Middle-earth

2019-10-20T18:35:15Z

45.25.57.231: /* Geography */

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{{location infobox
| name=Middle-earth
| image=[[File:John Howe - The Map of Middle-earth.jpg|250px]]
| caption="The Map of Middle-earth" by [[John Howe]]
| pronun=
| othernames=''[[Ennorath]]'', ''[[Endor]]''
| location=[[Arda]], east of [[Belegaer]]
| type=Continent
| description=
| regions=[[Rohan]], [[Gondor]], [[Mordor]], [[Arnor]], [[Beleriand]], [[Lothlórien]], [[the Shire]] others
| towns=
| inhabitants=[[Men]], [[Elves]], [[Dwarves]], [[Orcs]], [[Hobbits]], [[Ents]], others
| created=
| destroyed=
| events=
}}
{{quote|The green earth, say you? That is a mighty matter of legend, though you tread it under the light of day!|[[Aragorn]]<ref>{{TT|Riders}}</ref>}}
'''Middle-earth''' ([[Quenya|Q.]] ''[[Endor]]'') was a large continent of [[Arda]], situated between [[Aman]] to the [[Uttermost West|West]] (across [[Belegaer]]), and the [[Uttermost East|Land of the Sun]] to the [[East]] (across the [[East Sea]]).

It is here that most of the story of Arda takes place, and it was where the [[Children of Ilúvatar]]; the [[Elves]] and [[Men]], along with the [[Dwarves]], came into being.

==Geography==
[[Image:Sage - Middle-earth.png|thumb|left|The entire north of Middle-earth as shown in Karen Wynn Fonstad's ''[[The Atlas of Middle-earth]]'']]
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]] are the most well-known regions of the continent, and the only which have been mapped in great detail. 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).
HIIIIIIIIIIII :D
In the years before their decline, the kingdoms of [[Arnor]] and [[Gondor]] dominated the Westlands during the [[Third Age]]. These realms were separated by great mountain ranges such as the [[White Mountains]] and the Misty Mountains.

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 two large inland seas of [[Sea of Helcar|Helcar]] and [[Sea of Ringil|Ringil]], created by the demise of the [[Two Lamps]], stood in the center of Middle-earth to the north and south.

Another known name of the East was the '''[[Empty Lands]]'''. Through the north-east of Middle-earth ran the [[Orocarni|Red Mountains]], and to the south-east the [[Yellow Mountains]], which mirrored the Blue Mountains and the [[Grey Mountains (ancient)|Grey Mountains]] of the north-west and south-west respectively. On the shores of the Sea of Helcar near to the Red Mountains was '''[[Cuiviénen]]''', the cradle of the [[Elves]]. In the far east between the Red Mountains and the Yellow Mountains there were the [[Mountains of the Wind]], and between these mountains and the easternmost shores of Middle-earth there stood '''[[Hildórien]]''', the cradle of [[Men]]. There was also a mythical [[Last Desert]] in the "East of East", 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]].''
[[File:Steven White Jr. - Early Arda.jpg|thumb|left|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 Mountains and Red Mountains to the north, and the Grey Mountains and Yellow Mountains to the south. The Mountains of the Wind were a smaller chain in the [[East]], standing south of the Red Mountains and north of the Yellow Mountains.<ref>{{SM|Ambar}}</ref>

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]] between the Blue Mountains and Red Mountains to hinder the Vala [[Orome]] who hunted his creatures.<ref>{{HM|Guide}}, entry "Misty Mountains"</ref> In later days during the [[War for the Sake of the Elves]], the Yellow Mountains and the Mountains of the Wind would be lost, and the Sea of Ringil would merge with the East Sea, separating Middle-earth from the new continent known as the [[Dark Lands]]. To the west the shores of the Great Sea advanced upon the land as well, forming the [[Great Gulf]] between the lands of [[Beleriand]] and the lands of the south. The [[Straits of the World]] linked the Great Gulf with the Inland Sea of Helcar, serving as a boundary of sorts for the northern and southern lands of Middle-earth.<ref>{{SM|Ambar}}</ref>
[[File:Sage - Beleriand and Eriador collage.png|thumb|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 Daedeloth]]. 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 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 the Great River [[Anduin]] 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 Sea of Helcar drained into the Great Gulf through the Straits of the World, and was lost forever. 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 Misty Mountains, which stretched down south to the White Mountains and the newly formed [[Bay of Belfalas]], the remnants of the Great Gulf. Across the Misty Mountains from Eriador was Rhovanion, which extended east to the [[Sea of Rhûn]] and the vast lands of Rhûn 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]], and where the Great Sea had advanced at its most there was the [[Icebay of Forochel]].

The coasts of Middle-earth were changed once more in the cataclysm of the [[Downfall of Númenor]]. In many places the Great Sea advanced upon the land, and in some places it shrank back. Lindon especially suffered great loss of land at this time, while to the south the eastern and southern shores of the Bay of Belfalas shrank back, putting the city of [[Pelargir]] much farther inland than it had once been. The Anduin river found new paths to the sea afterwards, forming the [[Ethir Anduin]].<ref>{{PM|Second}} p. 183</ref>

==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 Lands]]''' or '''Outer Lands''' in [[the Silmarillion]]<ref name=ix>{{S|Index}}</ref> contrasted to [[Aman]] beyond the sea. In the [[Akallabêth]] it was also the '''Great Lands''',<ref name=ix/> since it was so much larger than the island of [[Elenna]]. In verses such as [[Song of Earendil]] and songs of [[Galadriel]],<ref>{{FR|Lorien}}</ref><ref>{{FR|Farewell}}</ref> it is referred as the '''Hither Shores'''. The [[Hobbits]] envisioned Middle-earth as the '''Wide World'''.<ref>{{H|8}}</ref>

==Inspiration==
[[J.R.R. Tolkien|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 [[Old English|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.<ref>{{L|151}}</ref>

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".<ref>[[Tolkien Journal]] II, 2 p. 1</ref>

==Appendix==
===Terminology===
The ''continent'' of Middle-earth is the main setting of most of the stories of the [[legendarium]]. There are a few stories that take place in [[Aman]] (like some chapters of ''[[The Silmarillion]]'') and [[Númenor]] (like the ''[[Akallabêth]]'' and ''[[Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner's Wife|Aldarion and Erendis]]'').

In [[fandom]], the term "Middle-earth" is used to refer to Tolkien's [[secondary world]] or [[Wikipedia:fictional universe|fictional universe]] in general, including its pantheon and cosmology. Tolkien himself used the term loosely at times to refer to his creation.<ref name=wiki/>
[[File:The Atlas of Middle-earth.jpg|thumb|Being actually ''The Atlas of '''Arda''''']]
As a result, "Middle-earth" is used synonymously as "Arda" as a more recogniseable term for titles such as ''[[The Complete Guide to Middle-earth]]'' and ''[[The Atlas of Middle-earth]]'', even while their scope is beyond the strict geographical definition of the continent of Endor. Even [[Christopher Tolkien]], while publishing the early drafts and manuscripts of his father, he titled the series ''[[The History of Middle-earth]]'',<ref name=wiki>{{webcite|articleurl=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-earth#Usage_and_misunderstandings|articlename=Middle-earth - Usage and misunderstandings|website=Wikipedia}}</ref> thus equating the term "Middle-earth" with the Legendarium. Wikipedia is also an example of this usage, with article names such as [[Wikipedia:Elf (Middle-earth)|Elf (Middle-earth)]] and the (somewhat erroneous) [[Wikipedia:Arda (Middle-earth)|Arda (Middle-earth)]].

The more proper but technical term "[[Arda]]", which refers to the whole world proper, first appeared in ''[[The Silmarillion]]''<ref name=wiki/>. It is sometimes used to appropriately refer to the world of Tolkien, seen in example in the names of ''[[Encyclopedia of Arda]]'' or ''[[Ardalambion]]''.

Another misuse of the term is the equation of "Middle-earth" with the mapped regions, as seen in the maps to ''Lord of the Rings''. Actually these regions are just the [[Westlands]] of Middle-earth, being only the north-western portion of the continent. Actually how far Middle-earth extends to the [[East]] and the [[South]] of the map is unknown. Although [[Mordor]] is seen to the south-easter corner of the map, it doesn't mean it belongs to the south-eastern Middle-earth, as there are presumably other lands to the east and south.<ref>{{HM|Guide}}, entry "Middle-earth"</ref> [[Karen Fonstad]] has attempted to reconstruct the entirety of the continent, beyond the Westlands, based on an [[:File:J.R.R. Tolkien - Ambarkanta Map V.png|early map by Tolkien]].<ref>{{HM|AME}}</ref>

===Middle-earth and the Old World===
In his earliest drafts of the [[Legendarium]], ''[[The Book of Lost Tales]]'', the mythology had more direct connections with our history: [[Littleheart]] compares the [[Fall of Gondolin]] with the fall of "[[Wikipedia:Babylon|Bablon]]", "[[Wikipedia:Nineveh|Ninwi]]" and "[[Wikipedia:Troy|Trui]]".<Ref>{{LT2|III}}</ref> The [[Mannish]] language of [[Taliska]] was based on [[Gothic]].<ref>{{PE|19}}, "The Comparative Tales", p. 22</ref> Britain was supposed to be former [[Tol Eressea]] that was driven towards the [[Great Lands]], with Ireland (the Isle of [[Iverin]]) being a part that broke from it. The main character [[Ottor Wǽfre]] was intended to be the father of legendary figures [[Wikipedia:Hengest|Hengest]] and [[Wikipedia:Horsa|Horsa]] who conquered England from the Guidlin, the [[Wikipedia:Britons (Celtic people)|Brithonin]] and the [[Wikipedia:Ancient Rome|Rumhoth]]. In a later sketch, the [[Elves]] were from the region of [[Luthany]] before it was pulled out of the mainland and became an island.<ref>{{LT2|VI}}</ref>

Tolkien envisioned his stories to take place on our world, in an imaginary historical period and contains the essentials of the northwestern Europe. He did not see his stories to happen on a "remote globe in 'space'" as was the case with other contemporary fiction.<ref>{{L|183}}</ref>

As for the later legendarium, [[The Shire]] not only was conceptually based on rural England<ref>{{L|190}}</ref> but also was expressly stated to be "in this region"<ref name=L211>{{L|211}}</ref>, "the North-West of the [[Wikipedia:Old World|Old World]], east of the Sea".<ref>{{FR|Prologue}}</ref>

[[File:Didier Willis - Middle-earth and Europe_projection.png|thumb|left|Experimental projection of the Westlands over Europe (by [[Didier Willis]])]]
Concerning the Shire, Tolkien stated that he intended it to correspond about to the latitude of [[Oxford]], which would result to other Middle-earth locations to correspond (but not necessarily equate with) real-life locations. For instance, [[Minas Tirith]] would fall to about the latitude of [[Wikipedia:Florence|Florence]], and [[Pelargir]] and the mouths of Anduin to that of ancient [[Wikipedia:Troy|Troy]].<ref>{{L|294}}</ref> According to the annotations provided by [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] to [[Pauline Baynes]], Hobbiton is again approximately at the same latitude as Oxford, and Minas Tirith is about the latitude of [[wikipedia:Ravenna|Ravenna]]. The bottom of the map is about the latitude of [[wikipedia:Jerusalem|Jerusalem]], and [[Umbar]] about that of [[wikipedia:Cyprus|Cyprus]]. Minas Tirith, being approximately 900 miles east of Hobbiton, is located near [[wikipedia:Belgrade|Belgrade]].<ref>''The Guardian'', 23 October 2015, "[http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/23/jrr-tolkien-middle-earth-annotated-map-blackwells-lord-of-the-rings Tolkien's annotated map of Middle-earth discovered inside copy of Lord of the Rings]". An analysis of the map may also be found in "[http://www.tolkiendil.com/essais/geographie/carte_tolkien_baynes Découverte d'une carte de la Terre du Milieu annotée par Tolkien pour Pauline Baynes]" (in French, with deciphered annotations also being provided in English).</ref>

Based on this information, it was made possible to make more correspondences, and even project the [[Westlands]] on a real map of Europe.<ref>{{webcite|website=Lalaith|articleurl=http://lalaith.vpsurf.de/Tolkien/Grid.html|articlename=A Meridional Grid on the Middle-Earth Map|author=[[Andreas Moehn]]}}</ref>

On the other hand, Tolkien designed his maps to accommodate the mythology, and was conscious that they did not fit the ancient Earth, as understood by contemporary archaeology and historical geology.<ref>{{L|169}}</ref><ref name=L211/>

===Portrayal in adaptations===
{{stub}}
[[File:Pete Fenlon - MERP map.jpg|thumb|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 of which have been the [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''Lord of the Rings'']] and [[The Hobbit (film series)|''Hobbit'']] film trilogies by [[Peter Jackson]]. Middle-earth has appeared in animation in [[Ralph Bakshi]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)|The Lord of the Rings]]'' and [[Rankin/Bass]]' adaptations of ''[[The Hobbit (1977 film)|The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[The Return of the King (1980 film)|The Return of the King]]''. Middle-earth has also been adapted for numerous video games such as ''[[The Lord of the Rings Online]]'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings: War in the North|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==
* [[Arda]]
* [[History of Arda]]
{{references}}
[[Category:Middle-earth| Middle-earth]]
[[de:Mittelerde]]
[[fi:Keski-Maa]]
[[fr:encyclo/geographie/regions/terre_du_milieu]]

Tolkien Gateway - User contributions [en]

Middle-earth