Middle-earth

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Middle-earth
legendarium

Middle-earth is the

a short-hand term for Tolkien's legendarium
, his large body of fantasy writings, and for the entirety of his fictional world.

Middle-earth is the main continent of

Hobbiton, at the same latitude as Oxford
.

Tolkien's

. Through the imagined history, the peoples other than Men dwindle, leave or fade, until, after the period described in the books, only Men are left on the planet.

Context: Tolkien's legendarium

Eru Ilúvatar
.

Tolkien's stories chronicle the struggle to control the world (called

Dragons and enslaved Men.[T 2] In later ages, after Morgoth's defeat and expulsion from Arda, his place is taken by his lieutenant Sauron, a Maia.[T 3]

The Valar withdrew from direct involvement in the affairs of Middle-earth after the defeat of Morgoth, but in later years they sent the wizards or

Dwarves, Ents and most famously Hobbits. The early stages of the conflict are chronicled in The Silmarillion, while the final stages of the struggle to defeat Sauron are told in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings.[T 3]

Conflict over the possession and control of precious or magical objects is a recurring theme in the stories. The

Third Age are dominated by the forging of the Rings of Power, and the fate of the One Ring forged by Sauron, which gives its wearer the power to control or influence those wearing the other Rings of Power.[T 3]

Sketch map of Middle-earth during the Third AgeThe ShireOld ForestBreeRivendellEreborEsgarothMoriaIsengardMirkwoodLothlórienFangornMordorGondorRohanHaradcommons:File:Sketch Map of Middle-earth.svg
War of Wrath
.

Etymology

Christian cosmology: heaven above, earth in the middle, hell below.[1] Vank Cathedral
, Isfahan.

In ancient

Use by Tolkien

Tolkien's first encounter with the term middangeard, as he stated in a letter, was in an Old English fragment he studied in 1913-14:[T 5]

Éala éarendel engla beorhtast / ofer middangeard monnum sended.
Hail Earendel, brightest of angels / above the middle-earth sent unto men.

This is from the

Valar. Tolkien's earliest poem about Eärendil, from 1914, the same year he read the Crist poems, refers to "the mid-world's rim".[3] Tolkien considered middangeard to be "the abiding place of men",[T 6] the physical world in which Man lives out his life and destiny, as opposed to the unseen worlds above and below it, namely Heaven and Hell. He states that it is "my own mother-earth for place", but in an imaginary past time, not some other planet.[T 7] He began to use the term "Middle-earth" in the late 1930s, in place of the earlier terms "Great Lands", "Outer Lands", and "Hither Lands".[3] The first published appearance of the word "Middle-earth" in Tolkien's works is in the prologue to The Lord of the Rings: "Hobbits had, in fact, lived quietly in Middle-earth for many long years before other folk even became aware of them".[T 8]

Extended usage

Years of the Trees
)

The term Middle-earth has come to be applied as a short-hand for the entirety of Tolkien's legendarium, instead of the technically more appropriate, but lesser known terms "Arda" for the physical world and "

In other works

Tolkien's biographer

Space Trilogy calls the home planet "Middle-earth" and specifically references Tolkien's legendarium.[9]

Geography

Within the overall context of his

Eldar.[T 9]
On the eastern side of Middle-earth was the Eastern Sea. Most of the events in Tolkien's stories take place in the north-west of Middle-earth. In the
First Age, further to the north-west was the subcontinent Beleriand; it was engulfed by the ocean at the end of the First Age.[5]

Maps

"A Map of Middle-earth" by Pauline Baynes, 1970. This map depicts only the north-west of the continent of Middle-earth.[10]

Tolkien prepared several maps of Middle-earth. Some were published in his lifetime. The main maps are those published in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, and appear as foldouts or illustrations. Tolkien insisted that maps be included in the book for the benefit of readers, despite the expense involved.[T 10] The definitive and iconic map of Middle-earth was published in The Lord of the Rings.[T 11] It was refined with Tolkien's approval by the illustrator Pauline Baynes, using Tolkien's detailed annotations, with vignette images and larger paintings at top and bottom, into a stand-alone poster, "A Map of Middle-earth".[10]

Cosmology

The Downfall of Númenor and the Changing of the World. The intervention of Eru Ilúvatar cataclysmically reshaped Arda into a sphere.[11]

In Tolkien's conception, Arda was created specifically as "the Habitation" (Imbar or Ambar) for the

Aman became inaccessible to mortal Men.[11]

Correspondence with the geography of Earth

Tolkien described the region in which the Hobbits lived as "the North-West of the Old World, east of the Sea",[T 8] and the north-west of the Old World is essentially Europe, especially Britain. However, as he noted in private letters, the geographies do not match, and he did not consciously make them match when he was writing:[T 12]

As for the shape of the world of the

Third Age, I am afraid that was devised 'dramatically' rather than geologically, or paleontologically.[T 12]

I am historically minded. Middle-earth is not an imaginary world. ... The theatre of my tale is this earth, the one in which we now live, but the historical period is imaginary. The essentials of that abiding place are all there (at any rate for inhabitants of N.W. Europe), so naturally it feels familiar, even if a little glorified by enchantment of distance in time.[T 13]

...if it were 'history', it would be difficult to fit the lands and events (or 'cultures') into such evidence as we possess, archaeological or geological, concerning the nearer or remoter part of what is now called Europe; though

Barad-dûr and our Days is sufficient for 'literary credibility', even for readers acquainted with what is known as 'pre-history'. I have, I suppose, constructed an imaginary time, but kept my feet on my own mother-earth for place. I prefer that to the contemporary mode of seeking remote globes in 'space'.[T 7]

In another letter, Tolkien made correspondences in latitude between Europe and Middle-earth:

The action of the story takes place in the North-west of 'Middle-earth', equivalent in latitude to the coastlands of Europe and the north shores of the Mediterranean. ... If

Pelargir are at about the latitude of ancient Troy.[T 14]

In another letter he stated:

...Thank you very much for your letter. ... It came while I was away, in Gondor (sc. Venice), as a change from the North Kingdom, or I would have answered before.[13]

He did confirm, however, that

the Shire, the land of his Hobbit heroes, was based on England, in particular the West Midlands of his childhood.[T 15] In the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien writes: "Those days, the Third Age of Middle-earth, are now long past, and the shape of all lands has been changed..."[T 16]
The Appendices make several references in both history and etymology of topics "now" (in modern English languages) and "then" (ancient languages);

The year no doubt was of the same length,¹ [the footnote here reads: 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds.] for long ago as those times are now reckoned in years and lives of men, they were not very remote according to the memory of the Earth.[T 17]

Both the Appendices and The Silmarillion mention constellations, stars and planets that correspond to those seen in the northern hemisphere of Earth, including the Sun, the Moon, Orion (and his belt),[T 18] Ursa Major[T 19][T 20] and Mars. A map annotated by Tolkien places Hobbiton on the same latitude as Oxford, and Minas Tirith at the latitude of Ravenna, Italy. He used Belgrade, Cyprus, and Jerusalem as further reference points.[14]

History

Tolkien imagined Arda as the Earth in the distant past.[15] With the loss of all its peoples except Man, and the reshaping of the continents, all that is left of Middle-earth is a dim memory in folklore, legend, and old words.[16] The outlines of the continents are purely schematic.

The history of Middle-earth, as described in The Silmarillion, began when the

Valian Years, though the subsequent history of Arda was divided into three time periods using different years, known as the Years of the Lamps, the Years of the Trees and the Years of the Sun.[T 22] A separate, overlapping chronology divides the history into 'Ages of the Children of Ilúvatar'. The first such Age began with the Awakening of the Elves during the Years of the Trees (by which time the Ainur had already long inhabited Arda) and continued for the first six centuries of the Years of the Sun. All the subsequent Ages took place during the Years of the Sun.[T 23]

Arda is, as critics have noted, "our own green and solid Earth at some quite remote epoch in the past."[15] As such, it has not only an immediate story but a history, and the whole thing is an "imagined prehistory" of the Earth as it is now.[17]

Peoples and their languages

Ainur

The Ainur were angelic beings created by the one god of Eä,

Melkor
, the chief agent of evil in Eä, and later called Morgoth, was initially one of the Valar. With the Valar came lesser spirits of the Ainur, called the
Radagast.[T 24]

Elves

The Elves are known as "the Firstborn" of Ilúvatar: intelligent beings created by Ilúvatar alone, with many different clans. Originally Elves all spoke the same

Common Eldarin ancestral tongue, but over thousands of years it diverged into different languages. The two main Elven languages were Quenya, spoken by the Light Elves, and Sindarin
, spoken by the Dark Elves. Physically the Elves resemble humans; indeed, they can marry and have children with them, as shown by the few
Half-elven
in the legendarium. The Elves are agile and quick footed, being able to walk a
tightrope unaided. Their eyesight is keen. Elves are immortal, unless killed in battle. They are re-embodied in Valinor if killed.[18][19]

Men

Men were "the Secondborn" of the Children of Ilúvatar: they awoke in Middle-earth much later than the Elves. Men (and Hobbits) were the last humanoid race to appear in Middle-earth: Dwarves, Ents and Orcs also preceded them. The capitalized term "Man" (plural "Men") is used as a gender-neutral racial description, to distinguish humans from the other human-like races of Middle-earth. In appearance they are much like Elves, but on average less beautiful. Unlike Elves, Men are mortal, ageing and dying quickly, usually living 40–80 years. However the

Númenóreans could live several centuries, and their descendants the Dúnedain also tended to live longer than regular humans. This tendency was weakened both by time and by intermingling with lesser peoples.[20]

Dwarves

The Dwarves are a race of humanoids who are shorter than Men but larger than Hobbits. The Dwarves were created by the Vala Aulë, before the Firstborn awoke due to his impatience for the arrival of the children of Ilúvatar to teach and to cherish. When confronted and shamed for his presumption by Ilúvatar, Eru took pity on Aulë and gave his creation the gift of life but under the condition that they be taken and put to sleep in widely separated locations in Middle Earth and not to awaken until after the Firstborn were upon the Earth. They are mortal like Men, but live much longer, usually several hundred years. A peculiarity of Dwarves is that both males and females are bearded, and thus appear identical to outsiders. The language spoken by Dwarves is called Khuzdul, and was kept largely as a secret language for their own use. Like Hobbits, Dwarves live exclusively in Middle-earth. They generally reside under mountains, where they are specialists in mining and metalwork.[21]

Hobbits

Tolkien identified Hobbits as an offshoot of the race of Men. Another name for Hobbit is 'Halfling', as they were generally only half the size of Men. In their lifestyle and habits they closely resemble Men, and in particular Englishmen, except for their preference for living in holes underground. By the time of The Hobbit, most of them lived in the Shire, a region of the northwest of Middle-earth, having migrated there from further east.[22]

Other humanoid peoples

The

a dilemma for himself, as if these beings were sentient and had a sense of right and wrong, then they must have souls and could not have been created wholly evil.[25][26]

Dragons

Dragons (or "worms") appear in several varieties, distinguished by whether they have wings and whether they breathe fire (cold-drakes versus fire-drakes). The first of the fire-drakes (Urulóki in Quenya)

Angband, and called "The Great Worm", "The Worm of Morgoth", and "The Father of Dragons".[T 28]

Sapient animals

Middle-earth contains

Erebor, who brought news to the Dwarves. The horse-line of the Mearas of Rohan, especially Gandalf's mount, Shadowfax, also appear to be intelligent and understand human speech. The bear-man Beorn had a number of animal friends about his house.[28]

Adaptations

Motion pictures

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, both set in Middle-earth, have been the subject of a variety of film adaptations. There were many early failed attempts to bring the fictional universe to life on screen, some even rejected by the author himself, who was skeptical of the prospects of an adaptation. While animated and

Rankin/Bass animated TV special in 1977.[29] In 1978 the first big screen adaptation of the fictional setting was introduced in Ralph Bakshi's animated The Lord of the Rings.[30]

Academy Award nominations and won all of them, matching the totals awarded to Ben-Hur and Titanic.[32]

Two well-made fan films of Middle-earth, The Hunt for Gollum and Born of Hope, were uploaded to YouTube on 8 May 2009 and 11 December 2009 respectively.[33][34]

Games

Numerous computer and video games have been inspired by

. In addition, there are many text-based

See also

References

Primary

  1. ^ Carpenter 2023, #211 to Rhona Beare, 14 October 1958, last footnote
  2. ^ Tolkien 1977, Ch. 3 "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"
  3. ^ a b c Tolkien 1977, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"
  4. ^ a b Carpenter 2023, #165 to the Houghton Mifflin Co., 30 June 1955
  5. ^ a b Carpenter 2023, #297 draft for a letter to a 'Mr Rang', August 1967
  6. ^ Carpenter 2023, #151 to Hugh Brogan, 18 September 1954; #183, Notes on W. H. Auden's review of The Return of the King, 1956; and #283 to Benjamin P. Indick, 7 January 1966
  7. ^ a b Carpenter 2023, #211 to Rhona Beare, 14 October 1958
  8. ^ a b Tolkien 1954a, "Prologue"
  9. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 3 "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"
  10. ^ Carpenter 2023, #137 to Rayner Unwin, 11 April 1953; #139 to Rayner Unwin, 8 August 1953; #141 to Allen & Unwin, 9 October 1953; #144 to Naomi Mitchison, 25 April 1954; #160 to Rayner Unwin, 6 March 1955; #161 to Rayner Unwin, 18 April 1955
  11. ^ Tolkien 1954, foldout map in first edition
  12. ^ a b Carpenter 2023, #169 to Hugh Brogan, 11 September 1955
  13. ^ Carpenter 2023, #183 notes on W. H. Auden's review of The Return of the King, 1956
  14. ^ Carpenter 2023, #294 to Charlotte and Denis Plimmer, 8 February 1967
  15. ^ Carpenter 2023, #190 to Rayner Unwin, 3 July 1956
  16. ^ Tolkien 1954a, "Prologue"
  17. ^ Tolkien 1955, Appendix D, "Calendars"
  18. ^ Tolkien 1977, p. 44 "Menelmacar with his shining belt"
  19. Valacirca
    , the Sickle of the Valar..."
  20. ^ Tolkien 1954a, book 1, ch. 8 "Strider" "The Sickle [The Hobbits' name for the Plough or Great Bear] was swinging bright above the shoulders of Bree-hill."
  21. ^ Tolkien 1977, "Ainulindalë"
  22. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 1 "Of the Beginning of Days"
  23. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 3 "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"
  24. ^ Tolkien 1980, p. 388
  25. ^ Tolkien 1954, Book 3, ch. 3 "The Uruk-Hai"
  26. ^ Tolkien 1955, book 6 ch. 8 "The Scouring of the Shire"
  27. ^ Tolkien 1977, index entry Urulóki
  28. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 24 "Of the Voyage of Eärendil"
  29. ^ Tolkien 1954a, "The Council of Elrond"
  30. ^ Tolkien 1954, book 4, chapter 9: "Shelob's Lair."

Secondary

  1. ^ .
  2. ^ Harper, Douglas. "Midgard". Online Etymological Dictionary; etymonline.com. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  3. ^ .
  4. ^ .
  5. ^ .
  6. ^ Carpenter 1977, p. 98.
  7. .
  8. ^ "The Old Road to Paradise by Margaret Widdemer".
  9. ^ Ford, G. L. (17 January 2020). "Christopher Tolkien, 1924-2020 Keeper of Middle-earth's Legacy". Book and Film Globe. Retrieved 26 July 2020. Lewis's Space Trilogy drew on Tolkien's Middle-earth lore at several points, where he used it to deepen the mythology underlying his action.
  10. ^ .
  11. ^ a b Shippey 2005, pp. 324–328.
  12. .
  13. ^ Carpenter 2023, #168 to Richard Jeffery, 7 September 1966
  14. ^ Flood, Alison (23 October 2015). "Tolkien's annotated map of Middle-earth discovered inside copy of Lord of the Rings". The Guardian.
  15. ^ .
  16. .
  17. .
  18. .
  19. .
  20. .
  21. .
  22. .
  23. ^ Shippey 2005, p. 149.
  24. ^ Shippey 2005, p. 159.
  25. ^ Tally, Robert T. Jr. (2010). "Let Us Now Praise Famous Orcs: Simple Humanity in Tolkien's Inhuman Creatures". Mythlore. 29 (1). article 3.
  26. ^ Shippey 2005, pp. 362, 438 (chapter 5, note 14).
  27. J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment
    . p. 433.
  28. . Echoes of these Norse battle animals appear throughout Tolkien's literature; in one way or another, all are associated with Gandalf or his cause. ... raven ... Eagles ... wolves ... horses ... Saruman is the one most closely associated with Odin's ravaging wolves and carrion birds
  29. ^ O'Connor, John J. (25 November 1977). "TV Weekend: "The Hobbit"". The New York Times.
  30. ^ Gaslin, Glenn (21 November 2001). "Ralph Bakshi's unfairly maligned Lord of the Rings". Slate. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  31. .
  32. ^ "Here Are The Biggest Academy Award Milestones In Oscars History". Hollywood.Com. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  33. National Public Radio
    . Retrieved 1 May 2009.
  34. ^ Martin, Nicole (27 October 2008). "Orcs are back in Lord of the Rings-inspired Born of Hope". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 29 October 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  35. ^ Takahashi, Dean (15 June 2017). "Warner Bros. games are coming out of the shadow of its movies". GamesBeat. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  36. ^ Gardner, Eriq (3 July 2017). "Warner Bros., Tolkien Estate Settle $80 Million 'Hobbit' Lawsuit". Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  37. ^ Bauer, Manuel (10 September 2015). "Minecraft: Spieler haben das komplette Auenland nachgebaut". Computer Bild. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  38. ^ Groups.google.com, rec.games.mud.lp Newsgroup, 1 June 1994
  39. ^ Davis, Erik (1 October 2001). "The Fellowship of the Ring". Wired.
  40. ^ For a (rather long) list of all the Tolkien inspired MU*s go to The Mud Connector Archived 26 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine and run a search for 'tolkien'.

Sources

Further reading