John Howe is one of the creators of the visual universe of the two trilogies “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit”. In New Zealand, he reveals the places that inspired him and the decors that were created from his drawings.

To write his novels, Tolkien took his inspiration from numerous European legends. Story teller Nicolas Mezzalira reveals the legend of Merlin : his birth, his romance with the Lady of the Lake, and his first prophecy. The numerous resemblances to the character of the magician Gandalf reveal the extent of Tolkien’s force and originality.

Storyteller Nicolas Mezzalira tells him about the birth of King Arthur and then about the origins of the Knights of the Round Table and the Quest for the Holy Grail, and Professor Leo Garruthers highlights the links between these legends and the Fellowship of the Ring in The Lord of the Rings.

John Howe travels to Germany, the birthplace of the legend of the Niebelungen or the “Gold of the Rhine”. There he meets Canadian writer David Day, the author of several works on Tolkien. Will they discover the origins of the Hobbits in this legend, which is full of dwarfs, dragons and a magic ring ?

At the outermost limits of the European continent, pushing at the very boundaries of our imagination, Tolkien successfully undertook an immense task, creating a work that encompassed the entire spectrum of European mythology. Nonetheless, it was his choice of hero – ordinary ‘Hobbits’ who boasted no particular powers, that radically changed our approach to this past heritage by enabling millions of readers and film-goers to identify with his characters.