Oh yes, Tolkien was VERY aware of Norse sagas, in fact he loved them! I.e. all the dwarves names in "The Hobbit" come from Snorri Sturluson's Elder Edda, except Balin! Tolkien was also up on Finnish mythology, but I won't go into that. BTW can you tell that I'm a diehard Tolkien scholar?

--Mbo