person they sent was all wrong and Oswald sent him back. But Aidan, the replacement priest, is said to have been a kind and gentle shepherd and Oswald accepted his counsel. Aidan was good to the people and is credited with bringing Christianity to that part of Britain. They converted the Saxon people of Northumbria not by fire and brimstone by by listening to the people, caring for them, and responding to their needs.  

Perhaps there is a bit of Aidan in dear old Gandalf.

Sadly, Oswald, like his uncle and father before him, would have to defend his crown with his sword.  His enlightened reign was impossibly short - just 8 years.

And from there he faded into obscurity.

But thanks to much loved movies, like LOTR, we have an excellent segue from fiction to fact.  

We still have much to learn about Acha (what became of her?) and Oswald and his sisters.  The exploration continues.

And I know that we will never watch Lord of the Rings the same way again.

What are your favourite historical book and movies and/or fantasy novels?  What have you shared with your kids already and what can’t you wait to expose them to?  Leave a comment - we love them!!

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