Tonight Werner Herzog reads from the Dvergatal ("Catalog of the Dwarfs") of the Poetic Edda, one of the two most important sources of Norse literature. It's a book that's inspired many dreams, perhaps most germane -- given that the cinematic premiere is but four short weeks way -- is The Hobbit. Listen closely and you'll hear the names of all of the dwarves from J.R.R. Tolkien's classic, as well as Gandalf. Tolkien, of course, was a world recognized expert on Norse and Anglo-Saxon literature.
I also post it since, other than its somnolent effect (this is, after all, a bedtime story for us), it shows that the person who brilliantly imitated Herzog reading Curious George, Madeline, Mike Mulligan and his Steamshovel, and Where's Waldo wasn't too far from the mark.
Surely Herzog must be aware of Tolkein's work, though he may think it pablum
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