Middle-earth is a term used by JRR Tolkien to describe the lands of men in his books, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. It is not a separate planet but simply the lands where humans inhabit. The immortal lands, or the lands from which elves come, and to which they return when they choose to leave Middle-earth are called Aman. Numerous fantastic creatures inhabit Tolkien’s land, including dragons, orcs, goblins, and trolls. Elves were dominant during the Second Age, but many have left or are leaving Middle-earth for good by the Third Age, the age of Men.
Middle-earth (middle-earth, Middle-earth or Middle-earth) is the term used by the author JRR Tolkien to describe the lands of men, sometimes called the “mortal lands” in the books The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. The term should not be used or thought of as a separate planet and does not include the entire planet but simply the lands where humans inhabit. Tolkien uses the term Arda to describe the whole Earth, and Middle-earth has some well-known exclusions. The immortal lands, or the lands from which elves come, and to which they return when they choose to leave Middle-earth are called Aman. Few mortals are allowed to enter Aman, until Bilbo Baggins and his nephew Frodo, as former ring bearers of the enemy, are allowed to journey with the elves to Aman and immortality at the end of The Lord of the Rings.
Middle-earth as a name is not Tolkien’s invention. He encountered the term in the Anglo-Saxon writings of Cynewulf, and the word is also used in the Anglo-Saxon work Beowulf. The Anglo-Saxon term is middangeard. In Middle English the word becomes midden-erde or middel-erde. The first word middangeard more accurately translates to central enclosure. However, most historians of languages translate the term into Middle-earth, and Tolkien as a linguistics specialist, did the same. Furthermore, the land that Tolkien creates is essentially enclosed by other lands such as Aman.
Tolkien was attempting to create a mythology for England in his books, and it’s very clear that the world of Middle-earth is one that existed on this Earth some 6,000 years ago. Some of the geography, especially the Shire, is also associated with England. Tolkien separates this ancient world into eras, with most of his most popular work Hobbit and the Rings occurring during the Third Age. The Silmarillion takes place mainly during the First Age and the indices of the Rings allude to some of the rulers and kingdoms of the Second Age.
Numerous fantastic creatures inhabit Tolkien’s land. The elves, though long established there, are just visitors. When they tire of the mortal world, they leave for Aman. Dwarves, men and hobbits are described as having “arrived” in the land, suggesting the “middle enclosure” which is surrounded by other lands. The Elves were the first to arrive and begin the First Age, creating people like the Ents, tree-like giants who graze trees, whom the Elves “taught to speak.”
Dragons exist in Middle-earth, as do other fearsome beasts such as orcs, goblins, and trolls, which were created from the enemies of the elves. Tolkien suggests that these were created as bad imitations of elves, dwarves and Ents. Other intelligent creatures include eagles, giant spiders, and werewolves, wolf-like creatures who often battle goblins.
The distribution of population in Tolkien’s land has changed from age to age. In the Third Age, the elves held three kingdoms, protected in part by elven rings. These are Lothlorien, Rivendell, and the Wood Elf kingdom in Mirkwood. Hobbits live mainly in the Shire and also in Breeland. In the village of Bree, hobbits and men live together, which Tolkien calls an “excellent arrangement”. The inhabitants of the Shire are much less accustomed to visitors from outside, with the exception of the occasional wizard or dwarf.
The dwarves, after The Hobbit, live in several mountainous regions, including the Lonely Mountain, which they have claimed from Smaug the dragon. Men occupy many different posts in the country. The two greatest kingdoms of men who oppose the evil wizard Sauron are Rohan and Gondor. There is also a reference to Harad, a far eastern country that was ruled by Sauron, and fights against Rohan and Gondor in the last battle against Sauron.
There is a certain sadness in Tolkien’s land, particularly as depicted in Rings. Elves were dominant during the Second Age, but many have left or are leaving Middle-earth for good by the Third Age, the age of Men. Wizards are also leaving, and in a sense, the world of men is beginning as the wondrous magic of elves, wizards, and creatures like Ents is beginning to leave forever. Middle-earth was tainted by the presence of the enemy, Sauron, and even after his defeat, the power of the elves was forever diminished. Few remain to keep alive the wonder of previous eras and the world tends to the more traditional one of men only. However Tolkien insinuates that hobbits still exist, even if the great ones are usually too stupid to see them, or too loud to frighten them.
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