Middle-earth: Difference between revisions

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Middle-earth is a large continent, a mass of land that occupies the central regions of [[Arda]]. It lays between two continents; [[Aman]], the uttermost West from which it is separated by the ocean [[Belegaer]], and the [[Land of the Sun]], at the uttermost East which the [[East Sea]] separates.
Middle-earth is a large continent, a mass of land that occupies the central regions of [[Arda]]. It lays between two continents; [[Aman]], the uttermost West from which it is separated by the ocean [[Belegaer]], and the [[Land of the Sun]], at the uttermost East which the [[East Sea]] separates.
[[Image:John Howe - The Map of Middle-earth.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Westlands]] of Middle-earth]]
[[Image:John Howe - The Map of Middle-earth.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Westlands]] of Middle-earth]]
The [[Westlands]] are the most well-known regions of the continent, and the only which have been mapped. Of the Westlands, the western portion called '''[[Beleriand]]''' was drowned at the end of the [[First Age]] and survivors relocated to [[Lindon]] and '''[[Eriador]]''' from which it was separated by the [[Blue Mountains]]. Another region of the Westlands was '''[[Rhovanion (region)|Rhovanion]]''' separated by the [[Misty Mountains]].  
The [[Westlands]] are the most well-known regions of the continent, and the only which have been mapped. Of the Westlands, the western portion called '''[[Beleriand]]''' was drowned at the end of the [[First Age]] and survivors relocated to [[Lindon]] and '''[[Eriador]]''' from which it was separated by the [[Blue Mountains]]. Another region of the Westlands was ''' [[Rhovanion]]''' separated by the [[Misty Mountains]].  


The southern part of the Westlands was around [[Bay of Belfalas|a large bay]], including '''[[Belfalas]]''', the area of [[Gondor]], and [[Near Harad]] (Near South).
The southern part of the Westlands was around [[Bay of Belfalas|a large bay]], including '''[[Belfalas]]''', the area of [[Gondor]], and [[Near Harad]] (Near South).
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East of the Ered Luin was a land encircled by four mountain ranges: the [[Ered Luin]] to the West, the [[Ered Engrin]] to the North, the [[Misty Mountains|Hithaeglir (Misty Mountains)]] to the East, and some of the [[White Mountains]] to the South.  Passing even further East, over the Hithaeglir, you would come to [[Anduin]] (the Great River) and eventually [[Palisor]], the [[Sea of Helcar|Inland Sea of Helcar]], the [[Orocarni]], and the [[East Sea]].
East of the Ered Luin was a land encircled by four mountain ranges: the [[Ered Luin]] to the West, the [[Ered Engrin]] to the North, the [[Misty Mountains|Hithaeglir (Misty Mountains)]] to the East, and some of the [[White Mountains]] to the South.  Passing even further East, over the Hithaeglir, you would come to [[Anduin]] (the Great River) and eventually [[Palisor]], the [[Sea of Helcar|Inland Sea of Helcar]], the [[Orocarni]], and the [[East Sea]].


After the end of the First Age and the drowning of Beleriand, the geography east of the Ered Luin shifted.  The Ered Luin themselves, now broken up and disfigured, marked the western border of [[Eriador]], and thence [[Lindon]] and Belegaer itself.  Eriador, now the Westernmost part of Middle-earth, was bordered on the East by the Hithaeglir, the Misty Mountains, which stretched down south to the [[White Mountains]] and the [[Bay of Belfalas]].  Across the Misty Mountains from Eriador was [[Rhovanion (region)|Rhovanion]], which extended east to the [[Sea of Rhûn]] and the vast [[Rhûn|lands]] beyond.  Within Rhovanion were the great forest of [[Mirkwood]], the forest of [[Fangorn Forest|Fangorn]], and the many-rivered area that would become known as [[Gondor]]. To the east was the region of [[Mordor]], encircled on three sides by mountains. To the far north of Rhovanion was the icy [[Forodwaith (lands)|Forodwaith]].
After the end of the First Age and the drowning of Beleriand, the geography east of the Ered Luin shifted.  The Ered Luin themselves, now broken up and disfigured, marked the western border of [[Eriador]], and thence [[Lindon]] and Belegaer itself.  Eriador, now the Westernmost part of Middle-earth, was bordered on the East by the Hithaeglir, the Misty Mountains, which stretched down south to the [[White Mountains]] and the [[Bay of Belfalas]].  Across the Misty Mountains from Eriador was [[Rhovanion]], which extended east to the [[Sea of Rhûn]] and the vast [[Rhûn|lands]] beyond.  Within Rhovanion were the great forest of [[Mirkwood]], the forest of [[Fangorn Forest|Fangorn]], and the many-rivered area that would become known as [[Gondor]]. To the east was the region of [[Mordor]], encircled on three sides by mountains. To the far north of Rhovanion was the icy [[Forodwaith (lands)|Forodwaith]].


==Names==
==Names==

Revision as of 18:27, 4 October 2013

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Middle-earth
Continent
File:All middle earth.png
General Information
Other namesEnnorath, Endor
LocationArda, east of Belegaer
TypeContinent
DescriptionA continent set between two oceans
RegionsRohan, Gondor, Mordor, Arnor, Rivendell, Lothlórien, others
InhabitantsMen, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Hobbits, Ents, others
GalleryImages of Middle-earth

Middle-earth (Q. Endor) was a large continent of Arda, situated between Aman to the West (across Belegaer), and the Land of the Sun to the East (across the East Sea).

It is here that many of the epic tales of Arda were played out, for it was there where the Children of Ilúvatar, Elves, Dwarves and Men came into being; and in the Westlands of Middle-earth they bitterly fought the Dark Lords.

Geography

Middle-earth is a large continent, a mass of land that occupies the central regions of Arda. It lays between two continents; Aman, the uttermost West from which it is separated by the ocean Belegaer, and the Land of the Sun, at the uttermost East which the East Sea separates.

The Westlands of Middle-earth

The Westlands are the most well-known regions of the continent, and the only which have been mapped. Of the Westlands, the western portion called Beleriand was drowned at the end of the First Age and survivors relocated to Lindon and Eriador from which it was separated by the Blue Mountains. Another region of the Westlands was Rhovanion separated by the Misty Mountains.

The southern part of the Westlands was around a large bay, including Belfalas, the area of Gondor, and Near Harad (Near South).

Arnor and Gondor before their decline, dominated the Westlands during the Third Age. Huge mountain ranges like the Grey Mountains and White Mountains separated these regions.

Of the East and South of Middle-earth not much is known, other than the names of Rhûn and Khand, east of Mordor, and the Far Harad (Far South); but how far they extended is unknown.

In the Elder Days, the East was occupied by the two large inland seas of Helcar and Ringil created by the demise of the Two Lamps; and of course Cuiviénen and Hildórien, the cradle of Elves and Men.

Another known name of the East was the Empty Lands. The eastern land-mass was encircled by ranges of mountains, the Red and the Yellow Mountains which mirrored the Blue and the Grey of the West respectively. There was also a mythical Last Desert; but its status or existence in the later years was unknown.

History

This is the geographical history. For events happening in Middle-earth, see Timeline.
Early Arda

Arda was initially a flat, symmetric shape, until the Valar (and Morgoth) created several seas and mountains. Two seas, Belegaer to the west and the East Sea, formed a central landmass in the centre of Arda, the earliest shape of what would be the Great Lands of Middle-earth. Major features of that landmass were two inland seas, the Sea of Helcar and the Sea of Ringil. Around them, massive mountain chains were formed, the Blue and Red Mountains to the north, and the Grey and Yellow Mountains to the south. The Mountains of the World were a smaller chain in the East.[1]

Eventually the Valar left the Great Lands for the Uttermost West, leaving Morgoth and his creatures from his fortress at Utumno behind the Iron Mountains. He would also erect the Misty Mountains to hinder the Vala Orome who hunted his creatures.[2]

File:Beleriand-eriador-fonstad.png
Western Middle-earth with deluged Beleriand

During the First Age and the ages preceding, the western side of Middle-earth was called Beleriand, stretching from the Ered Luin to the great ocean of Belegaer. On the northern edge of Beleriand were the fierce Ered Engrin, the Iron Mountains. Even further north was the freezing Dor Daidelos. Just southwest of the Ered Engrin was Hithlum, which was separated from the coast of Lammoth and Belegaer by the Ered Lómin, and from the rest of Beleriand to the south by the Ered Wethrin. The woven wood of Doriath rested directly south of the Thangorodrim and Dorthonion, southeast of Hithlum. To the West of Doriath were Taur-en-Faroth and the Falas, while to the east were Nan Elmoth and Thargelion before reaching the Ered Luin. To the south of Doriath were first the Andram, then Arvernien and the Bay of Balar. East of the Bay of Balar and extending ever further south into the unknown lands were the Taur-im-Duinath and Ossiriand.

East of the Ered Luin was a land encircled by four mountain ranges: the Ered Luin to the West, the Ered Engrin to the North, the Hithaeglir (Misty Mountains) to the East, and some of the White Mountains to the South. Passing even further East, over the Hithaeglir, you would come to Anduin (the Great River) and eventually Palisor, the Inland Sea of Helcar, the Orocarni, and the East Sea.

After the end of the First Age and the drowning of Beleriand, the geography east of the Ered Luin shifted. The Ered Luin themselves, now broken up and disfigured, marked the western border of Eriador, and thence Lindon and Belegaer itself. Eriador, now the Westernmost part of Middle-earth, was bordered on the East by the Hithaeglir, the Misty Mountains, which stretched down south to the White Mountains and the Bay of Belfalas. Across the Misty Mountains from Eriador was Rhovanion, which extended east to the Sea of Rhûn and the vast lands beyond. Within Rhovanion were the great forest of Mirkwood, the forest of Fangorn, and the many-rivered area that would become known as Gondor. To the east was the region of Mordor, encircled on three sides by mountains. To the far north of Rhovanion was the icy Forodwaith.

Names

The peoples called Middle-earth by several names. The Elves called the continent Endóre or Endor in Quenya meaning "middle land"; the Sindarin form was Ennor, also used in the plural ennorath "middle lands, lands of Middle-earth".

Other epithets of the continent were Hither Shores or Hither Lands contrasted to Aman beyond the sea. The Hobbits envisioned Middle-earth as the Wide World[3] and the Outer Lands[4] or Great Lands, since it was so much larger than the continent of Aman.[5].

Inspiration

Tolkien created Arda, including and especially Middle-earth, for his languages Quenya and Sindarin, especially the latter as it turned out. To Tolkien, a scholar of the Anglo-Saxon language, Middle-earth was the English translation of the Old English word middanġeard. This word was transformed in the Middle English midden-erd or middel-erd, and the Old Norse Midgard. This is English for what the Greeks called the οικουμένη (oikoumenē) or "the abiding place of men", the physical world as opposed to the unseen worlds.[6]

The ancient peoples called the world "middle-earth" since it was imagined to be between the realm of the Giants below and the realm of the gods above. However in Tolkien's cosmology the name Middle-earth refers only to a continent, which (in the First and Second Ages) is set between two seas, Belegaer and the East Sea.

Henry Resnick quoted Tolkien saying that "Middle-earth is Europe".[7]

Portrayal in adaptations

"...there is much else that may be told." — Glóin
This article or section is a stub. Please help Tolkien Gateway by expanding it.
File:Pete Fenlon - MERP map.jpg
The whole continent of Middle-earth as envisioned in Middle-earth Role Playing

Middle-earth has been depicted in a variety of adaptations of Tolkien's work. The most prominent has been The Lord of the Rings (film series) and the forthcoming Hobbit film series by Peter Jackson. Middle-earth has appeared in animation in Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings and Rankin/Bass' adaptations of The Hobbit and The Return of the King. Middle-earth has also been adapted for numerous video games such as The Lord of the Rings Online and War in the North and tabletop role-playing games like the Middle-earth Role Playing system by Iron Crown Enterprises.

Each adaptation has made changes, subtractions, or additions to Tolkien's creation, often adding new locations, creatures, or characters. For the most part, however, the overall geography and style of Tolkien's Middle-earth has been retained.

See Also

References

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