'Middle-earth' refers to the fictional 'mortal' lands where some of the stories of author
J. R. R. Tolkien take place, as opposed to
Aman or 'undying' lands, where the angelic
Valar live together with most of the
High Elves. The term's origin lies in a translation of the
Middle English ''middel-erde'' which developed from
Old English ''
middangeard''.
Tolkien said that his Middle-earth is our
Earth, but in a fictional period in the past, estimating the end of the
Third Age to about 6,000 years before his own time.
[1]
The
history of Tolkien's Middle-earth is divided into several Ages. The novel ''
The Hobbit'' and the main text of ''
The Lord of the Rings'' deal exclusively with events toward the end of the
Third Age and conclude at the dawn of the
Fourth Age, while ''
The Silmarillion'' deals mainly with the
First Age.
Historical conceptions
In ancient
Germanic and
Norse myths, the universe was believed to consist of nine physical "worlds" joined together. The precise arrangement of these worlds is uncertain. According to one view, seven worlds lay across an encircling sea: The lands of Elves (
Alfheim), Dwarves (
Niðavellir), Gods (
Asgard and
Vanaheim), and Giants (
Jotunheim and
Muspelheim). Other Norse scholars place these seven worlds in the sky, in the branches of
Yggdrasil the "World Ash Tree". In either case, the world of Men (known by several names, such as
Midgard, Middenheim, and Middle-earth) lay in the centre of this universe, while
Bifröst, the rainbow bridge, extended from Middle-earth to Asgard.
Hel, the land of the Dead, lay beneath the Middle-earth.
Etymology
The term "Middle-earth" was not invented by Tolkien, and he would not dispute this. It occurs in
Early Modern English[2] as a development of the
Middle English word ''middel-erde'' (cf. modern German ''Mittelerde''), which developed in turn from
Old English ''middanġeard'' (the "g" being soft, i.e "yard"
[3])
[4].
''Middangeard'' descends from an earlier
Germanic word and so has
cognates in languages related to Old English such as the
Old Norse word ''Miðgarðr'' from
Norse mythology, transliterated to modern English as ''
Midgard''.
By the time of the
Middle English period, ''middangeard'' was being written as ''middellærd'', ''midden-erde'', or ''middel-erde''. A slight difference of wording, but not general meaning, had taken place as ''middangeard'' properly means "middle enclosure" instead of "middle-earth".
[5] Nevertheless ''middangeard'' has been commonly translated as "middle-earth". Tolkien followed this course.
Use by Tolkien
The concept of ''middangeard'' was considered by Tolkien to be the same as a particular usage of the
Greek word - ''
oikoumenē'' (from which the word
ecumenical is derived). In this usage Tolkien says that the ''oikoumenē'' is "the abiding place of men"
[6]; by this he means it is the physical world in which man lives out his life and destiny, as opposed to the unseen worlds, like
Heaven or
Hell.
"Middle-earth is ... not my own invention. It is a modernization or alteration ... of an old word for the inhabited world of Men, the ''oikoumene'': middle because thought of vaguely as set amidst the encircling Seas and (in the northern-imagination) between ice of the North and the fire of the South. O. English ''middan-geard'', mediaeval E. ''midden-erd'', ''middle-erd''. Many reviewers seem to assume that Middle-earth is another planet!"[7]
Tolkien encountered the term ''middangeard'' in an Old English
fragment he studied in
1914:
::''éala éarendel engla beorhtast / ofer middangeard monnum sended.''
::Hail Earendel, brightest of angels / above the middle-earth sent unto men.
This quote is from the second of the fragmentary remnants of the
Crist poems by
Cynewulf. The name ''Earendel'' was the inspiration for Tolkien's mariner
Eärendil.
[8] In Tolkien's stories of the First Age of his world, Eärendil set sail from the lands of Middle-earth to ask for aid from the angelic powers, the
Valar. He was later raised by the Valar into the skies, and set to sail in his ship Vingilot as a star and bright beacon of hope for Men and Elves in Middle-earth.
[9] Tolkien's earliest poem about Eärendil, from 1914, the same year he read the Crist poems, refers to "the mid-world's rim".
[10]
The term Middle-earth is not, however, used in Tolkien's earliest writings about his created world, writings that date from the early 1920s and which were later published in ''
The Book of Lost Tales'' (1983-4), nor is the term used in ''
The Hobbit'' (1937).
10 Tolkien began to use the term "Middle-earth" in the later part of the 1930s, in place of the earlier terms "Great Lands", "Outer Lands", and "Hither Lands" that he had used to describe this region in his stories.
10 The term Middle-earth appears in the drafts of ''The Lord of the Rings'', and the first published appearance of the word "Middle-earth" in Tolkien's works is in the Prologue to that work: "...Hobbits had, in fact, lived quietly in Middle-earth for many long years before other folk even became aware of them."
12
Usage and misunderstandings
The term Middle-earth can be also applied as a nickname of the entirety of Tolkien's creation, instead of the more appropriate, but less known terms
Arda which refers to Tolkien's world (including
celestial bodies), and
Eä, which refers to the universe. This is seen also in the title of books such as ''
The Complete Guide to Middle-earth'', ''
The Road to Middle-earth'', ''
The Atlas of Middle-earth'', and in particular the series ''
The History of Middle-earth'', all of which cover areas outside of the strict geographical definition of the term Middle-earth.
A possible explanation is that the word Arda is never mentioned in ''The Lord of the Rings'', and it was not until the 1977 publication of ''The Silmarillion'' that readers learned of the word.
The term "Middle-earth" is sometimes mis-capitalised as "Middle-Earth"
[11] and the hyphen is sometimes incorrectly omitted as well, as in "Middle Earth", "Middle earth" and "Middleearth".
Geography
Main articles: Arda
Within the overall context of his
legendarium, Tolkien's Middle-earth is part of his created world of
Arda, which itself is part of the wider creation called
Eä.
"Middle-earth" is specifically intended to describe the lands east of the Great Sea (
Belegaer), thus excluding
Aman, but including
Harad and other mortal lands not visited in Tolkien's stories. However, Tolkien never finalized the geography for the world associated with ''
The Hobbit'' and ''
The Lord of the Rings''. In ''
The Shaping of Middle-earth'', volume IV of ''
The History of Middle-earth'', Christopher Tolkien published several remarkable maps, of both the original flat earth and round world, which his father had created in the latter part of the 1930s.
Karen Wynn Fonstad drew from these maps to develop detailed, but non-canonical, "whole world maps" reflecting a world consistent with the historical ages depicted in ''The Silmarillion'', ''The Hobbit'', and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
Maps prepared by Christopher Tolkien and J.R.R. Tolkien for the world encompassing ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'' were published as foldouts or illustrations in ''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'', and ''The Silmarillion''. Early conceptions of the maps provided in ''The Silmarillion'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'' were included in several volumes, including "The First Silmarillion Map" in ''The Shaping of Middle-earth'', "The First Map of the Lord of the Rings" in ''
The Treason of Isengard'', "The Second Map (West)" and "The Second Map (East)" in ''
The War of the Ring'', and "The Second Map of Middle-earth west of the Blue Mountains" (also known as "The Second Silmarillion Map") in ''
The War of the Jewels''.
Within his stories, Tolkien translated the name "Middle-earth" as ''
Endor'' (or sometimes ''Endórë'') and ''Ennor'' in the
Elvish languages
Quenya and
Sindarin, respectively. Endor was originally conceived of as conforming to a largely symmetrical scheme which was marred by
Melkor. The symmetry was defined by two large sub-continents, one in the north and one in the south, with each of them boasting two long chains of mountains in the eastward and westward regions. The mountain chains were given names based on colours (White Mountains, Blue Mountains, Grey Mountains, and Red Mountains).
The various conflicts with Melkor resulted in the shapes of the lands being distorted. Originally, there was a single inland body of water, in the midst of which was set the island of
Almaren where the Valar lived. When Melkor destroyed the lamps of the Valar which gave light to the world, two vast seas were created, but Almaren and its lake were destroyed. The northern sea became the
Sea of Helcar (Helkar). The lands west of the Blue Mountains became
Beleriand. Melkor raised the
Misty Mountains to impede the progress of the Vala Oromë as he hunted Melkor's beasts during the period of darkness prior to the awakening of the
Elves.
The violent struggles during the
War of Wrath between the Host of the Valar and the armies of Melkor at the end of the First Age brought about the destruction of Beleriand. It is also possible that during this time the inland sea of Helcar was drained.
The world, not including associated celestial bodies, was identified by Tolkien as "Ambar" in several texts, but also identified as "Imbar", the Habitation, in later post-''Lord of the Rings'' texts. From the time of the destruction of the two lamps until the time of the Downfall of Númenor, Ambar was supposed to be a "flat world", in that its habitable land-masses were all arranged on one side of the world. His sketches show a disc-like face for the world which looked up to the stars. A western continent, Aman, was the home of the Valar (and the
Eldar). The middle lands, Endor, were called "Middle-earth" and they are the site of most of Tolkien's stories. The eastern continent was not inhabited.
When Melkor poisoned the Two Trees of the Valar and fled from Aman back to Endor, the Valar created the Sun and the Moon, which were separate bodies (from Ambar) but still parts of Arda (the Realm of the
Children of Ilúvatar). A few years after publishing ''The Lord of the Rings'', in a note associated with the unique narrative story "Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth" (which is said to occur in Beleriand during the
War of the Jewels), Tolkien equated Arda with the Solar System; because Arda by this point consisted of more than one heavenly body.
According to the accounts in both ''The Silmarillion'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'', when
Ar-Pharazôn invaded Aman to seize immortality from the Valar, they laid down their guardianship of the world and
Ilúvatar intervened, destroying Númenor, removing Aman "from the circles of the world", and reshaping Ambar into the round world of today. ''
Akallabêth'' says that the Númenóreans who survived the Downfall sailed as far west as they could in search of their ancient home, but their travels only brought them around the world back to their starting points. Hence, before the end of the Second Age, the transition from "flat Earth" to "round Earth" had been completed.
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",
[12] which indicates a connection to England and the north-western region of Europe (the
Old World). However, as he noted in private letters, the geographies do not match, and he did not consciously make them match when he 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."[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 the Shire, for instance, is expressly stated to have been in this region."[14]
In another letter, he made correspondences in latitude, ''not'' equations, 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 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 the latitude of ancient Troy."[15]
He did confirm, however, that the
Shire, the land of his
Hobbit heroes, was ''based on'' England:
"'The Shire' is based on rural England and not any other country in the world..."[16]
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..."
History
Main articles: Ainulindalë,
History of Arda
In ''The Silmarillion'' the history of Middle-earth is divided into four time periods, known as the
Ainulindalë, the
Years of the Lamps, the
Years of the Trees and the
Years of the Sun.
In Tolkien's universe
God is called
Eru Ilúvatar. In the beginning, Ilúvatar created spirits named the
Ainur and he taught them to make music. After the Ainur had become proficient in their skills, Ilúvatar commanded them to make a great music based on a theme of his own design. The most powerful Ainu,
Melkor (later called
Morgoth or "Dark Enemy" by the elves), disrupted the theme. In response, Ilúvatar introduced new themes that enhanced the music beyond the comprehension of the Ainur. The movements of their song laid the seeds of much of the history of the as yet unmade universe and the people who were to dwell therein.
Then Ilúvatar stopped the music and he revealed its meaning to the Ainur through a vision. Moved, many of the Ainur felt a compelling urge to experience its events directly. Ilúvatar therefore created Eä, the universe itself, and some of the Ainur went into the universe to share in its experience. But upon arriving in Eä, the Ainur found it was shapeless because they had entered at the beginning of time. The Ainur undertook great labours in these unnamed "ages of the stars", in which they shaped the universe and filled it with many things far beyond the reach of Men. In time, however, the Ainur formed Arda, the abiding place of the Children of Ilúvatar, Elves and Men. The fifteen most powerful Ainur are called the
Valar; Melkor was the most powerful, but
Manwë was the leader. The Valar settled in Arda to watch over it and help prepare it for the awakening of the Children.
Arda began as a single flat world, to which the Valar gave light through two immense lamps. Melkor destroyed the lamps and brought darkness to the world. The Valar retreated to the extreme western regions of Arda, where they created the Two Trees to give light to their new homeland. After many ages, the Valar imprisoned Melkor to punish and rehabilitate him, and to protect the awakening Children. But when Melkor was released on parole, he poisoned the Two Trees. The Valar took the last two living fruit of the Two Trees and used them to create the Moon and Sun, which remained a part of Arda, but were separate from Ambar (the world).
Before the end of the
Second Age, when the Men of
Númenor by the deceits of Sauron, Morgoth's most powerful servant of all and chief captain, rebelled against the Valar, Ilúvatar destroyed Númenor, separated
Valinor from the rest of Arda, and formed new lands, making the world round.
The Years of the Lamps began shortly after the
Valar finished their labours in shaping Arda. The Valar created two lamps to illuminate the world, and the Vala
Aulë forged great towers, one in the furthest north, and another in the deepest south. The Valar lived in the middle, on the island of Almaren. Melkor's destruction of the two Lamps marked the end of the Years of the Lamps.
Then
Yavanna made the
Two Trees named
Telperion and
Laurelin in the land of Aman. The Trees illuminated Aman, leaving the rest of Arda in darkness, illuminated only by the stars. At the start of the First Age the
Elves awoke beside Lake
Cuiviénen in the east of Endor, and were soon approached by the Valar. Many of the Elves were persuaded to undertake the
Great Journey westwards towards Aman, but not all of them completed the journey (see
Sundering of the Elves). The Valar had imprisoned Melkor but he appeared to repent and was released on parole. He sowed great discord among the Elves and stirred up rivalry between the Elven princes
Fëanor and
Fingolfin. He then slew their father, king
Finwë and stole the
Silmarils, three gems crafted by Fëanor that contained light of the Two Trees, from his vault, and destroyed the Trees themselves.
Fëanor persuaded most of his people, the
Noldor, to leave Aman in pursuit of Melkor to Beleriand, cursing him with the name ''Morgoth''. He and his sons swore an oath to recover the Silmarils, whatever the cost. Fëanor led the first of two groups of Noldor. The larger group was led by Fingolfin. The Noldor stopped at the
Teleri port-city,
Alqualondë, but the Teleri refused to give them ships to get to Middle-earth. The first
Kinslaying ensued when Fëanor and many of his followers attacked the Teleri and stole their ships. Fëanor's host sailed on the stolen ships, leaving Fingolfin's behind. The second group had little choice but to cross over to Middle-earth through the deadly
Helcaraxë (or Grinding Ice) in the far north. Subsequently Fëanor was slain, but most of his sons survived and founded realms, as did Fingolfin and his heirs.
The Years of the Sun began when the Valar made the Sun and it rose over the world,
Imbar. After several great battles, a
Long Peace ensued for four hundred years, during which time the first Men, the
Edain, entered Beleriand by crossing over the
Blue Mountains. When Morgoth broke the
siege of Angband, one by one, the Elven kingdoms fell, even the hidden city of
Gondolin. The only measurable success achieved by Elves and Men came when Beren of the Edain and Lúthien, daughter of
Thingol and
Melian, retrieved a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth. Afterward, Beren and Lúthien died, and were restored to life by the Valar with the understanding that Lúthien was to become mortal and Beren should never be seen by Men again.
Thingol quarrelled with the Dwarves of Nogrod and they slew him, stealing the Silmaril. With the help of Ents, Beren waylaid the Dwarves and recovered the Silmaril, which he gave to Lúthien. Soon afterwards, both Beren and Lúthien died again. The Silmaril was given to their son
Dior Half-Elven, who had restored the Kingdom of
Doriath. The sons of Fëanor demanded that Dior surrender the Silmaril to them, and he refused. The Fëanorians destroyed Doriath and killed Dior in the second Kinslaying, but Dior's young daughter Elwing escaped with the jewel. Three sons of Fëanor —
Celegorm,
Curufin, and
Caranthir — died trying to retake the jewel.
By the end of the age, all that remained of the free Elves and Men in Beleriand was a settlement at the mouth of the
River Sirion. Among them was Eärendil, who married
Elwing. But the Fëanorians again demanded the Silmaril be returned to them, and after their demand was rejected they resolved to take the jewel by force, leading to the third Kinslaying. Eärendil and Elwing took the Silmaril across the
Great Sea, to beg the Valar for pardon and aid. The Valar responded. Melkor was captured, most of his works were destroyed, and he was banished beyond the confines of the world into the
Door of Night.
The Silmarils were recovered at a terrible cost, as Beleriand itself was broken and began to sink under the sea. Fëanor's last remaining sons,
Maedhros and
Maglor, were ordered to return to
Valinor. They proceeded to steal the Silmarils from the victorious
Valar. But, as with Melkor, the Silmarils burned their hands and they then realized they were not meant to possess them and that the oath was null. Each of the brothers met his fate: Maedhros threw himself with the Silmaril into a chasm of fire, and Maglor threw his Silmaril into the sea. Thus, one Silmaril ended in the sky, worn by Eärendil, a second in the earth, and the third in the sea.
Thus began the
Second Age. The Edain were given the island of
Númenor toward the west of the Great Sea as their home, while many Elves were welcomed into the West. The Númenóreans were blessed by the Valar with long life, three times that of lesser men. They became great seafarers, and in their days of glory, came to Middle-earth to teach the lesser men great skills. However, the Númenóreans grew jealous of their immortal brethren, the Elves. At the height of their power (if not wisdom), the Númenóreans ruled over the Men of Middle-earth, instead of helping them. After a few centuries,
Sauron, Morgoth's chief servant, began to organize evil creatures in the eastern lands. He persuaded Elven smiths in
Eregion to create
Rings of Power, and secretly forged the
One Ring to control the other Rings. But the Elves became aware of Sauron's plan as soon as he put the One Ring on his hand, and they removed their own Rings before he could master their wills. During this time, the Shadow grew over Númenor, as kings no longer laid down their lives when they had lived to the fullest, but rather clung greedily to life. Númenor, ever thankful to the Valar and Eru in the past, now neglected to pay tribute, growing ever more restless about the Doom of Man, the curse of mortality. The people of Númenor became divided between the King's Men, those who would see the power and dominion of Númenor grow and their gratitude towards the Elves and Valar wane, and the Faithful, who still maintained their ties with the Elves, and still paid heed to the words of Eru.
With his newfound might and growing dominion over Middle-earth, Sauron claimed that he was the King of Men. Ar-Pharazôn, the last king of Númenor, thinking that none but he should have this title, sailed to Middle-earth with an army to challenge Sauron's claim. Sauron, seeing the might of Númenor at its noontide, knew that he could not stand against them. So he allowed himself to be captured and taken back to Númenor as a hostage. Soon, Sauron's deceit and fair-seeming words won him favor with the King. He lied to the King, and told him that Melkor, Lord of Darkness, was the true God and that Eru was but an invention of the Valar. Thus began the persecution of the Faithful, who were sacrificed in the name of Melkor. Finally, as Ar-Pharazôn grew old, Sauron, using the the power of the One Ring, told the King that none, not even the Valar of Valinor, could challenge the might of Númenor, and that the King should assail Valinor, and by setting foot on the Undying Lands, achieve immortality. Ar-Pharazôn, fearing death, assembled a massive fleet and set sail for the Undying Lands.
Amandil, chief of those still faithful to the Valar, remembering the embassy of Eärendil, set sail to seek mercy from the Valar. To disguise his intent, he sailed first to the east, and then sailed west, but was never heard from again. His son
Elendil and grandsons
Isildur and
Anárion kept the Faithful out of the coming war and made preparations to flee by ship.
When the King's forces landed on Aman, the Valar called for Ilúvatar to intervene. The world was changed, so that Aman was removed from Imbar. From that time onward, Men could no longer find Aman, but Elves seeking passage in specially hallowed ships received the grace of using the
Straight Road, which led from Middle-earth's seas to the seas of Aman. The mighty fleet of Ar-Pharazôn and the land of Númenor, were utterly destroyed, and with it the fair body of Sauron; but his spirit endured and fled back to Middle-earth. Elendil and his sons escaped to Endor and founded the realms of
Gondor and
Arnor.
Sauron soon rose again, but the Elves allied with the Men to form the
Last Alliance and defeated him.
Gil-galad, High King of the Elves,
Elendil, the ruler of Gondor and Arnor, and
Anárion, son of Elendil, were slain, but when it seemed all hope was lost, his other son Isildur took up his father's sword and cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand, thus diminishing his power and achieving victory and peace for a time. But Isildur refused to destroy the One Ring in the fires of
Mount Doom, against all advice, and took it as a
weregild for his father and brother. However, the Ring soon betrayed him, as it abandoned him during an ambush of Orcs at the Gladden Fields; Isildur was slain and the Ring was lost in the Anduin River for a time.
The
Third Age saw the rise in power of the realms of Arnor and Gondor, and their decline. By the time of ''The Lord of the Rings'', Sauron had recovered much of his former strength, and was seeking the One Ring. He learned that it was in the possession of a Hobbit and sent out the nine
Ringwraiths to retrieve it. The Ring-bearer,
Frodo Baggins, travelled to
Rivendell, where it was decided that the Ring had to be destroyed in the only way possible: casting it into the fires of Mount Doom. Frodo set out on the quest with eight companions—the
Fellowship of the Ring. At the last moment, he failed, but with the intervention of the creature
Gollum—who was saved by the pity of Frodo and
Bilbo Baggins—the Ring was nevertheless destroyed. Frodo with his companion
Sam Gamgee were hailed as heroes. Sauron was destroyed forever and his spirit dissipated.
The end of the Third Age marked the end of the dominion of the Elves and the beginning of the dominion of
Men. As the Fourth Age began, many of the Elves who had lingered in Middle-earth left for Valinor, never to return; those who remained behind would "fade" and diminish. The Dwarves eventually dwindled away as well, and they also returned in large numbers to Moria and resettled it. Under King Elessar (
Aragorn of the Arthedain), peace was restored between Gondor and the lands to the south and east.
Languages
Main articles: Languages of Middle-earth
Tolkien devised two main Elven languages which would later become known to us as
Quenya, spoken by the
Vanyar, Noldor, and some
Teleri, and
Sindarin, spoken by the
Sindar, the Elves who stayed in Beleriand (see below). These languages were related, and a
Common Eldarin form ancestral to them both is postulated. Tolkien compared the use of Quenya as like
Latin, with Sindarin as the common speech.
[17]
Other languages of the world include
★
Adûnaic – spoken by the
Númenóreans
★
Black Speech (aka Burzum) – devised by
Sauron for his slaves to speak
★
Khuzdûl – spoken by the
Dwarves
★
Rohirric – spoken by the
Rohirrim – represented in ''The Lord of the Rings'' by
Old English
★
Westron – The 'Common Speech' – represented by
English
★
Valarin – The language of the Ainur
Culture
Middle-earth is home to several distinct intelligent species. First were the Ainur, angelic beings created by Ilúvatar. The Ainur sang for Ilúvatar, who created Eä to give existence to their music in the cosmological myth called the ''Ainulindalë'', or "Music of the Ainur". Some of the Ainur then entered Eä, and the greatest of these were called the
Valar. Melkor (later called ''Morgoth''), the chief personification of evil in Eä, was initially one of the Valar.
The other Ainur who entered Eä are called the
Maiar. In the First Age the most active Maia was Melian, wife of the Elven King
Thingol; in the Third Age, during the
War of the Ring, five of the Maiar were embodied and sent to Endor to help the free peoples to overthrow Sauron. Those are the Istari (or ''Wise Ones'') (called
Wizards by Men), including
Gandalf,
Saruman,
Radagast,
Alatar and
Pallando. There were also evil Maiar, called Umaiar, including the
Balrogs and the second Dark Lord,
Sauron.
Later came the Children of Ilúvatar: Elves and Men, intelligent beings created by Ilúvatar alone. ''The Silmarillion'' tells how Elves and Men awaken and spread through the world. The Dwarves are said to have been made by the Vala Aulë, who offered to destroy them when Ilúvatar confronted him. Ilúvatar forgave Aulë's transgression and adopts the Dwarves. Three tribes of Men who allied themselves with the Elves of Beleriand in the First Age are called the
Edain.
As a reward for their loyalty and suffering in the
Wars of Beleriand, the descendants of the Edain were given the island of
Númenor to be their home. But as described in the section on
Middle-earth's history, Númenor was eventually destroyed and a remnant of the Númenóreans established realms in the northern lands of Endor. Those who remained faithful to the Valar found the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor. They were then known as the
Dúnedain, whereas other Númenórean survivors, still devoted to evil but living far to the south, became known as the
Black Númenóreans.
Tolkien identified Hobbits as an offshoot of the race of Men. Although their origins and ancient history are not known, Tolkien implied that they settled in the
Vales of Anduin early in the Third Age, but after a thousand years the Hobbits began migrating west over the Misty Mountains into
Eriador. Eventually, many Hobbits settled in the
Shire.
After they were granted true life by Ilúvatar, the Dwarves' creator Aulë laid them to sleep in hidden mountain locations. Ilúvatar awakened the Dwarves only after the Elves have awakened. The Dwarves spread throughout northern Endor and eventually founded seven kingdoms. Two of these kingdoms, Nogrod and Belegost, befriended the Elves of Beleriand against Morgoth in the First Age. The greatest Dwarf kingdom is
Khazad-dûm, later known as
Moria.
The
Ents, shepherds of the trees, were created by Ilúvatar at the Vala
Yavanna's request to protect trees from the depredations of Elves, Dwarves, and Men.
Orcs and
Trolls are evil creatures bred by Morgoth. They are not original creations but rather "mockeries" of the Children of Ilúvatar and Ents, since only Ilúvatar has the ability to give being to things. The detailed origins of Orcs and Trolls are unclear (Tolkien considered many possibilities and frequently changed his mind). It seems most likely that the Orcs were bred largely from corrupted Elves or Men or both. Late in the Third Age, the Uruks or
Uruk-hai appeared: a race of Orcs of great size and strength that, unlike ordinary Orcs, are not hurt by daylight. (Some claim that by the end of the Third Age, the only Uruks properly called Uruk-hai are those serving Saruman). Saruman bred Orcs and Men together to produce "Men-orcs" and "Orc-men"; at times, some of these are called "half-orcs" or "goblin-men". (There is no consensus as to whether Saruman's Uruk-hai were among these. The books contain no hint of the "pod grown" Uruk-hai portrayed in
Peter Jackson's recent
movie trilogy - although Jackson's idea may have been inspired by Gandalf's reference, in ''The Fellowship of the Ring,'' to "all the orcs ever ''spawned''" ''[emph. added]''.) Trolls were rarely seen and Treebeard says in ''The Lord of the Rings'' they were mockeries of Ents, they are stupid creatures, foul mouthed and brutal. If they were struck by daylight they turned to stone. In an episode of ''The Hobbit'', three trolls catch Bilbo and his Dwarf companions, and plan on eating them.
Sapient animals also appear, such as the
Eagles,
Huan the Great Hound from
Valinor, and the
Wargs. The Eagles were created by Ilúvatar along with the Ents, but in general these animals' origins and nature are unclear. Some of them might have been Maiar in animal form, or perhaps even the offspring of Maiar and normal animals. The giant spiders such as
Shelob were descended from normal spiders and
Ungoliant, who is possibly an Ainu.
Books
''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'' are presented as Tolkien's retelling of events depicted in the
Red Book of Westmarch, which was written by Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins, and other Hobbits, and corrected and annotated by one or more Gondorian scholars.
Tolkien wrote extensively about the
linguistics,
mythology and
history of the world, which provide
back-story for these stories. Many of these writings were edited and published posthumously by his son
Christopher.
Notable among them is ''
The Silmarillion'', which provides a creation story and description of the
cosmology that includes Middle-earth. ''The Silmarillion'' is the primary source of information about
Valinor,
Númenor, and other lands. Also notable are ''
Unfinished Tales'' and the multiple volumes of ''
The History of Middle-earth'', which includes many incomplete stories and essays as well as numerous drafts of Tolkien's Middle-earth mythology, from the earliest forms down through the last writings of his life.
Middle-earth works by Tolkien
★ 1937 ''
The Hobbit''
★
★ The
Hobbit Bilbo Baggins joins a company of Dwarves and the Wizard Gandalf in a quest to reclaim an old Dwarvish kingdom from the
dragon Smaug.
★ 1954 ''
The Fellowship of the Ring'', part 1 of ''
The Lord of the Rings''
★
★ Bilbo's cousin and heir Frodo Baggins sets out on a quest to rid Middle-earth of the
One Ring, joined by the
Fellowship of the Ring.
★ 1954 ''
The Two Towers'', part 2 of ''
The Lord of the Rings''
★
★ The Fellowship is split apart: while Frodo and his servant
Sam continue their quest,
Aragorn,
Gimli and
Legolas fight to rescue the hobbits
Peregrin Took (Pippin) and
Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) from
Orcs and to save the Kingdom of
Rohan.
★ 1955 ''
The Return of the King,'' part 3 of ''
The Lord of the Rings''
★
★ Frodo and Sam reach
Mordor, while Aragorn arrives in Gondor and reclaims his heritage.
★ 1962 ''
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book''
★
★ An assortment of poems, only loosely related to ''The Lord of the Rings''
★ 1967 ''
The Road Goes Ever On''
★
★ A song cycle with the composer
Donald Swann (long out of print but reprinted in 2002)
Tolkien died in 1973. All further works were edited by Christopher Tolkien. Only ''The Silmarillion'' is presented as a finished work — the others are collections of notes and draft versions.
★ 1977 ''
The Silmarillion''
★
★ The history of the Elder Days, before ''The Lord of the Rings'', including the Downfall of Númenor
★ 1980 ''
Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth''
★
★ Stories and essays related to ''The Silmarillion'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'', but many were never completed.
★ ''
The History of Middle-earth'' series:
★
★ 1983 ''
The Book of Lost Tales 1''
★
★ 1984 ''
The Book of Lost Tales 2''
★
★
★ The earliest versions of the mythology, from start to finish
★
★ 1985 ''
The Lays of Beleriand''
★
★
★ Two long poems (the Lay of Leithian about
Beren and
Lúthien, and the
Túrin saga)
★
★ 1986 ''
The Shaping of Middle-earth''
★
★
★ Start of rewriting the mythology from the beginning
★
★ 1987 ''
The Lost Road and Other Writings''
★
★
★ Introduction of Númenor to the mythology and continuation of rewriting
★
★ 1988 ''
The Return of the Shadow'' (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.1)
★
★ 1989 ''
The Treason of Isengard'' (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.2)
★
★ 1990 ''
The War of the Ring'' (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.3)
★
★ 1992 ''
Sauron Defeated'' (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.4)
★
★
★ The development of ''The Lord of the Rings''. ''Sauron Defeated'' also includes another version of the Númenor story.
★
★ 1993 ''
Morgoth's Ring'' (The Later Silmarillion, part one)
★
★ 1994 ''
The War of the Jewels'' (The Later Silmarillion, part two)
★
★
★ Post-''Lord of the Rings'' efforts to revise the mythology for publication. Includes the controversial 'Myths Transformed' section, which documents how Tolkien's thoughts changed radically in the last years of his life.
★
★ 1996 ''
The Peoples of Middle-earth''
★
★
★ Source material for the appendices in ''The Lord of the Rings'' and some more late writings related to ''The Silmarillion'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
★
★ 2002 ''History of Middle-earth: Index''
★
★
★ This book has completely integrated all of the indices from the previous twelve volumes into one large index.
★ 1990 ''
Bilbo's Last Song''
★
★ Poem
★ 2007 ''
The Children of Húrin''
Maps
Tolkien prepared several maps of Middle-earth and the regions of Middle-earth in which his stories took place. Some were published in his lifetime, though some of the earliest maps were not published until after his death. The main maps were those published in ''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Silmarillion''. A map of Númenor was published in ''Unfinished Tales''. Note that the subcontinent Beleriand (left) was later subsumed by the ocean at the end of the First Age; the Blue Mountains at the right edge of the map of Beleriand, are the same Blue Mountains that appear on the extreme left of the map of Middle-earth in the Third Age (right).
Adaptations
Films
In a letter to his son Christopher Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien set out his policy regarding film adaptations of his works: "Art or Cash".
[18] He sold the film rights for ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'' to
United Artists in 1969 after being faced with a sudden
tax bill. They are currently in the hands of
Tolkien Enterprises. The
Tolkien Estate retains the film rights to ''The Silmarillion'' and other works.
The first adaptation to be shown was ''
The Hobbit'' in 1977, made by
Rankin-Bass studios. This was initially shown on
United States television.
The following year (1978), a movie entitled ''
The Lord of the Rings'' was released, produced and directed by
Ralph Bakshi; it was an adaptation of the first half of the story, using
rotoscope animation. Although the film was relatively faithful to the story and a
commercial success, its
critical response (from critics, readers and non-readers alike) was mixed.
In 1980, Rankin-Bass produced a TV special covering roughly the last half of ''The Lord of the Rings'', called ''
The Return of the King''. However, this did not follow on directly from the end of the Bakshi film.
Plans for a live-action version of ''
The Lord of the Rings'' would wait until the late 1990s to be realized. These were directed by
Peter Jackson and funded by
New Line Cinema with backing from the New Zealand government and banking system.
★ '' (2001)
★ '' (2002)
★ '' (2003)
The films were a huge
box office and critical (both critic, reader and non-reader) success and together won seventeen
Oscars (at least one in each applicable category for a fictional, English language, live-action feature film, except in the acting categories). The films became the 11th, 5th, and 2nd highest grossing films of all time. The films have also helped to increase the impact of Tolkien's works on mainstream
pop culture. However, in adapting the book to film, Jackson and company made significant changes to the storyline, themes and characters, and even added numerous original scenes which were not condensations of longer plotlines.
Games
The works of Tolkien have been a major influence on
role-playing games along with others such as
Robert E. Howard,
Fritz Leiber,
H. P. Lovecraft, and
Michael Moorcock. Although the most famous game to be inspired partially by the setting was
Dungeons & Dragons, there have been two specifically Middle-earth based and licensed games. These are the
Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game from
Decipher Inc. and the
Middle-earth Role Playing game (MERP) from
Iron Crown Enterprises. A Middle-earth
play-by-mail game was originally run by
Flying Buffalo and is now produced by
Middle-earth Games; this game was inducted into the
Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design's Hall of Fame in 1997.
Simulations Publications created three
war games based on Tolkien's work. ''War of the Ring'' covered most of the events in ''The Lord of the Rings''. ''Gondor'' focused on the battle of Pelennor Fields, and ''Sauron'' covered the Second Age battle before the gates of Mordor. The three games above were then released together as the ''Middle Earth'' game trilogy.
The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, a war game based on the Jackson movies, is currently published by
Games Workshop. A
board game also called ''War of the Ring'' is currently published by
Fantasy Flight Games.
The computer game
Angband is a free
roguelike D&D-style game that features many characters from Tolkien's works. A list of Tolkien-inspired computer games can be found at http://www.lysator.liu.se/tolkien-games/ .
EA Games has released games based on the Jackson movies for the gaming consoles and the PC. These include the platformers ''The Two Towers'', ''The Return of the King'', the real-time strategy game '', its sequel ''and its expansion ''The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-King''-- which puts you in control of the warriors of Angmar, the home of the Witch-King, and the role-playing game ''.
Book-based games (officially licensed from
Tolkien Enterprises) include Vivendi's own platformer, '', and Sierra's own real-time strategy game, '', both games that proved highly unsuccessful , and the many games based on ''
The Hobbit''.
Turbine released the first Middle-earth-based graphical massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (
MMORPG): '', on April 24, 2007.
There are many text-based MMORPGs (known as
MU
★ s) based on Tolkien's Middle-earth. The oldest of which date back as long as fifteen years (
MUME - Multi Users in Middle-earth). For a (rather long) list of all the Tolkien inspired MU
★ s go to
The Mud Connector and run a search for 'tolkien'.
Aside from officially licensed games, many Tolkien-inspired
mods and custom maps have been made for many games, such as ''
Warcraft III'' and ''.
Middle-earth in other works
There are allusions to concepts similar to, or identical to Middle-earth, in other works by Tolkien, and the work of other writers. The oldest example of this is
C. S. Lewis's
Space Trilogy, in which Earth is also called Middle-earth. Lewis's novels, set around World War II (with the last novel, ''
That Hideous Strength'', taking place in post-war England), specifically bring in references to Tolkien's legendarium (at that time largely unpublished) and treats these references as primary fact within Lewis's fiction.
Merlin, of
King Arthur fame, is treated as a successor to the
Atlantis magic found within "Numinor" (Lewis's unintentional misspelling of Númenor), and Lewis specifically references the earth as Middle-earth twice, both in Chapter 14, "They Have Pulled Down Deep Heaven on Their Head".
Lewis and Tolkien were part of a literary circle of friends that came to be known as
The Inklings. Some of Tolkien's works, including ''The Lord of the Rings'', were read out to the Inklings as they were being written, leading to Lewis's borrowing of the names. Tolkien's unpublished and unfinished
time travel stories (
The Lost Road and
The Notion Club Papers), set in England, also connected to his world of Middle-earth and to
Númenor.
See also
★
Middle-earth canon
★
Middle-earth magic
★
List of Middle-earth writings
★
Middle-earth cosmology
References
1. (''Letters'', no. 211, footnote)
2. Shakespeare, William. ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'', Act V, Scene 5.
3. Bruce Mitchell and Fred C. Robinson, ''A Guide to Old English'', Sixth ed., p. 360
4. The word ''middangeard'' appears several times in the Beowulf poem.
5. "-geard" (Old Norse ''garðr'') means, among other things, "yard" or "enclosure", while "-erde" (Old Norse ''jörð'') means "earth".
6. (''Letters'', nos. 151, 183 and 283)
7. (Letters, no. 211)
8. (''Letters'', no. 297)
9. "Now when first Vingilot was set to sail in the seas of heaven, it rose unlooked for, glittering and bright; and the people of Middle-earth beheld it from afar and wondered, and they took it for a sign, and called it Gil-Estel, the Star of High Hope". (''The Silmarillion'', "Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath")
10. (''The Ring of Words'', pg. 164)
11. An example of this spelling is the Blind Guardian album ''Nightfall in Middle-Earth''.
12. (''The Lord of the Rings'', Prologue)
13. (''Letters'', no. 169)
14. (''Letters'', no. 211)
15. (''Letters'', no. 294)
16. (''Letters'', no. 190)
17. (''Letters'', no. 144)
18. (''Letters'', no. 202)
★
The Roots of Tolkien's Middle-earth, , Robert S., Blackham, Tempus, 2006, ISBN 0-7524-3856-5
★
, , Humphrey, Carpenter, George Allen & Unwin, 1977, ISBN 0-04-928037-6
★
The Atlas of Middle-earth, , Karen Wynn, Fonstad, Houghton Mifflin, 1981, ISBN 0-395-28665-4
★
Tolkien and the Great War, , John, Garth, HarperCollinsPublishers, 2003, ISBN 0-00-711952-6
★
The Ring of Words, , Peter, Gilliver, Oxford University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-19-861069-6
★
J. R. R. Tolkien - Artist & Illustrator, , Wayne G., Hammond, HarperCollinsPublishers, 2004, 0261103229
★
The Lord of the Rings - A Reader's Companion, , Wayne G., Hammond, HarperCollinsPublishers, 2005, ISBN 0-00-720907-X
★
The Road to Middle-earth, , Tom, Shippey, HarperCollinsPublishers, 1992, ISBN 0-261-10275-3
★
Author of the Century, , Tom, Shippey, HarperCollinsPublishers, 2001, ISBN 0-261-10401-2
★
The Hobbit, , John Ronald Reuel, Tolkien, Unwin Paperbacks, 1981, ISBN 0-04-823188-6
★
The Lord of the Rings, , John Ronald Reuel, Tolkien, HarperCollinsPublishers, 2004, ISBN 0-00-718236-8
★
The Silmarillion, , John Ronald Reuel, Tolkien, Unwin Paperbacks, 1977, ISBN 0-04-823153-3
★
Unfinished Tales, , John Ronald Reuel, Tolkien, George Allen & Unwin, 1980, ISBN 0-04-823179-7
★
The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, , John Ronald Reuel, Tolkien, HarperCollinsPublishers, 1995, ISBN 0-261-10265-6
★
The Monsters and the Critics, , John Ronald Reuel, Tolkien, HarperCollinsPublishers, 1997, ISBN 0-261-10263-X
★
The Annotated Hobbit, , John Ronald Reuel, Tolkien, HarperCollinsPublishers, 2003, ISBN 0-00-713727-3
Further reading
A small selection from the many books about Tolkien and his created world:
★ ''
The Complete Guide to Middle-earth'', Robert Foster – reference book on ''The Lord of the Rings''.
★ ''The Annotated Hobbit'', Douglas Anderson – a study of the publication history of ''The Hobbit''.
★ ''The Road to Middle-earth'',
Tom Shippey – literary and philological analysis of Tolkien's stories.
★ ''
The Atlas of Middle-earth'', Karen Wynn Fonstad.
★ ''
Journeys of Frodo'', Barbara Strachey – an atlas of ''The Lord of the Rings''.
External links
★
Tolkien Gateway – wiki about Middle-earth and Tolkien.
★
Encyclopedia of Arda – encyclopedia about Middle-earth.
★
The Tolkien Meta-FAQ – answers to commonly asked questions about Tolkien and Middle-earth.
★
Michael Martinez Tolkien Essays – a collection of essays on Tolkien and Middle-earth.
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