I do, however, know that Tolkien was influnced (as far as the Undying Lands) by
Greek and Celtic myths that also make references to islands in the west that
people go to in death, or in Tolkien's case, death and in immortality. As for
the barrow-wight issue, I'm not sure. Tolkien certainly was well-versed in
ancient European-Scandinavian lore, customs, and languages, so it is possible
that he was familiar with the Druids as well. Good insight,
though!
________________________________________
"Then the music drifted from me and
that music losed its bands--
Far, far-off, conches calling--lo! I
stood in the sweet lands,
And the meadows were about me where
the weeping willows grew,
Where the long grass stirred beside me
and my feet were drenched with dew,
Only the reeds were rustling, but a
mist lay on the streams
Like a sea-roke drawn far inland, like
a shred of salt sea-dreams.
'Twas in the Land of Willows that I
heard th' unfathomed breath
Of the Horns of Ylmir calling--and
shall hear them till my death."
