Was Tolkien's Mordor inspired by the USSR?

Mordor, the realm of Sauron, the main villain of J. R. R. Tolikien's novel “Lord of the Rings”, was located in the east of Middle-earth, a continent invented by the author where the events of his famous book unfold. Owing to its geographical location, many readers in the West during the Cold War perceived Mordor as a metaphor for the USSR. Tolkien himself, who was against any simplistic analogies or direct political allusions, did not accept this interpretation.

The author reminds his readers that initially Sauron lived in the north and only later moved east beyond the mountain ranges, where he felt safe. And that's all. So there is no secondary meaning here, only the logic of the plot. Also, all the events take place in Earth’s distant past and have no relation to any contemporary agenda. 

Mordor

Though the USSR was not Mordor, there’s still something Russian (and Slavic) about Middle-earth.

Helping hand from a bear in “The Hobbit”

One of the most powerful characters in “The Hobbit” is the warrior Beorn, a skin-changer who could turn into a bear. His intervention in the famous Battle of Five Armies on the side of the Lake-men, Elves and Dwarves played a decisive role in the outcome of the battle. Upon taking the form of a bear, he sent the Orcs and Wargs (huge wolves) fleeing. According to researchers, in creating the image Tolkien was influenced by Scandinavian mythology and Anglo-Saxon epic tradition: the closest literary relatives are the berserkers (Norse warriors) and Beowulf. In the film trilogy, “The Hobbit”, directed by Peter Jackson, Beorn is played by Swedish actor Mikael Persbrandt.

Mikael Persbrandt as Beorn in “The Hobbit”

The hero's name comes from Old English and means "bear". But in the drafts of the book he had a completely different name - Medwed. This is the Russian word for "bear" rendered in Latin script. Also, one of the chapters of "The Hobbit" had this same version of the name as its title in honor of the protagonist (later renamed "Queer Lodgings"). According to scholar Douglas A. Anderson, Tolkien borrowed the word from annotations to the "Beowulf" epic poem by fellow writer Raymond Wilson Chambers, professor of English at University College London.

Chambers gives a long list of works of world folklore about half-humans, half-bears, and, in particular, cites the Russian tale of Ivanko Medvedko. The latter features in the famous anthology of folk tales collected by Alexander Afanasyev, which is also known abroad (for instance, this is the book that Keanu Reeves in "John Wick: Chapter 3" uses both as a hiding place and as a weapon in a hand-to-hand fight). 

Russian Folk Tales by Aleksandr Afanasyev. A still from 'John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum'

Ivan Medvedko really does have a lot in common with Beorn - strength, resourcefulness, ferocity and ancestry (they are both the offspring of a human mother and a bear). Thus, it comes as no surprise that Tolkien decided to use this name. As the day of publication approached, however, the British writer changed his mind and gave his character an Anglo-Saxon name that blended in stylistically with the other protagonists' names. 

Slavic gods in “Lord of the Rings”

Beorn had a friend, Radagast - "not a bad fellow as wizards go". He was a friend to beasts and birds, a recluse and an overall odd character. What’s more, in the screen version (where he was played by Scotsman Sylvester McCoy) he is even more eccentric than in the books: he is fully draped in furs, even on hot days, he travels around on a sled drawn by giant bunnies and eats mushrooms. The wizard Gandalf is fond of Radagast, and it's easy to see why. Their friendship dates back hundreds of years. Radagast was the one who, in the first volume of “Lord of the Rings”, sent an eagle to free Gandalf when he was imprisoned by the wicked wizard Saruman.

Sylvester McCoy as Radagast in 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'

Tolkien experts are still arguing about the origin of the name Radagast, and one of the most convincing theories relates it to the North German chronicles. According to chroniclers and historians Helmold, Pistorius, Adam of Bremen and many others, the Western Slavs in ancient times worshiped the supreme deity, Radogost, (alternatively known as Radegast). The philologist Jacob Grimm explicitly describes him as a Slavic version of the Norse god Odin. 

To name one example, Radegast is referred to on numerous occasions in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera-ballet, "Mlada", based on Baltic Slav folklore motifs - several scenes even unfold at the foot of a pagan temple dedicated to Radegast. 

The Elves speak a bit of Russian

Tolkien was not only a writer, but also a prominent linguist, and his novels can be regarded as a practical laboratory for the development of alternative languages based on elements taken from existing ones. "The ‘stories’ were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse. To me a name comes first and the story follows," is what Tolkien said on the subject. In all, he devised - in varying degrees of detail - more than 20 new languages that to a greater or lesser extent recall contemporary languages. And that includes Russian.

In his youth, Tolkien made a genuine attempt to learn the language of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, and, although, by his own admission, he was not very good at it, the morphological structure and sound of Russian left a lasting impression on him. In addition to "Medwed", a drawing inscribed "Ei, Uchnem" can also be found in his notes - an illustration to the Song of the Volga Boatmen which is known in Russian by this name.

Quenya - the artificial language made up by Tolkien

Russian words are mentioned in the books - for instance "veliky" (in the Elvish language, Quenia, the toponym "Haloisi Velike" means "Great Sea") and the people called the "Variags" ("varyagi" is the Russian word for Varangians or Vikings). And as has been noted by Ivan A. Derzhanski, a contributor to the “J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia”, the same Quenia language frequently employs the Russian diminutive suffix "-ink-". For instance, "katinka" - candle, and "patinka" - slipper.