Middle-earth: Difference between revisions

|type = Central continent of [[fantasy world]]; also used as [[Metonym|a short-hand]] for the whole [[legendarium]]

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Middle-earth is the main continent of [[Arda (Middle-earth)|Earth (Arda)]] in an imaginary period of the Earth's past, ending with Tolkien's [[Third Age]], about 6,000 years ago.<ref name="letter211" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#211 to Rhona Beare, 14 October 1958, last footnote }}</ref> Tolkien's tales of Middle-earth mostly focus on the north-west of the continent. This part of Middle-earth is suggestive of Europe, the north-west of the [[Old World]], with the environs of [[Shire (Middle-earth)|the Shire]] [[England in Middle-earth|reminiscent of England]], but, more specifically, the [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]], with the town at its centre, [[Hobbiton]], at the same latitude as [[Oxford]].

{{see|Tolkien's legendarium}}

 

 

Tolkien's stories chronicle the struggle to control the world (called [[Arda (Middle-earth)|Arda]]) and the continent of Middle-earth between, on one side, the angelic [[Vala (Middle-earth)|Valar]], the [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]] and their allies among [[Man (Middle-earth)|Men]]; and, on the other, the demonic [[Melkor]] or ''Morgoth'' (a Vala fallen into evil), his followers, and their subjects, mostly [[Orc (Middle-earth)|Orcs]], [[Dragon (Middle-earth)|Dragons]] and enslaved Men.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, Ch. 3 "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"</ref> In later ages, after Morgoth's defeat and expulsion from Arda, his place is taken by his lieutenant [[Sauron]], a [[Maiar|Maia]].<ref name="Of the Rings of Power" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"</ref>

 

The Valar withdrew from direct involvement in the affairs of Middle-earth after the defeat of Morgoth, but in later years they sent the wizards or [[Istari]] to help in the struggle against Sauron. The most important wizards were [[Gandalf|Gandalf the Grey]] and [[Saruman |Saruman the White]]. Gandalf remained true to his mission and proved crucial in the fight against Sauron. Saruman, however, became corrupted and sought to establish himself as a rival to Sauron for absolute power in Middle-earth. Other races involved in the struggle against evil were [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|Dwarves]], [[Ent]]s and most famously [[Hobbit]]s. The early stages of the conflict are chronicled in ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', while the final stages of the struggle to defeat Sauron are told in ''[[The Hobbit]]'' and in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.<ref name="Of the Rings of Power" group=T/>

 

Conflict over the possession and control of precious or magical objects is a recurring theme in the stories. The [[First Age]] is dominated by the doomed quest of the elf [[Fëanor]] and most of his [[Noldor]]in clan to recover three precious jewels called the [[Silmaril]]s that Morgoth stole from them (hence the title ''The Silmarillion''). The [[Second Age|Second]] and [[Third Age]] are dominated by the forging of the [[Rings of Power]], and the fate of the [[One Ring]] forged by Sauron, which gives its wearer the power to control or influence those wearing the other Rings of Power.<ref name="Of the Rings of Power" group=T/>

 

== Etymology ==

 

 

In ancient [[Germanic mythology]], the world of Men is known by several names. The [[Old English language|Old English]] ''middangeard'' descends from an earlier [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] word and so has [[cognate]]s such as the [[Old Norse language|Old Norse]] ''Miðgarðr'' from [[Norse mythology]], transliterated to modern English as ''[[Midgard]]''. The original meaning of the second element, from proto-Germanic ''gardaz'', was "enclosure", cognate with English "yard"; ''middangeard'' was assimilated by folk etymology to "middle earth".<ref name="Letter 165" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#165 to the Houghton Mifflin Co., 30 June 1955 }}</ref><ref name="etymonline">{{cite web |last=Harper |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Harper |title=Midgard |work=Online Etymological Dictionary; etymonline.com |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Midgard |access-date=12 March 2010}}</ref> Middle-earth was at the centre of nine worlds in Norse mythology, and of three worlds (with [[heaven]] above, [[hell]] below) in the later [[Christian cosmology|Christian version]].<ref name="Khoddam Fisher 2012">{{cite book |last=Christopher |first=Joe R. |chapter=The Journeys To and From Purgatory Island: A Dantean Allusion at the End of C. S. Lewis's 'The Nameless Isle' |editor-last1=Khoddam |editor-first1=Salwa|editor-last2=Hall |editor-first2=Mark R. |editor-last3=Fisher |editor-first3=Jason |editor-link3=Jason Fisher |title=C. S. Lewis and the Inklings: Discovering Hidden Truth |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QbAwBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA197 |year=2012 |publisher=[[Cambridge Scholars Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4438-4431-4 |page=206}}</ref>

=== Use by Tolkien ===

 

 

 

This is from the ''[[Christ I|Crist]]'' poems by [[Cynewulf]]. The name ''Éarendel'' was the inspiration for Tolkien's mariner [[Eärendil]],<ref name="Letter 297" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#297 draft for a letter to a 'Mr Rang', August 1967 }}</ref> who set sail from the lands of Middle-earth to ask for aid from the angelic powers, the [[Vala (Middle-earth)|Valar]]. Tolkien's earliest poem about Eärendil, from 1914, the same year he read the ''Crist'' poems, refers to "the mid-world's rim".<ref name="RingofWords164">{{cite book |last1=Gilliver |first1=Peter |author-link=Peter Gilliver |last2=Marshall |first2=Jeremy |last3=Weiner |first3=Edmund |title=The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary |edition=1st |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-861069-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/ringofwordstolki00gill |page=164}}</ref> Tolkien considered ''middangeard'' to be "the abiding place of men",<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#151 to Hugh Brogan, 18 September 1954; #183, Notes on [[W. H. Auden]]'s review of ''The Return of the King'', 1956; and #283 to Benjamin P. Indick, 7 January 1966 }}</ref> the physical world in which Man lives out his life and destiny<!--(T. states this is the same as ancient Greek οἰκουμένη "oikouménê")-->, as opposed to the unseen worlds above and below it, namely [[Heaven]] and [[Hell]]. He states that it is "my own mother-earth for ''place''", but in an imaginary past time, not some other planet.<ref name="Tolkien" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#211 to Rhona Beare, 14 October 1958 }}</ref> He began to use the term "Middle-earth" in the late 1930s, in place of the earlier terms "Great Lands", "Outer Lands", and "Hither Lands".<ref name="RingofWords164"/> The first published appearance of the word "Middle-earth" in Tolkien's works is in the prologue to ''The Lord of the Rings'': "Hobbits had, in fact, lived quietly in Middle-earth for many long years before other folk even became aware of them".<ref name="LOTR2" group=T/>

=== Extended usage ===

 

 

The term Middle-earth has come to be applied as a short-hand for the entirety of Tolkien's legendarium, instead of the technically more appropriate, but lesser known terms "Arda" for the physical world and "[[Eä]]" for the physical reality of creation as a whole. In careful geographical terms, Middle-earth is a continent on Arda, excluding regions such as Aman and the isle of Númenor. The alternative wider use is reflected in book titles such as ''[[The Complete Guide to Middle-earth]]'', ''[[The Road to Middle-earth]]'', ''[[The Atlas of Middle-earth]]'', and [[Christopher Tolkien]]'s 12-volume series ''[[The History of Middle-earth]]''.<ref name="Bratman 2013">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Bratman |first=David |author-link=David Bratman |title=History of Middle-earth: Overview |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |encyclopedia=[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |pages=273–274 }}</ref><ref name="Harvey 2011">{{cite book |last=Harvey |first=Greg |title=The Origins of Tolkien's Middle-earth For Dummies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MocR5l-N8xIC&pg=PT15 |year=2011 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-1-118-06898-4 |at=Chapter 1: The Worlds of Middle-earth}}</ref>

{{main|Geography of Middle-earth}}

 

 

=== Maps ===

 

 

{{main|Tolkien's maps}}

{{main|History of Arda}}

 

 

The history of Middle-earth, as described in ''The Silmarillion'', began when the [[Ainu (Middle-earth)|Ainur]] entered Arda, following the creation events in the [[Ainulindalë]] and long ages of labour throughout [[Eä]], the [[fictional universe]].<ref name="Ainulindalë" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, "Ainulindalë"</ref> Time from that point was measured using [[Valian Years]], though the subsequent history of Arda was divided into three time periods using different years, known as the [[#Years of the Lamps|Years of the Lamps]], the [[#Years of the Trees|Years of the Trees]] and the [[#Years_of_the_Sun|Years of the Sun]].<ref name="Beginning" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 1 "Of the Beginning of Days"</ref> A separate, overlapping chronology divides the history into 'Ages of the Children of Ilúvatar'. The first such Age began with the Awakening of the Elves during the Years of the Trees (by which time the Ainur had already long inhabited Arda) and continued for the first six centuries of the Years of the Sun. All the subsequent Ages took place during the Years of the Sun.<ref name="Coming of the Elves" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 3 "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"</ref>