The First DarK LorD

[Bucky]

Well, I've been boning up on Harry Potter lately as first & foremost, thr 6th movie is coming out in two months & I don't remember that book at all. Next, my son Paul (the soon to be 12 year old) and myself will have finished reading Tolkin's entire ( main and finished) works on Middle-earth: The Hobbit, The Lord of the nings, All of the Simarillion & The Children of Huirin, Looks like 22 months time to complete the journey if we make it by the end of July. Not bad for just reading at nihht (with diffrent voices for each character and my son has autism.
So, next he wants read Harry Pooter....

OK, I got through 6 of them, maybe I can finally read #7 *NO spoilers please!)

But it struck me as I'm rereading book 6 that Lord Baldoldfart's followers refer to him as 'The Dark Lord'....

Hey, JK Rowling stole that from Tolkien, right?

Maybe. Or did she steal it from Star Wars 'Dark Lord of the Sith' where 'The Dark Lord' in turn was taken
from Tolkien?

Did Tolkien first use the tern 'Dark lord;' or did someone else?
And if some else. who & when?
Anybody know the answer?


Editors note: I've got to stop posting at 3AM...

How many spelling errors I did make in this post?
About ten?

'The end of Mulu', lol? Make that July......
Harry Pooter....

 

[ltnjmy]

When I recently mentioned to a Rowling fan that Tolkien probably first coined the term "The Dark Lord" - that person was quite upset...

But isn't it curious how she used the same fell name for her bad guy...

 

[Bucky]

Now, perhaps my original post is actually coherent now that I've editted the spelling errors....

I gueess the term 'Dark lord' is so good, everyone copies it......

'Darth' after is simply short for 'Dark Lord of the Sith'.

But, did TOLKIEN copy it from somewhere is the real question?

 

[baragund]

Bucky, I'm still cracking up at your spelling of Rowling's "Dark Lord": "Lord Baldoldfart" Sounds like a crotchety pensioner with a gas problem...

Yes, Rowling borrowed the term "Dark Lord" just like she borrowed a lot of things in the Harry Potter series. I would be surprised, however, if Tolkien was the first person to use that term. It's a pretty general title and could have been applied in any number of situations throughout literature.

 

[Peeping-Tom]

Just some thoughts...
(timestatements is from a leaking memory, so do correct me if I'm wrong)

The concept of an evil (or dark) Lord is of the acient times :

The First Dark Lord? :

The evil God "Seth" of Egypt may hold that honor....about 5-6000 earth-years old...

Our own little Christian Devil is only aprox 2.5 - 3000 years old...

JRRT's Melkor/Morgoth is just a youngster of less than a 100 years old... (1918 or so?)

Btw : The first Dark Lord of the Sith order was : Ajunta Pall (long live Google) :*up



"Do you have to be sober, to use the straight way?" :*confused:

 

[adpirtle]

Its a very general title in fantasy fiction, and I'm not surprised to see it turn up everywhere from Star Wars to Harry Potter to Conan and Zelda. I'm sure Tolkien wasn't the first to use it, either, though maybe the first in modern english. However, the idea of a 'dark lord' comes originally from religious writing. Most religions have a bad guy, and usually he or she (though usually he) is identified with dark or darkness. So I don't think we need to worry about the Tolkien estate charging anyone for royalties in future.