yeah, europe does have heaps of mythology, but it's all specific to one country/small group of countries. what tolkien did was create something that encompasses the entire continent - he didn't just add to european mythology, he brought it all together.

you don't even have to look hard for the parellels. they're all right there, and i think that was the whole point - tolkien wanted to present middle earth as history, and being backed up by other sources in a way gives it more validity; and the prescence of ideas we're already familiar with makes middle earth feel more familiar, as though we already know it.

i strongly disagree with some of your parallels. eru is God, not eros - the only similarity between eru and eros is phonological; and the odin/sauron parallel is not exact as elements of odin are also found in saruman and gandalf (helps set saruman and gandalf up as negative doppelgangers where each represents what the other could have become)

and no, i hadn't forgotten the arthurian tales, but i'd describe them as legends rather myths.

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**MY BOOK**

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Yeah, I do agree with you Aftenstjerne. For me, reading about Middle Earth was fantastic but realizing that this world never existed and will never exist (we are not doing our best I'm afraid) is kinda sad. I'm not a very idealist person, but when I have a minute for me and I think about it, I feel like...dissappointed. You know, it's a weird sensation, because in the end you know this world was created by a human being, but this world is too close of the world I would like to live in. I studied Tolkien in my first year at Uni and I'm gonna study him now in my third year, and knowing that he wanted to create a mythology for England, made me admire him more and more. It's awesome.

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..>>are u sure that there will be a "tomorrow"?<<..



Since I met u, I knew you were special thank you for everything Fer ^^
How do you go on when in your heart you begin to understand, there's no going back?

I know the parallel of Sauron/Gandalf/Odin/Saruman... I was just listing a few ^_^

I agree with you that he brought everything together very well and I'm not knocking his idea at all, I wish it was true

I have a whole book of Tolkien's mythological sources and that's where I was reading my examples from. If you want to know what the book says about the eros/eru thing then I can type it out, I just don't have the energy right now

Yeah, true, I agree with ya Larael. People who are not into this may think we are kinda crazy or something, thinking about a world that never existed but in our hearts and in Tolkien's mind. But, the point is..it does exist, for us, it's somewhere...that's what I like to think

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..>>are u sure that there will be a "tomorrow"?<<..



Since I met u, I knew you were special thank you for everything Fer ^^
How do you go on when in your heart you begin to understand, there's no going back?

I wish it really did exist. *waves 'I believe in fairies flag* If you believe enough it will come true! XD well I can hope can't I?

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Sure you can Peredhil Lover, all of us can, there's nothing that prevent us from dreaming so...

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..>>are u sure that there will be a "tomorrow"?<<..



Since I met u, I knew you were special thank you for everything Fer ^^
How do you go on when in your heart you begin to understand, there's no going back?

Yup, he power of dreams

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Actually, it's more than the power of dreams folks. Yes, I know that we don't have furry-footed hobbits, or gruff dwarves around, but...but...but...
Guess what?
Recently I heard that Middle-Earth, besides being a term TOlkien uses, actually is an old term for the world we live in. Tonight after reading this thread I decided to do a web search. I found this:




Interesting, huh, o inhabitants of Middle-Earth?

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Starting October 13th: globe trotting from my kitchen. Follow along on Cook In Fifty-Two

i already knew about middle earth being an old term (i mentioned it with reference to "middengeard" in an earlier post) but thanks for the quotes - made a few things a little clearer. and i agree, it is fascinating.

this just shows what i love most about tolkien - his writing may appear to be fantasy at first, but the deeper you go, the more history you find.

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**MY BOOK**

~ proud to be a shieldmaiden for christ ~</center>

Thanks a lot for the interesting quotations! And yep, I think it's amazing how, from all the fantasy he seemed to create, we get reality in a way. I really like his literature for these connections he makes with reality

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..>>are u sure that there will be a "tomorrow"?<<..



Since I met u, I knew you were special thank you for everything Fer ^^
How do you go on when in your heart you begin to understand, there's no going back?

The idea that Middle-Earth actually existed once makes me really think... Ya know, it could actually be possible!!! It would be awesome if it was true, and it was a part of history...(boy, yould history class be more exciting!!!)

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When the cold of winter comes
Starless night will cover day
In the veiling of the sun
We will walk in bitter rain
But in dreams
I can still hear your name
And in dreams
We will meet again
When the seas and mountains fall
And we come to end of days
In the dark I hear a call
Calling me there
I will go there
And Back again

I d think that middle earth was his way of making a real english mythology but what about Eriol/ Aelfwine who was the marinier in The book of lost tales in the house of lost play. I think this was also part of his attempts to make an english mythology lol. Thats what I think anyway
Also th eMiddengard is a Version of th enorse word Midgard meaning th eland of the mortals in norse mythology unless IM mistaken.

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"This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields to shake the towers and counsels of the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it? Or, if they are wise, why should they expect to know it, until the hour has struck? "

Well, Middle Earth is actually a pretty common term. The Norse myths name their sort of heaven Asgard, the earth where people live Midgard, and the underworld Nifl Heim, or something. I think Middle Earth can be thought of as really in the middle: between the world of the god (or gods in the norse myths for instance) and the world of the dead.

In a way, I like to think of our world as a Middle Earth in the seventh age or so. Unfortunately, that implys no more Elves and Dwarves and the like, at least that are accessible. But then again, I also don't like to think of our world as Middle Earth...

~Iri

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E07 epee fencer!!!


by my buddy Emma Jean. Images by Jonathon Earl Bowser

Wow Ivy, thanks for those quotes and links! It's interesting that we can parallel our world to Middle-Earth in such an intimate way. I guess this shows that J.R.R. Tolkien was pretty much writing about our world just not in a very literal sense.