Yeah, you definitely have a point. And I'm saying that the Arthurian legend is in part based on older Anglo-Saxon mythology so it is no surprise there are such similarities.
well, yes and no. king arthur, from what i've heard, was actually a real king around 900 ad, and defended his nation-state and neighboring one from invaders. kinda fuzzy on the details.
Also if you ever read any Norse sagas, you'll see a few familiar names for people and things as well.
at a certain point, norse and anglo-saxon are almost interchangeable. for instance, the older anglo-saxon epic we have is beowulf. beowulf was norse.
originally, the angles and the saxons were warring brittish tribes, who, i think united to stop a norse invasion. also fuzzy here. (been a while since i read anything on early english history).
but anyhow, the dwarves, thorin, dwalin, etc, are almost certainly based on norsemen. they drink and have parties in great halls which are described exactly like the norse halls. they're burly have huge beards. they're practially short viking stereotypes.
hobbits are vitorian englishmen. the men are medieval englishmen. not sure on the elves though...
but i do see a lot vaguely borrowed from norse and anglo-saxon/christian mythology in the series...
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