The Origins of Tolkien's Middle-earth For Dummies

by Harvey, Greg

• ISBN13: 9780764541865
• ISBN10: 0764541862
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-10-10
• Publisher: For Dummies

Summary

The popular movies based on The Lord of the Rings trilogy have created a whole new audience for Tolkien?s richly drawn world of Middle-earth. But newbies to these complex tales have a hard time separating out the key players and understanding their motivations and their relationships to one another.This book simplifies these complex threads while painting in the rich mythological and spiritual underpinnings of Tolkien?s message.This book explains the mythology and great moral themes inherent in Middle-earth story and their origins in European folklore and Christian and pre-Christian religious beliefs; the creatures of Middle-earth, such as hobbits, wizards, elves, and ents; the significance of languages in Middle-earth; and how Tolkien speaks to the world of the 21st century.The Origins of Tolkien?s Middle-earth For Dummies is an essential handbook to the fascinating world of Middle-Earth.

Author Biography

Greg Harvey is a language scholar who has traced the roots of Tolkien’s work in European folklore and pre-Christian religious beliefs. He has studied 12 languages, including Elvish, Latin, and Anglo-Saxon.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xix
Introduction	1	(1)
About This Book	2	(1)
Foolish Assumptions	3	(1)
How to Use This Book	3	(1)
How This Book Is Organized	4	(2)
Part I: The Geography of Middle-earth	4	(1)
Part II: The Beings of Middle-earth	4	(1)
Part III: The History of Middle-earth	5	(1)
Part IV: The Languages of Middle-earth	5	(1)
Part V: The Themes and Mythology of Middle-earth	5	(1)
Part VI: The Part of Tens	5	(1)
Icons Used in This Book	6	(1)
Where to Go from Here	6	(1)
Part I: The Geography of Middle-earth	7	(38)
The Worlds of Middle-earth	9	(12)
Where in the World Is Middle-earth?	9	(2)
The Meaning of Middle-earth	11	(2)
The origin of the term ``Middle-earth''	12	(1)
``Stuck in the middle again . . .''	12	(1)
Middle-earth as a Fantasy World	13	(2)
On the nature of the fairytale	14	(1)
The fairytale as ``sub-creation''	15	(1)
Middle-earth as a Mythic World	15	(3)
``Fortunate'' calamities in myth and legend	16	(1)
Background myths of ``The Lord of the Rings''	17	(1)
Middle-earth as a World of Diverse Beings	18	(1)
Middle-earth as a Historical World	19	(1)
Middle-earth as a World of Language	20	(1)
The Lands of Middle-earth and Beyond	21	(24)
Eriador, the Home of the Shire	22	(4)
Arnor, the Land of the King	22	(1)
Angmar, the Witch Kingdom	23	(1)
The Shire, home of the hobbits	23	(1)
The Barrow-downs	24	(1)
The village of Bree	24	(1)
Rivendell, the Last Homely House	25	(1)
Eregion, the Land of Holly	25	(1)
Khazad-dum, or the Mines of Moria	26	(1)
Rhovanion, the Wilderland	26	(2)
The Lonely Mountain and Lake Town	26	(1)
Mirkwood	27	(1)
Emyn Muil and the Argonath	27	(1)
Lothlorien, the Golden Wood of Galadriel	27	(1)
Fangorn, or Treebeard's Forest	28	(1)
The Dead Marshes	28	(1)
Isengard, the Iron Enclosure	28	(1)
Rohan, Land of the Horse-lords	29	(3)
Edoras, the royal city of Rohan	30	(1)
The Hornburg and the Glittering Caves of Helm's Deep	31	(1)
Dunharrow and the Pukel-men	31	(1)
Gondor, the Land of Stone	32	(3)
Osgiliath, Fortress of the Stars	33	(1)
Minas Tirith, the Tower of the Guard	33	(1)
Minas Ithil/Minas Morgul	33	(1)
Druadan, forest home of the Woses	34	(1)
Pelargir, the harbor of the royal ships	34	(1)
Mordor, the Land of Shadow	35	(1)
Mount Doom	35	(1)
Barad-dur, the Dark Tower	36	(1)
Cirith Ungol, the Spider's Pass	36	(1)
Aman, the Western Paradise	36	(3)
Valinor, home of the gods	38	(1)
The Elvenhome (Eldamar)	38	(1)
Taniquetil, the Mount Olympus of Aman	39	(1)
Beleriand, the Original Western Middle-earth	39	(1)
Numenor, Tolkien's Atlantis	40	(5)
Part II: The Beings of Middle-earth	45	(122)
The Divine Ainur	47	(10)
Eru and His Angelic Ainur	48	(1)
The Mighty Valar	49	(3)
The powers of the Valar	49	(1)
The Valar and the gods of mythology	50	(2)
The Valiant Maiar	52	(5)
Osse and Uinen, Maiar of Ulmo	53	(1)
Melian, Maia of Vana and Este	54	(1)
Olorin, Maia of Lorien and Nienna	54	(1)
Sauron, Maia of Aule and Melkor	55	(1)
The Valaraukar, those nasty Balrogs	55	(2)
The Fair Race of Elves	57	(16)
The Role of the Elves	57	(1)
The Great Journey to the Blessed Realm	58	(2)
The mustering of the Elves	59	(1)
The dividing of the Elves	60	(1)
The Origin of Tolkien's Elves	60	(2)
The Downfall of the Elves	62	(1)
Legendary Elves of Middle-earth	63	(10)
Feanor, the maker of the Silmarils	63	(1)
Elwe, King Thingol of Doriath	64	(3)
Elrond Half-elven	67	(1)
Galadriel, Queen of Lothlorien	67	(2)
Gil-galad, the legendary Elf	69	(1)
Legolas, Prince of the Woodland Elves	70	(3)
The Mortal Race of Men	73	(22)
Mankind's Role in Middle-earth	73	(2)
Mortality as God's gift to Men	74	(1)
The freedom of mortal Men	75	(1)
The Awakening of Men	75	(1)
The Different Tribes of Men	76	(5)
The Edain	77	(1)
The Dunedain	78	(2)
The Rohirrim	80	(1)
Great Heroes of Middle-earth	81	(14)
Beren, son of Barahir	81	(1)
Turin, son of Hurin	82	(1)
Tuor, son of Huor	83	(1)
Earendil, the Blessed Mariner	84	(2)
Elendil, Isildur, and Anarion	86	(1)
Theoden, King of Rohan	87	(1)
Eowyn, Lady of Rohan	88	(1)
Faramir, son of the Steward of Gondor	89	(1)
Aragorn, son of Arathorn, King of the Reunited Kingdom	90	(5)
The Hardy Race of Dwarves	95	(14)
The Origin of Tolkien's Dwarves	95	(2)
The Awakening of Aule's Children	97	(1)
The Role of Dwarves in Middle-earth	98	(1)
The Death and Rebirth of Dwarves	99	(1)
The Downfall of the Dwarves	100	(5)
The fashioning of the Nauglamir	100	(2)
The Dwarf-Rings and the downfall of Moria	102	(3)
Legendary Dwarves in the History of Middle-earth	105	(4)
Thorin Oakenshield, King under the Mountain	105	(2)
Gimli, Son of Gloin	107	(2)
Those Homespun Hobbits	109	(20)
Concerning the Nature of Hobbits	109	(7)
Lao-tzu's description of an ideal hobbit life	112	(1)
Hobbits and their homespun wisdom	112	(1)
A pocketful of riddles	113	(1)
Hobbit-sized heroes	114	(2)
Concerning the Origin of Hobbits	116	(1)
Concerning Hobbit Clans and Government	117	(4)
Official history and Shire Reckoning	118	(1)
The management of the Shire	119	(1)
The Shire as Tolkien's utopia	120	(1)
Legendary Hobbits of Middle-earth	121	(8)
Bilbo Baggins of the Shire	121	(1)
Frodo Baggins, the ``famousest of the hobbits''	122	(2)
Samwise Gamgee, the stouthearted	124	(1)
Peregrin (Pippin) Took	124	(1)
Meriadoc (Merry) Brandybuck	125	(1)
The roles of Merry and Pippin in The Lord of the Rings	126	(1)
Smeagol/Gollum, hero and villain	127	(2)
The Wily Wizards	129	(10)
The Wizards of Middle-earth	129	(3)
Merlin and Odin: Possible sources for Tolkien's wizards	131	(1)
The Role of Tolkien's Wizards	132	(7)
Saruman the White	133	(2)
Gandalf the Grey	135	(2)
Radagast the Brown	137	(2)
Beorn, Tom Bombadil, and Treebeard	139	(10)
Understanding Tolkien's Nature Beings	139	(1)
Beorn, the Skin Changer	140	(2)
Beorn the berserker	141	(1)
Beorn and the Wargs	141	(1)
The Role of Tom Bombadil	142	(3)
Tom Bombadil as a ``natural'' pacifist	143	(1)
Tom and Goldberry	144	(1)
Ents, Tree-herds of the Forest	145	(4)
The Ents as the children of Yavanna	146	(1)
The search for the Entwives	147	(1)
The relationship between Ents and Huorns	147	(2)
The Enemy and His Minions	149	(18)
Melkor/Morgoth, Lord of Might and Darkness	150	(3)
Melkor as Tolkien's Lucifer	151	(1)
The attempted rehabilitation of Melkor	152	(1)
Tolkien and the idea of irredeemable evil	152	(1)
The final defeat of Melkor	153	(1)
Sauron, the Enemy of Freedom in Middle-earth	153	(5)
Sauron and the forging of the Rings of Power	154	(1)
Sauron and the downfall of Numenor	155	(1)
Sauron and the Exiles of Numenor	156	(1)
The last act and Sauron's final destruction	157	(1)
The Ringwraiths, Loyal Servants of Sauron	158	(1)
The Dragons of Middle-earth	159	(1)
The Two Giant Spiders, Ungoliant and Shelob	160	(2)
Ungoliant and her taste for light	160	(1)
Shelob and her fear of light	161	(1)
Of Balrogs, Trolls, and Orcs	162	(2)
Balrogs as corrupted Maiar	162	(1)
Trolls as dumb as stones	163	(1)
Orcs as corrupted Elves	163	(1)
On Werewolves, Vampires, Wargs, Wights, and Watchers	164	(3)
Part III: The History of Middle-earth	167	(20)
The Valarian Ages	169	(8)
An Overview of the Valarian Ages	169	(1)
The Spring of Arda	170	(1)
The Days of the Bliss of Valinor	171	(2)
The Noontide of the Blessed Realm	173	(4)
The First Three Ages and Then Some	177	(10)
``Here Comes the Sun . . .''	177	(2)
Highlights of Events in the Three Ages	179	(1)
The First Age and the War of the Silmarils	179	(3)
The Second Age and the Sinking of Numenor	182	(2)
The Third Age and the War of the Ring	184	(3)
Part IV: The Languages of Middle-earth	187	(24)
Tolkien and Language	189	(10)
Tolkien as a Linguist	189	(3)
The etymological mythmaker	190	(1)
Invented language and its need for a mythology	191	(1)
Euphony in Tolkien's Languages	192	(1)
The Power of Sound	193	(2)
Singing the physical world into being	193	(2)
Singing a mythical world into being	195	(1)
The Power of Words	195	(4)
The power of spiritual words	196	(1)
Controlling others through voice	197	(2)
The Tongues of Tolkien	199	(12)
Why the Hobbits Seem to Speak English	199	(1)
Old English and the Languages of the Men of Middle-earth	200	(2)
Quenya and Sindarin: The Languages of the Elves	202	(1)
Guide to Middle-earth Pronunciation	202	(2)
Tolkien's Scripts and Letters	204	(7)
Feanor's Tengwar script	204	(4)
Tolkien's Cirth script	208	(3)
Part V: The Themes and Mythology of Middle-earth	211	(90)
The Struggle Between Good and Evil	213	(6)
The Nature of Evil	213	(1)
Good versus Evil	214	(4)
Shadows of evil	215	(1)
Tolkien and the last battle against evil	216	(2)
Frodo Lives!	218	(1)
Immortality and Death	219	(14)
Relations Between Immortals and Mortals in Middle-earth	219	(1)
The Immortality of Elves	220	(1)
Elven Death in Middle-earth	221	(4)
The death of Miriel Serinde	222	(1)
The death of Feanor	222	(1)
The death of Finrod Felagund	223	(2)
Human Death in Middle-earth	225	(4)
Exploiting Men's fear of death	226	(1)
The death of Boromir	227	(1)
The deaths of Aragorn and Arwen	228	(1)
The Hope in a Mortal Life	229	(4)
Tolkien's answer to death as a Christian	230	(1)
Bearing your own Ring of Power	231	(2)
The Heroic Quest	233	(14)
The Nature of the Heroic Quest	233	(1)
The Nature of Tolkien's Heroes	234	(1)
Aragorn as Tolkien's Classic Hero	235	(3)
Aragorn as Strider	235	(1)
Aragorn as Estel, son of Gilraen	236	(1)
Aragorn as Isildur's heir	237	(1)
Treading the Paths of the Dead	237	(1)
The return of the rightful king	238	(1)
Bilbo as the Hesitant Hero	238	(2)
Bilbo, the thief of Thorin's company	239	(1)
Bilbo and Gollum's ring	239	(1)
Frodo as the Unwitting Hero	240	(4)
Frodo's courage and internal struggle	241	(1)
Frodo's Christ-like suffering	242	(1)
Frodo as the failed hero	243	(1)
Frodo as the wounded hero	243	(1)
Sam as the Common Hero	244	(1)
Gollum as the Unintentional Hero	245	(2)
Chivalry and True Love	247	(10)
Courtly Love in the Age of Chivalry	248	(1)
Romantic Love in the Modern Age	249	(1)
Tolkien's True Love	249	(1)
The Love Story of Beren and Luthien	250	(4)
The power of love	251	(1)
Love and death	252	(2)
Beren and Luthien Reprised: The Love Story of Aragorn and Arwen	254	(3)
Fate and Free Will	257	(12)
Fate and Free Will: A Matter of Choice	257	(4)
Between what will be and what shall be	258	(1)
Fate personified	259	(1)
The power of the curse	260	(1)
The Tragic Fate of Feanor	261	(1)
The Tragedy of Turin Turambar	262	(4)
The curse of the father visited on the son	262	(1)
Will the real hero please stand up?	262	(2)
Turin: When the master becomes the thrall	264	(2)
The Power of Collective Fate	266	(3)
The fate of the Ring-bearers	266	(2)
The fate of the Elves in the Age of Men	268	(1)
Faith and Redemption	269	(8)
The Role of Faith in Tolkien's Work	269	(3)
Pity saves the world	270	(2)
The Sin of Despair	272	(2)
``Where there's life, there's hope . . .''	272	(1)
Denethor's despair	272	(2)
Acts of Redemption	274	(3)
Boromir's redemption	274	(1)
Gollum's atonement	275	(2)
Ring-related Myths	277	(10)
Ring Symbolism	277	(1)
The Powers of Tolkien's Rings	278	(4)
The Power of the Elven-Rings: Vilya, Nenya, and Narya	279	(1)
The Ring's Powers over Dwarves and Men	280	(1)
The Power of the One Ring	280	(2)
Ring-related Sagas in Norse and Germanic Mythology	282	(2)
The ring of the ``Volsung Saga''	283	(1)
Wagner's ring cycle	283	(1)
The Power of the One Ring in Modern Life	284	(3)
Ecological Themes	287	(6)
The Fouling of the Shire	287	(4)
Sharkey's curse	288	(1)
Healing the Shire	289	(2)
When the Ents Go to War	291	(2)
Sex and Gender	293	(8)
Sex in Middle-earth?	293	(3)
The dark side of desire	294	(2)
Middle-earth as a Man's Men's World	296	(1)
Gender roles in Middle-earth	297	(1)
Gender Selection among the Valar	297	(1)
Gender Role Reversal	298	(3)
Part VI: The Part of Tens	301	(18)
Top Ten Battles in the War of the Ring	303	(6)
Ents March on Isengard (March 2)	303	(1)
Battle of the Hornburg (March 3-4)	304	(1)
Assaults on Lorien (March 11, 15, 22)	304	(1)
Battle for the Ships at Pelargir (March 13)	304	(1)
Battle of Pelennor Fields (March 13-15)	305	(1)
Battle under the Trees (March 15)	305	(1)
Battle of Dale and the Siege of Erebor (March 17-27)	305	(1)
Battle of Morannon (March 25)	306	(1)
Destruction of Dol Guldur (March 28)	306	(1)
Battle of Bywater (November 3)	306	(3)
Top Ten Online Middle-earth Resources	309	(4)
Encyclopedia of Arda	309	(1)
The Lord of the Rings Maps	309	(1)
Lord of the Rings.net	310	(1)
Lord of the Rings.com	310	(1)
Tolkien Online	310	(1)
Houghton Mifflin's Official Tolkien Page	310	(1)
The Tolkien Archives	311	(1)
A Tolkien Dictionary	311	(1)
Amanye Tenceli	311	(1)
Ardalambion	312	(1)
Top Ten Ways the ``Lord of the Rings'' Books Differ from the Movies	313	(6)
The Forming of the Hobbit Company to Accompany Frodo	313	(1)
Tom Bombadil and Goldberry in the Old Forest	314	(1)
Frodo Encounters the Ringwraiths at Weathertop	314	(1)
Frodo's Flight to the Ford of Bruinen to Escape the Ringwraiths	315	(1)
The Forming of the Fellowship of the Ring at the Council of Elrond	315	(1)
The Breaking up of the Fellowship of the Ring	315	(1)
The March of the Ents Against Saruman at Isengard	316	(1)
The Battle of the Hornburg at Helm's Deep	317	(1)
Faramir Encountering the Hobbits and Gollum	317	(1)
The Stairway of Cirith Ungol	318	(1)
Index	319