Burzum's early work was influenced by Tolkien; for example, Vikernes' early moniker "Count Grishnackh" is taken from an orc character called Grishnákh in Tolkien's works.[1] Burzum is a word of the Black Speech of Mordor meaning "darkness" (though Vikernes views what Christians consider "darkness" as "light"),[8] and is inscribed on the One Ring in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.[30]