127-683: In J. R. R. Tolkien 's Middle-earth writings, the Dúnedain ( / ˈ d uː n ɛ d aɪ n / ; singular: Dúnadan , "Man of the West") were a race of Men , also known as the Númenóreans or Men of Westernesse (translated from the Sindarin term). Those who survived the sinking of their island kingdom and came to Middle-earth, led by Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anárion, settled in Arnor and Gondor . After
254-461: A Catholic , realised he had created 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. 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)
381-727: A tightrope unaided. Their eyesight is keen. Elves are immortal, unless killed in battle. They are re-embodied in Valinor if killed. 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")
508-625: A "great fief". Prince Imrahil's castle is by the sea; Tolkien described him as "of high blood, and his folk also, tall men and proud with sea-grey eyes". Local tradition claimed that the line's forefather, Imrazôr the Númenórean had married an Elf, though the line remained mortal. The first people in the region were the Drúedain , a hunter-gatherer group of Men who arrive in the First Age . They were pushed aside by later settlers and came to live in
635-763: A catastrophic transition from a flat to a spherical world, known as the Akallabeth, in which Aman became inaccessible to mortal Men. Tolkien described the region in which the Hobbits lived as "the North-West of the Old World, east of the Sea", 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
762-577: A futile attempt to reach the shore to search for her, and drowned in the bay. Mithrellas, a Silvan Elf and one of the companions of Nimrodel, is said to have become the foremother of the line of the Princes of Dol Amroth. According to an alternate account about the line of the Princes of Dol Amroth cited in Unfinished Tales , they were descendants of a family of the Faithful from Númenor who had ruled over
889-562: A large river-lake, Nen Hithoel. Its entrance was once the northern border of Gondor, and is marked by the Gates of Argonath, an enormous pair of kingly statues, as a warning to trespassers. At the southern end of the lake are the hills of Amon Hen (the Hill of Seeing) and Amon Lhaw (the Hill of Hearing) on the west and east shores; below Amon Hen is the lawn of Parth Galen, where the Fellowship disembarked and
1016-461: A line of foothills running back west from Minas Tirith towards Rohan. Dol Amroth (Sindarin: "the Hill of Amroth" ) was a fortress-city on a peninsula jutting westward into the Bay of Belfalas, on Gondor's southern shore. It is also the name of the port city, one of the five great cities of Gondor, and the seat of the principality of the same name, founded by prince Galador. The whimsical poem " The Man in
1143-472: A little glorified by enchantment of distance in time. ...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 the Shire , for instance, is expressly stated to have been in this region...I hope the, evidently long but undefined gap in time between
1270-489: A major part in the defence of Minas Tirith ; the soldiers whom Imrahil led to Minas Tirith formed the largest contingent from the hinterland to the defence of the city. They marched under a banner "silver upon blue", bearing "a white ship like a swan upon blue water". Some like Finduilas are of Númenórean descent, and still speak the Elvish language. Tolkien wrote about the city's protective sea-walls and described Belfalas as
1397-630: A war against the Númenórean kingdoms. He captured Minas Ithil, but Isildur escaped by ship to Arnor; meanwhile, Anárion was able to defend Osgiliath. Elendil and the Elven -king Gil-galad formed the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and together with Isildur and Anárion, they besieged and defeated Mordor. Sauron was overthrown; but the One Ring that Isildur took from him was not destroyed, and thus Sauron continued to exist. Both Elendil and Anárion were killed in
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#17328594271321524-504: Is "compulsively truculent", Faramir is courteous, urbane, civilised: the people of Gondor are self-assured, and their culture is higher than that of Rohan. The same is seen, Shippey argues, in the comparison between the mead hall of Meduseld in Rohan, and the great hall of Minas Tirith in Gondor. Meduseld is simple, but brought to life by tapestries, a colourful stone floor, and the vivid picture of
1651-460: Is a suggestion, voiced by Faramir , son of the Steward of Gondor , that these descendants of Númenóreans are higher than other Men ; but his speech on the matter has been described as "arrogant" and as such not necessarily to be taken literally. Sauron's spirit also escaped, and fled back to Middle-earth, where he again raised mighty armies to challenge Gondor and Arnor. With the aid of Gil-galad and
1778-533: 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. 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
1905-511: Is eventually killed by Gothmog by a spear-thrust. New Zealand actor Alistair Browning played another Ranger of Ithilien, Damrod. The Rangers are shown as a village community in the 2009 fan film Born of Hope . The film centres on the relationship of Arathorn and Gilraen, and the infancy of their son Aragorn. In the game The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age there is an original Ranger character called Elegost. In The Lord of
2032-547: Is from the Crist 1 poem by Cynewulf . The name Éarendel was the inspiration for Tolkien's mariner Eärendil , who set sail from the lands of Middle-earth to ask for aid from the angelic powers, the Valar . Tolkien's earliest poem about Eärendil, from 1914, the same year he read the Crist poem, refers to "the mid-world's rim". Tolkien considered middangeard to be "the abiding place of men",
2159-547: Is largely concerned with the events in Gondor during the War of the Ring and with the restoration of the realm afterward. The history of the kingdom is outlined in the appendices of the book. Gondor was founded by the brothers Isildur and Anárion, exiles from the downfallen island kingdom of Númenor . Along with Arnor in the north, Gondor, the South-kingdom, served as a last stronghold of
2286-530: Is part of Gondor, in others not. The hot and dry region of South Gondor, or Harondor was by the time of the War of the Ring "a debatable and desert land", contested by the men of Harad. The region of Lamedon and the uplands of the prosperous Morthond, with the desolate Hill of Erech, lay to the south of the White Mountains, while the populous valleys of Lossarnach were just south of Minas Tirith. The city's port
2413-435: Is peopled not only by Men , but by Elves , Dwarves , Ents , and Hobbits , and by monsters including Dragons, Trolls , and Orcs . 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. Tolkien's stories chronicle the struggle to control the world (called Arda ) and the continent of Middle-earth between, on one side,
2540-595: Is restored only with Sauron's final defeat and the crowning of Aragorn as king. Based upon early conceptions, the history and geography of Gondor were developed in stages as Tolkien extended his legendarium while writing The Lord of the Rings . Critics have noted the contrast between the cultured but lifeless Stewards of Gondor, and the simple but vigorous leaders of the Kingdom of Rohan , modelled on Tolkien's favoured Anglo-Saxons . Scholars have noted parallels between Gondor and
2667-403: Is supported by the Drúedain terms for Gondorians and Minas Tirith —Stonehouse-folk and Stone-city. Tolkien denied that the name Gondor had been inspired by the ancient Ethiopian citadel of Gondar , stating that the root Ond went back to an account he had read as a child mentioning ond ("stone") as one of only two words known of the pre-Celtic languages of Britain. Gondor is also called
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#17328594271322794-469: Is the known world, "recalling the Norse Midgard and the equivalent words in early English", noting that Tolkien made it clear that this was " our world ... in a purely imaginary ... period of antiquity". Tolkien explained in a letter to his publisher that it "is just a use of Middle English middle-erde (or erthe ), altered from Old English Middangeard : the name for the inhabited lands of men 'between
2921-429: 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
3048-664: The Prose Edda . She notes that Boromir is given a boat-funeral in The Two Towers . Fimi further compares the helmet and crown of Gondor with the romanticised "headgear of the Valkyries ", despite Tolkien's denial of a connection with Wagner's Ring cycle , noting the "likeness of the wings of a sea-bird" in his description of Aragorn's coronation, and his drawing of the crown in an unused dust jacket design. The classical scholar Miryam Librán-Moreno writes that Tolkien drew heavily on
3175-717: The Ainur entered Arda, following the creation events in the Ainulindalë and long ages of labour throughout Eä , the fictional universe . Time from that point was measured using 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 . A separate, overlapping chronology divides
3302-686: The Black Speech (Burzum) for his slaves (such as Orcs ) to speak. In the Third Age , five of the Maiar were embodied and sent to Middle-earth to help the free peoples to overthrow Sauron. These are the Istari or Wizards , including Gandalf , Saruman , and Radagast . The Elves are known as "the Firstborn" of Ilúvatar: intelligent beings created by Ilúvatar alone, with many different clans . Originally Elves all spoke
3429-624: The First Age by seafaring Sindar from the west havens of Beleriand who fled in three small ships when the power of Morgoth overwhelmed the Eldar ; the Sindar were joined later by Silvan Elves who came down Anduin seeking the sea. Another account states that the haven was established in the Second Age by Sindarin Elves from Lindon, who learned the craft of shipbuilding at the Grey Havens and then settled at
3556-936: The Malvern Hills with C. S. Lewis , and recorded excerpts from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in Malvern in 1952, at George Sayer's home. Sayer wrote that Tolkien relived the book as they walked, comparing the Malvern Hills to the White Mountains of Gondor. Gondor, as it appeared in Peter Jackson 's film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings , has been compared to the Byzantine Empire. The production team noted this in DVD commentary, explaining their decision to include Byzantine domes into Minas Tirith's architecture and to have civilians wear Byzantine-styled clothing. However,
3683-641: The Men of the West . After an early period of growth, Gondor gradually declined as the Third Age progressed, being continually weakened by internal strife and conflict with the allies of the Dark Lord Sauron . By the time of the War of the Ring, the throne of Gondor is empty, though its principalities and fiefdoms still pay deference to the absent king by showing their loyalty to the Stewards of Gondor. The kingdom's ascendancy
3810-752: The Normans , Ancient Rome , the Vikings , the Goths , the Langobards , and the Byzantine Empire . Tolkien intended the name Gondor to be Sindarin for "Stone-land". This is echoed in the text of The Lord of the Rings by the name for Gondor among the Rohirrim , Stoningland. Tolkien's early writings suggest that this was a reference to the highly developed masonry of Gondorians in contrast to their rustic neighbours. This view
3937-449: The Númenóreans from the middle of the Second Age , especially by Elf-friends loyal to Elendil . His sons Isildur and Anárion landed in Gondor after the drowning of Númenor, and co-founded the Kingdom of Gondor. Isildur brought with him a seedling of Nimloth (Sindarin: nim , "white" and loth , "blossom" ) the Fair, the white tree from Númenor. This tree and its descendants came to be called
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4064-617: The Wainriders . The critic Tom Shippey compares Tolkien's characterisation of Gondor with that of Rohan. He notes that men from the two countries meet or behave in contrasting ways several times in The Lord of the Rings : when Éomer and his Riders of Rohan twice meet Aragorn's party in the Mark, and when Faramir and his men imprison Frodo and Sam at Henneth Annun in Ithilien. Shippey notes that while Éomer
4191-552: The battering ram named Grond attacked the Great Gate; it burst asunder as if "stricken by some blasting spell", with "a flash of searing lightning, and the doors tumbled in riven fragments to the ground". The Witch-king rode through the Gate where Gandalf awaited him, but left shortly afterwards to meet the Riders of Rohan in battle. Gondor, with the support of Rohirrim as cavalry, repelled
4318-656: The 'Spoonbills' in John Buchan 's 1923 novel Midwinter , while the Ranger-like 'Lakewalkers' in the 2006–2019 The Sharing Knife series by Lois McMaster Bujold have been seen as part of a deliberate commentary on Middle-earth. Thomas Kullmann and Dirk Siepmann comment that Aragorn's pathfinding lifestyle and style of speech resembles that of the ranger Natty Bumppo in James Fenimore Cooper 's 1823–1841 Leatherstocking Tales , suggesting that Aragorn's "If I read
4445-718: The Ainur entered Eä, and the greatest of these were called the Valar . 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 Maiar . Melian, the wife of the Elven King Thingol in the First Age , was a Maia. There were also evil Maiar, including the Balrogs and the second Dark Lord, Sauron . Sauron devised
4572-958: The Byzantines by the Persians and the Muslim armies of the Arabs and the Turks , as well as the Langobards and Goths; Gondor by the Easterlings, the Haradrim, and the hordes of Sauron. Both realms were in decline at the time of a final, all-out siege from the East; however, Minas Tirith survived the siege whereas Constantinople did not . In a 1951 letter, Tolkien himself wrote about "the Byzantine City of Minas Tirith." Tolkien visited
4699-403: The Crebain, evil crows who become spies for Saruman , and the Ravens of 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. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings , both set in Middle-earth, have been
4826-411: The Downfall of Númenor, the name Dúnedain was reserved to Númenóreans who were friendly to the Elves : hostile survivors of the Downfall were called Black Númenóreans . The Rangers were two secretive, independent groups of Dúnedain of the North (Arnor) and South (Ithilien, in Gondor ) in the Third Age . Like their Númenórean ancestors, they had qualities like those of the Elves, with keen senses and
4953-437: The Dry Tree had been dry since the crucifixion of Christ , but that it would flower afresh when "a prince of the west side of the world should sing a mass beneath it". Tolkien's map-notes for the illustrator Pauline Baynes indicate that the city had the latitude of Ravenna , an Italian city on the Adriatic Sea , though it lay "900 miles east of Hobbiton more near Belgrade ". The Warning beacons of Gondor were atop
5080-441: The Dúnadan ), a direct descendant of Elros and Elendil. He married Arwen , reintroducing Elf-blood into his family line. In addition to the Faithful, Men in the South manned Númenórean garrisons at places like Umbar . Many of these folk were turned toward evil by Sauron's teachings, and became known as the Black Númenóreans. The Rangers were grim in life, appearance, and dress, choosing to wear rustic green and brown. The Rangers of
5207-446: The Elves, Sauron was defeated, and the Third Age began. Sauron vanished into the East for many centuries, and Gondor and Arnor prospered. As Sauron re-formed and gathered strength, a series of deadly plagues came from the East. These struck harder in the North than the South, causing a population decline in Arnor. Arnor fractured into three kingdoms. The chief of the Nine Ringwraiths , the Witch-king of Angmar , assaulted and destroyed
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5334-433: The Fall of 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'. In another letter, Tolkien made correspondences in latitude between Europe and Middle-earth: The action of
5461-444: The Grey Company were dressed in dark grey cloaks and openly wore a silver brooch shaped like a pointed star during the War of the Ring . They rode rough-haired, sturdy horses, were helmeted and carried shields. Their weapons included spears and bows. They spoke Sindarin in preference to the Common Speech . They were led by Chieftains, the heirs and direct descendants of Elendil , the first King of Arnor and Gondor ; Elendil in turn
5588-423: The Moon Came Down Too Soon " in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil tells how the Man in the Moon fell one night into "the windy Bay of Bel"; his fall is marked by the tolling of a bell in the Seaward Tower ( Tirith Aear ) of Dol Amroth, and he recovers at an inn in the city. Its ruler, the Prince of Dol Amroth, is subject to the sovereignty of Gondor. The principality's boundaries are not explicitly defined, though
5715-443: The Prince ruled Belfalas as a fief, as well as an area to the east on the map labelled Dor-en-Ernil ("The Land of the Prince"). Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth in The Return of the King , was linked by marriage both to the Stewards of Gondor and to the Kings of Rohan. He was the brother of Lady Finduilas and uncle to her sons Boromir and Faramir ; a kinsman of Théoden ; and the father of Éomer 's wife Lothíriel. Imrahil played
5842-409: The Rangers of the South and Rangers of Gondor, were an elite group who scouted in and guarded the land of Ithilien . They were formed late in the Third Age by a decree of the Ruling Steward of Gondor , for Ithilien was subject to attack from Mordor and Minas Morgul . One of their chief bases was Henneth Annûn , the Window of the Sunset. These were descendants of those who lived in Ithilien before it
5969-414: The Ring, the forces of Gondor, led by Aragorn under the alias Thorongil, attacked Umbar and destroyed the Corsair fleet, allowing Denethor II to devote his attention to Mordor. Denethor sent his son Boromir to Rivendell for advice as war loomed. There, Boromir attended the Council of Elrond , saw the One Ring , and suggested it be used as a weapon to save Gondor. Elrond rebuked him, explaining
6096-514: 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..." 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
6223-404: The Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II , there are both Northern Dúnedain and Ithilien Rangers. Halbarad is featured in The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game , and, together with his fellow Rangers, in The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game . Rangers of the North appear in The Lord of the Rings Online , with Ranger camps and named characters such as Calenglad. Tolkien's Rangers are
6350-1008: The Rings: The Return of the King received 11 Academy Award nominations and won all of them, matching the totals awarded to Ben-Hur and Titanic . 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. Numerous computer and video games have been inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien 's works set in Middle-earth. Titles have been produced by studios such as Electronic Arts , Vivendi Games , Melbourne House , and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment . Aside from officially licensed games, many Tolkien-inspired mods , custom maps and total conversions have been made for many games, such as Warcraft III , Minecraft , Rome: Total War , Medieval II: Total War , The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim . In addition, there are many text-based MMORPGs (known as MU*s ) based on Middle-earth. The oldest of these dates back to 1991, and
6477-441: The South-kingdom or Southern Realm, and together with Arnor as the Númenórean Realms in Exile. Researchers Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull have proposed a Quenya translation of Gondor : Ondonórë . The Men of Gondor are nicknamed "Tarks" (from Quenya tarkil "High Man", Númenórean) by the orcs of Mordor. Gondor's geography is illustrated in the maps for The Lord of the Rings made by Christopher Tolkien on
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#17328594271326604-456: The Western Roman Empire or the Christianized Anglo-Saxons , the northern Rangers inhabit a "romanized nobility" and keep protecting the borders of the "realms of good" while Gondor in the south is decaying and finally arrives on the verge of destruction. This protection of the weak from evil by Aragorn and his rangers has been identified as an inherently Christian motif in Tolkien's design of his legendarium . The Rangers have been compared to
6731-461: The White Tree of Gondor, and appears on the kingdom's coat of arms . Elendil, who founded the Kingdom of Arnor to the north, was held to be the High King of all the lands of the Dúnedain . Isildur established the city of Minas Ithil (Sindarin: "Tower of the Moon") while Anárion established the city of Minas Anor (Sindarin: "Tower of the Sun"). Sauron survived the destruction of Númenor and secretly returned to his realm of Mordor, soon launching
6858-540: The ability to give conscious life to things. The precise origins of Orcs and Trolls are unclear, as Tolkien considered various possibilities and sometimes changed his mind, leaving several inconsistent accounts. Late in the Third Age, the Uruks or Uruk-hai appeared: a race of Orcs of great size and strength that tolerate sunlight better than ordinary Orcs. Tolkien also mentions "Men-orcs" and "Orc-men"; or "half-orcs" or "goblin-men". They share some characteristics with Orcs (like "slanty eyes") but look more like men. Tolkien,
6985-437: The ability to understand the language of birds and beasts. They were trackers and hardy warriors who defended their respective areas from evil forces. The Dúnedain were descended from the Edain , the Elf-friends: the few tribes of Men of the First Age who sided with the Noldorin Elves in Beleriand . The original leader of the Edain was Bëor the Old, a vassal of the Elf lord Finrod . His people settled in Eldar lands. At
7112-585: The allegiance of a hobbit, but very differently: Denethor, Steward of Gondor, undervalues Pippin because he is small, and binds him with a formal oath, whereas Théoden, King of Rohan, treats Merry with love, which the hobbit responds to. In his analysis of the historical lore of Númenor, Michael N. Stanton said close affinities are demonstrated between Elves and the descendants of Men of the West, not only in terms of blood heritage but also in "moral probity and nobility of demeanor", which gradually weakened over time due to "time, forgetfulness, and, in no small part,
7239-424: The angelic Valar , the Elves and their allies among Men ; and, on the other, the demonic Melkor or Morgoth (a Vala fallen into evil), his followers, and their subjects, mostly Orcs , Dragons and enslaved Men. In later ages, after Morgoth's defeat and expulsion from Arda, his place is taken by his lieutenant Sauron , a Maia . The Valar withdrew from direct involvement in the affairs of Middle-earth after
7366-419: The appearance and structure of the city was based upon the inhabited tidal island and abbey of Mont Saint-Michel , France. In the films, the towers of the city, designed by the artist Alan Lee , are equipped with trebuchets . The film critic Roger Ebert called the films' interpretation of Minas Tirith a "spectacular achievement", and compared it to the Emerald City from The Wizard of Oz . He praised
7493-470: The basis of his father's sketches, and geographical accounts in The Rivers and Beacon-Hills of Gondor , Cirion and Eorl , and The Lord of the Rings . Gondor lies in the west of Middle-earth , on the northern shores of Anfalas and the Bay of Belfalas with the great port of Pelargir near the river Anduin's delta in the fertile and populous region of Lebennin, stretching up to the White Mountains (Sindarin: Ered Nimrais , "Mountains of White Horns"). Near
7620-539: The beginning of the Second Age , the Valar gave the Edain Númenor to live on. Númenor was an island-continent located far to the west of Middle-earth , and hence these Edain came to be called Dúnedain: Edain of the West. Their first King was Lord Elros, a half-Elf , and also a descendant of Bëor. These first Dúnedain are the Númenóreans. They became a great civilization, and began maritime pursuits for exploration, trade and power. Some returned to Middle-earth, creating fortress-cities along its western coasts, dominating
7747-407: The beginning of the Third Age, left his realm behind in search of his beloved Nimrodel, a Nandorin who had fled from the horror unleashed by the Dwarves in Moria . He waited for her at Edhellond, for their final voyage together into the West. But Nimrodel, who loved Middle-earth as much as she did Amroth, failed to join him. When the ship was blown prematurely out to sea, he jumped overboard in
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#17328594271327874-418: The book for the benefit of readers, despite the expense involved. The definitive and iconic map of Middle-earth was published in The Lord of the Rings . 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 ". In Tolkien's conception, Arda
8001-432: The central continent of Earth ) in Tolkien's imagined mythological past . Tolkien's most widely read works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings , are set entirely in Middle-earth. "Middle-earth" has also become 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 Earth (Arda) in an imaginary period of
8128-538: The danger of such use, and instead, the hobbit Frodo was made ring-bearer, and a Fellowship , including Boromir, was sent on a quest to destroy the Ring. Growing in strength, Sauron attacked Osgiliath, forcing the defenders to leave, destroying the last bridge across the Anduin behind them. Minas Tirith then faced direct land attack from Mordor , combined with naval attack by the Corsairs of Umbar. The hobbits Frodo and Sam travelled through Ithilien, and were captured by Faramir , Boromir's brother, who held them at
8255-424: The defeat of Morgoth, but in later years they sent the wizards or Istari to help in the struggle against Sauron. The most important wizards were Gandalf the Grey and Saruman the White . Gandalf remained true to his mission and proved crucial in the fight against Sauron. Saruman, however, became corrupted and sought to establish himself as a rival to Sauron for absolute power in Middle-earth. Other races involved in
8382-532: The destruction of their home countries; the brothers Romulus and Remus found Rome, while the brothers Isildur and Anárion found the Númenórean kingdoms in Middle-earth; and both Gondor and Rome experienced centuries of " decadence and decline ". Dimitra Fimi , a scholar of fantasy and children's literature, draws a parallel between the seafaring Númenóreans and the Vikings of the Norse world, noting that in The Lost Road and Other Writings , Tolkien describes their ship-burials , matching those in Beowulf and
8509-411: The divided Northern Dúnedain kingdoms from his mountain stronghold of Carn Dûm . After their fall, a remnant of the northern Dúnedain became the Rangers of the North , doing what they could to keep the peace in the near-empty lands of their Fathers. The surviving Dúnedain of Arnor retreated to the Angle south of Rivendell , while smaller populations settled in far western Eriador . The fragmentation of
8636-456: The doomed quest of the elf Fëanor and most of his Noldorin clan to recover three precious jewels called the Silmarils that Morgoth stole from them (hence the title The Silmarillion ). The Second and 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. In ancient Germanic mythology ,
8763-457: The early years of the Third Age , Gondor was victorious and wealthy, and kept a careful watch on Mordor, but the peace ended with Easterling invasions. Gondor established a powerful navy and captured the southern port of Umbar from the Black Númenóreans , becoming rich. As time went by, Gondor neglected the watch on Mordor . A civil war gave Umbar the opportunity to declare independence. The kings of Harad grew stronger, leading to fighting in
8890-412: The eastern end of the White Mountains, built around a shoulder of Mount Mindolluin. The city had seven walls: each held a gate, and each gate faced a different direction from the next. The city was surrounded by the Pelennor , an area of farmlands ringed by a wall. Inside the seventh wall was the Citadel, topped by the White Tower. Behind the tower, reached from the sixth level, was a saddle leading to
9017-515: 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. 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
9144-509: The extended cuts. Arnor is mentioned only in one line in the extended edition of The Two Towers , when Aragorn explains to Éowyn that he is a "Dúnedain Ranger", of whom few remain because "the North-kingdom was destroyed". There is however an original Ranger of Ithilien named Madril , played by John Bach . He serves as Faramir's lieutenant. He helps defend Osgiliath , but is fatally injured and
9271-523: The first big screen adaptation of the fictional setting was introduced in Ralph Bakshi 's animated The Lord of the Rings . New Line Cinema released the first part of director Peter Jackson 's The Lord of the Rings film series in 2001 as part of a trilogy; it was followed by a prequel trilogy in The Hobbit film series with several of the same actors playing their old roles. In 2003, The Lord of
9398-825: The general history of the Goths , Langobards and the Byzantine Empire , and their mutual struggle. Historical names from these peoples were used in drafts or the final concept of the internal history of Gondor, such as Vidumavi, wife of king Valacar (in Gothic ). The Byzantine Empire and Gondor were both, in Librán-Moreno's view, only echoes of older states (the Roman Empire and the unified kingdom of Elendil), yet each proved to be stronger than their sister-kingdoms (the Western Roman Empire and Arnor, respectively). Both realms were threatened by powerful eastern and southern enemies:
9525-454: 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
9652-622: The hidden cave of Henneth Annûn, but aided them to continue their quest. Aragorn summoned the Dead of Dunharrow to destroy the forces from Umbar , freeing men from the southern provinces of Gondor such as Dol Amroth to come to the aid of Minas Tirith. During the Battle of the Pelennor Fields , the Great Gate was breached by Sauron 's forces led by the Witch-king of Angmar . He spoke "words of power" as
9779-525: 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. Arda is, as critics have noted, "our own green and solid Earth at some quite remote epoch in
9906-535: The invasion by Mordor. Following the death of Denethor and the incapacity of Faramir, Prince Imrahil became the effective lord of Gondor. When Imrahil declined to send the entirety of Gondor's army against Mordor, Aragorn led a smaller army to the Black Gate of Mordor to distract Sauron from Frodo's quest. Sauron encircled the army at the Battle of the Morannon , but the hobbits succeeded, defeating Sauron and bringing
10033-609: The kingdoms has been compared to that of the early Frankish kingdoms . Over the centuries, many southern Dúnedain of Gondor intermarried with other Men. Their lifespan became shorter with each generation. Eventually, even the Kings of Gondor married non-Dúnedain women occasionally. Only in regions such as Dol Amroth did their bloodline remain pure. In the Fourth Age , the Dúnedain of Gondor and Arnor were reunited under King Aragorn II Elessar (
10160-563: The land of Belfalas since the Second Age , before Númenor was destroyed . This family of Númenóreans were akin to the Lords of Andúnië , and thus related to Elendil and descended from the House of Elros. After the Downfall of Númenor , they were created the "Prince of Belfalas" by Elendil . Unfinished Tales provides an account of "Adrahil of Dol Amroth" who fought under King Ondoher of Gondor against
10287-638: The last years of Tolkien's life, when he invented justifications for the place-names and wrote full narratives for the stories of Isildur's death and of the battles with the Wainriders and the Balchoth (published in Unfinished Tales ). Tolkien describes an early population of elves in the Dol Amroth region, writing many accounts of its early history. In one version, a haven and a small settlement were founded in
10414-581: The latitude of ancient Troy . 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. 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. In the Prologue to The Lord of
10541-490: The legend of Númenor ; these already contain a semblance of Gondor. The appendices to The Lord of the Rings were brought to a finished state in 1953–54, but a decade later, during preparations for the release of the Second Edition, Tolkien elaborated the events that had led to Gondor's civil war, introducing the regency of Rómendacil II. The final development of the history and geography of Gondor took place around 1970, in
10668-578: The lesser men of these areas. In time the Númenóreans split into two rival factions: the Faithful, remaining loyal to the Valar and Elves, and the King's Men, who were eventually seduced by the Dark Lord, Sauron . Ultimately Númenor was drowned in a great cataclysm, but a remnant of the Faithful escaped in nine ships. Led by Elendil , they established the Dúnedain kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor in Middle-earth. There
10795-659: The machinations of Sauron". The cultural ties between the Men of Gondor and Elves are reflected in the names of certain characters: for instance, Finduilas of Dol Amroth (the wife of Denethor and the sister of Prince Imrahil) shares her name with an Elf princess of the First Age . Leslie A. Donovan, in A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien , compares the siege of Gondor with the alliance of Elves and Men in their fight against Morgoth and other co-operative ventures in The Silmarillion , making
10922-644: The memory of the Earth. 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), Ursa Major 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. The history of Middle-earth, as described in The Silmarillion , began when
11049-642: The mouth of the Morthond . Other accounts say that Silvan Elves accompanied Galadriel from Lothlórien to this region after the defeat of Sauron at Eriador in the middle of the Second Age, or that Amroth ruled among the Nandorin Elves here in the Second Age. Elves continued to live there well into the Third Age, until the last ship departed from Edhellond for the Undying Lands . Amroth, King of Lothlórien from
11176-488: The mouths of Anduin was the island of Tolfalas. To the north-west of Gondor lies Arnor; to the north, Gondor is bordered by Wilderland and Rohan ; to the north-east, by Rhûn; to the east, across the great river Anduin and the province of Ithilien, by Mordor ; to the south, by the deserts of northern Harad . To the west lies the Great Sea. The wide land to the west of Rohan was Enedwaith; in some of Tolkien's writings it
11303-722: The necropolis of the Kings and Stewards, with a street of tombs, Rath Dínen. Within the Court of the Fountain stood the White Tree , the symbol of Gondor. It was dry throughout the centuries that Gondor was ruled by the Stewards; Aragorn brought a sapling of the White Tree into the city on his return as King. John Garth writes that the White Tree has been likened to the Dry Tree of the 14th century Travels of Sir John Mandeville . The tale runs that
11430-481: The past, ending with Tolkien's Third Age , about 6,000 years ago. Tolkien's tales of Middle-earth mostly focus on the north-west of the continent. This region is suggestive of Europe, the north-west of the Old World , with the environs of the Shire reminiscent of England , but, more specifically, the West Midlands , with the town at its centre, Hobbiton , at the same latitude as Oxford . Tolkien's Middle-earth
11557-461: The past." 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. The Ainur were angelic beings created by the one god of Eä, Eru Ilúvatar . The cosmological myth called the Ainulindalë , or "Music of the Ainur", describes how the Ainur sang for Ilúvatar, who then created Eä to give material form to their music. Many of
11684-490: The physical reality of creation as a whole. In careful geographical terms, Middle-earth is a continent on Arda, excluding regions such as Aman and the isle of Númenor. The alternative wider use is reflected in book titles such as The Complete Guide to Middle-earth , The Road to Middle-earth , The Atlas of Middle-earth , and Christopher Tolkien 's 12-volume series The History of Middle-earth . Tolkien's biographer Humphrey Carpenter states that Tolkien's Middle-earth
11811-428: 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. 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". The first published appearance of
11938-815: The pine-woods of the Druadan Forest by the north-eastern White Mountains . The next people settled in the White Mountains , and became known as the Men of the Mountains. They built a subterranean complex at Dunharrow, later known as the Paths of the Dead, which extended through the mountain-range from north to south. They became subject to Sauron in the Dark Years. Fragments of pre-Númenórean languages survive in later ages in place-names such as Erech , Arnach , and Umbar . The shorelands of Gondor were widely colonized by
12065-577: The point that none of these would have succeeded without collaboration; further that one such success comes from another shared effort, as when the Rohirrim were only able to come to the aid of Gondor because of the joint efforts of Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn; and that they in turn collaborated with the oathbreakers from the Paths of the Dead. Sandra Ballif Straubhaar , a scholar of Germanic studies, notes in The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia that readers have debated
12192-608: The primary inspiration for the Dungeons & Dragons character class called " Ranger ". Middle-earth Middle-earth is the setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien 's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the Miðgarðr of Norse mythology and Middangeard in Old English works, including Beowulf . Middle-earth is the oecumene (i.e. the human-inhabited world, or
12319-565: The real-world prototypes of Gondor. She writes that like the Normans , their founders the Númenóreans arrived "from across the sea", and that Prince Imrahil's armour with a "burnished vambrace " recalls late-medieval plate armour . Against this theory, she notes Tolkien's direction of readers to Egypt and Byzantium. Recalling that Tolkien located Minas Tirith at the latitude of Florence, she states that "the most striking similarities" are with ancient Rome . She identifies several parallels: Aeneas , from Troy , and Elendil, from Númenor, both survive
12446-575: The rest of the physical world), which itself was part of the wider creation he called Eä. Aman and Middle-earth are separated from each other by the Great Sea Belegaer , though they make contact in the far north at the Grinding Ice or Helcaraxë. The western continent, Aman, was the home of the Valar , and the Elves called the Eldar . On the eastern side of Middle-earth was the Eastern Sea. Most of
12573-491: The rider, his bright hair streaming in the wind, blowing his horn. The Steward Denethor's hall is large and solemn, but dead, colourless, in cold stone. Rohan is, Shippey suggests, the "bit that Tolkien knew best", Anglo-Saxon, full of vigour; Gondor is "a kind of Rome", over-subtle, selfish, calculating. The critic Jane Chance Nitzsche contrasts the "good and bad Germanic lords Théoden and Denethor", noting that their names are almost anagrams. She writes that both men receive
12700-495: The road / And flung his cobweb cloak on me..." C. S. Lewis 's 1938–1945 Space Trilogy calls the home planet "Middle-earth" and specifically references Tolkien's unpublished legendarium; both men were members of the Inklings literary discussion group. Within the overall context of his legendarium , Tolkien's Middle-earth was part of his created world of Arda (which includes the Undying Lands of Aman and Eressëa , removed from
12827-577: 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
12954-512: The seas'." There are allusions to a similarly- or identically-named world in the work of other writers both before and after him. William Morris 's 1870 translation of the Volsung Saga calls the world "Midgard". Margaret Widdemer 's 1918 poem "The Gray Magician" contains the lines: "I was living very merrily on Middle Earth / As merry as a maid may be / Till the Gray Magician came down along
13081-556: The sign back yonder rightly" could easily have been spoken by Bumppo. On the other hand, they write, Aragorn's awareness of "a historical and mythological past", and his continuity with those, is "emphatically lacking" in Cooper's writings. With the exception of Aragorn, the Rangers of the North are virtually omitted in Peter Jackson 's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , save for a few mentions in
13208-501: The south. With a Great Plague the population began a steep decline. The capital was moved from Osgiliath to the less affected Minas Anor, and evil creatures returned to the mountains bordering Mordor. There was war with the Wainriders, a confederation of Easterling tribes, and Gondor lost its line of kings. The Ringwraiths captured and occupied Minas Ithil which became Minas Morgul , "the Tower of Black Sorcery". At this time Minas Anor
13335-509: 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 Hobbiton and Rivendell are taken (as intended) to be at about the latitude of Oxford , then Minas Tirith , 600 miles south, is at about the latitude of Florence . The Mouths of Anduin and the ancient city of Pelargir are at about
13462-517: The struggle against evil were 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 . Conflict over the possession and control of precious or magical objects is a recurring theme in the stories. The First Age is dominated by
13589-487: 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 live-action shorts were made of Tolkien's books in 1967 and 1971, the first commercial depiction of The Hobbit onscreen was the Rankin/Bass animated TV special in 1977 . In 1978
13716-440: 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. The Ents were treelike shepherds of trees, their name coming from an Old English word for giant. Orcs and Trolls (made of stone) were evil creatures bred by Morgoth . They were not original creations but rather "mockeries" of the Children of Ilúvatar and Ents, since only Ilúvatar has
13843-513: The title. Instead, he rode with the army of Gondor under Eärnur and saw the destruction of Angmar . Aranarth's people became known as the Rangers of the North, and he was the first of their Chieftains. The Rangers defended Arnor from the remnants of Angmar's evil, and so began the Watchful Peace . Aranarth's successors were raised in Rivendell by Elrond while their fathers lived in the wild; each
13970-512: The war and the Third Age to an end. The Great Gate was rebuilt with mithril and steel by Gimli and Dwarves from the Lonely Mountain . Aragorn's coronation was held on the Gateway, where he was pronounced King Elessar of both Gondor and Arnor, the sister kingdom in the north. Tolkien's original thoughts about the later ages of Middle-earth are outlined in his first, mid-1930s, sketches for
14097-485: The war, so Isildur conferred rule of Gondor upon Anárion's son Meneldil, retaining suzerainty over Gondor as High King of the Dúnedain. Isildur and his three elder sons were ambushed and killed by Orcs in the Gladden Fields. Isildur's remaining son Valandil did not attempt to claim his father's place as Gondor's monarch; the kingdom was ruled solely by Meneldil and his descendants until their line died out. During
14224-478: 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". 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 " Eä " for
14351-508: The world of Men is known by several names. The Old English middangeard descends from an earlier Germanic word and so has cognates such as the Old Norse Miðgarðr from Norse mythology , transliterated to modern English as Midgard . The original meaning of the second element, from proto-Germanic gardaz , was "enclosure", cognate with English "yard"; middangeard was assimilated by folk etymology to "middle earth". Middle-earth
14478-644: Was Glaurung the Golden, bred by Morgoth in Angband , and called "The Great Worm", "The Worm of Morgoth", and "The Father of Dragons". Middle-earth contains sapient animals including the Eagles , Huan the Great Hound from Valinor and the wolf-like Wargs . In general the origins and nature of these animals are unclear. Giant spiders such as Shelob descended from Ungoliant , of unknown origin. Other sapient species include
14605-511: Was also a few miles south at Harlond, where the great river Anduin made its closest approach to Minas Tirith. Ringló Vale lay between Lamedon and Lebennin. The region of Calenardhon lay to the north of the White Mountains; it was granted independence as the kingdom of Rohan . To the northeast, the river Anduin enters the hills of the Emyn Muil and passes the Sarn Gebir, dangerous straits, above
14732-484: Was at the centre of nine worlds in Norse mythology, and of three worlds (with heaven above, hell below) in some later Christian versions . Tolkien's first encounter with the term middangeard , as he stated in a letter, was in an Old English fragment he studied in 1913–1914: Éala éarendel engla beorhtast / ofer middangeard monnum sended. Hail Earendel, brightest of angels / above the middle-earth sent unto men. This
14859-506: Was created specifically as "the Habitation" ( Imbar or Ambar ) for the Children of Ilúvatar ( Elves and Men ). It is envisaged in a flat Earth cosmology, with the stars, and later also the sun and moon, revolving around it. Tolkien's sketches show a disc-like face for the world which looked up to the stars. However, Tolkien's legendarium addresses the spherical Earth paradigm by depicting
14986-524: Was crowned King Elessar of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor. That same year, Aragorn married Arwen , daughter of Elrond. Their son, Eldarion, succeeded him as king. In Eldarion the two bloodlines of the Half-elven were reunited, Arwen being the daughter of the immortal Elrond and Aragorn the 60th-generation descendant of Elrond's mortal twin brother, Elros. The Rangers of Ithilien, also known as
15113-542: Was descended from Kings of Númenor and the Elf -kings of the First Age . During the War of the Ring, the Rangers of the North were led by Aragorn , but the northern Dúnedain were a dwindling folk: when Halbarad gathered as many Rangers as he could and led them south to Aragorn's aid, he could only muster thirty men to form the Grey Company. Aranarth would have been King of Arnor at the death of his father Arvedui. When Aranarth
15240-410: Was given a name with the Kingly prefix of Ar(a)- , to signify his right to the Kingship of Arnor. Aranarth's line descended father to son to Aragorn II, a protagonist in The Lord of the Rings . His father Arathorn was killed two years after his birth. He assumed lordship of the Dúnedain of Arnor when he came of age. He was a member of the Fellowship of the Ring and fought in the War of the Ring. He
15367-405: Was known as Middle-earth MUD , run by using LPMUD . After the Middle-earth MUD ended in 1992, it was followed by Elendor and MUME . Dol Amroth Gondor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien 's writings, described as the greatest realm of Men in the west of Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age . The third volume of The Lord of the Rings , The Return of the King ,
15494-402: Was overrun. Like the Rangers of the North, they spoke Sindarin as opposed to the Common Speech. They wore camouflaging green and brown clothing, secretly crossing the Anduin to assault the Enemy. They were skilled with swords and bows or spears. The Rangers of Arnor and their lost realm have been compared to medieval tribes and societies of the real world. Like the Franks after the fall of
15621-400: Was renamed to Minas Tirith, in constant watch of its now defiled twin city. Without kings, Gondor was ruled by stewards for many generations, father to son; despite their exercise of power and hereditary status, they were never accepted as kings, nor did they sit on the high throne. After attacks by evil forces, the province of Ithilien and the city of Osgiliath were abandoned. In the War of
15748-408: Was still a youth, the Witch-king of Angmar destroyed the Northern Kingdom, overrunning Fornost. Most of the people, including Aranarth, fled to Lindon, but King Arvedui went north to the Ice-Bay of Forochel. At Aranarth's urging, Círdan sent a ship to rescue Arvedui, but it sank with Arvedui on board. Aranarth was then by right King of Arnor, but since the Kingdom had been destroyed, he did not claim
15875-429: Was then broken, with the capture of Merry and Pippin, and the death of Boromir. Between the two hills is a rocky islet, Tol Brandir, which partly dams the river; just below it is an enormous waterfall, the Falls of Rauros, over which Boromir's funeral-boat is sent. Further down the river are the hills of Emyn Arnen. The capital of Gondor at the end of the Third Age, Minas Tirith (Sindarin: "Tower of Guard" ), lay at
16002-421: Was weakened both by time and by intermingling with lesser peoples. 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
16129-478: Was writing: As for the shape of the world of the Third Age , I am afraid that was devised 'dramatically' rather than geologically , or paleontologically . 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
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