| Vuzman | Where is Middle-Earth? |
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| | Location: Copenhagen, DK | | Joined: 10.06.06 | | Posted on 21-06-2007 20:28 |
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Tolkien himself wrote that "as for the shape of the world of the Third Age, I am afraid that was devised 'dramatically', rather than geologically, or paleontologically." Elsewhere, Tolkien does admit "The 'Shire' is based on rural England, and not any other country in the world."
Tolkien at least compares his 'Old World' with Europe: "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 Hobbiton and Rivendell are taken (as intended) to be 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 the latitude of ancient Troy."
But, as Tolkien states in the prologue to 'The Lord of the Rings', it would be fruitless to look for geographical correspondences, as "Those days, the Third Age of Middle-earth, are now long past, and the shape of all lands has been changed..." And yet, that's exactly what Peter Bird attempts with the map here shown. Bird, a professor of Geophysics and Geology at UCLA, has overlapped the map of Middle-earth with one of Europe, which leads to a pretty interesting map:
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When I kill her, I'll have her
Die white girls, die white girls |
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| Vuzman | RE: Where is Middle-Earth? |
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| | Location: Copenhagen, DK | | Joined: 10.06.06 | | Posted on 21-06-2007 20:30 |
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Btw, I hacked this from the strange maps blog, which should be a very interesting place to spend some time for those of you interested in maps (of all kinds).
I'm sure there are a couple of Gongumenn threads waiting at that blog... 
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When I kill her, I'll have her
Die white girls, die white girls |
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| Norlander | RE: Where is Middle-Earth? |
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| | Field Marshal | |
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| | Location: Copenhagen | | Joined: 09.06.06 | | Posted on 21-06-2007 21:42 |
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That map kicks ass...The Sea north of the Faroes is Anfauglith...that word always mesmerized me to some extent...rusting jaws or what it meant.
Isengard is Copenhagen...now that was even more surprising
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The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.
- John Kenneth Galbraith |
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| OKJones | RE: Where is Middle-Earth? |
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| | Location: Argir | | Joined: 12.06.06 | | Posted on 22-06-2007 09:47 |
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I probably don't remember this right, but it seems like a detour going from the shire to bree - amon sul - rivendell - moria - lorien - fangorn etc.
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Why would I want to end every post the same way? |
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| Grizlas | RE: Where is Middle-Earth? |
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| | Location: Denmark | | Joined: 08.06.06 | | Posted on 22-06-2007 21:44 |
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Nice map for sure, but i'm with OKJones on this one. Damn thing has been rotated, stretched and sea levels have been shrunk etc. doesn't really resemble the original map
Btw Círdan must have had a hard time dragging those boats to sea
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You want to tempt the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing? |
Edited by Grizlas on 22-06-2007 21:45 |
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| Vuzman | RE: Where is Middle-Earth? |
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| | Location: Copenhagen, DK | | Joined: 10.06.06 | | Posted on 23-06-2007 11:12 |
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If you take into account the things Tolkien said about his map (that it was "devised 'dramatically', rather than geologically, or paleontologically" ) and the fictional fact that Middle-Earth really did exist, but "the shape of all lands has been changed" and it was "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 about the latitude of Oxford, then Minas Tirith, 600 miles south, is at about the latitude of Florence", then I think it is actually quite on the spot.
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When I kill her, I'll have her
Die white girls, die white girls |
Edited by Vuzman on 23-06-2007 14:11 |
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| Grizlas | RE: Where is Middle-Earth? |
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| | Location: Denmark | | Joined: 08.06.06 | | Posted on 23-06-2007 16:13 |
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yeah ok. I suppose if you are free to drag it any way you want, according to those passages, you can make it fit most of anything.
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You want to tempt the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing? |
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