Open a map of Beleriand beside a map from The Lord of the Rings and a tempting question appears almost immediately: where, exactly, would Gondolin, Doriath, Nargothrond, or Angband fall on the later map? It seems as though there should be a neat answer. The Blue Mountains appear in both geographical traditions. Beleriand lay west … Read more
When Númenor fell, nine ships escaped the ruin. They carried Elendil, his sons Isildur and Anárion, their families and followers, the Seven Seeing-stones, precious heirlooms, stores of goods, and one living scion of the White Tree. It is tempting to picture those vessels as a carefully designed survival fleet in which every treasure, crop seed, … Read more
Samwise Gamgee’s last journey begins with something wonderfully ordinary: a hobbit leaving Bag End. There is no recorded company of Elves waiting outside his door, no final council, and no description of a white ship prepared for him. In Shire Reckoning 1482, sixty-one years into the Fourth Age, the record becomes strikingly spare. Rose dies … Read more
When the Riders of Rohan finally thunder toward Minas Tirith in the War of the Ring, their coming can look like a single heroic decision: Gondor calls, and Théoden rides. But the roots of that ride lie more than five centuries earlier. In the year 2510 of the Third Age, Gondor was nearly overwhelmed in … Read more
At the end of the Fellowship’s long story, one image seems almost too perfect: Legolas builds a grey ship in Ithilien, sails down the Anduin, and takes Gimli with him across the Sea. The Elf and the Dwarf who began their journey divided by ancient suspicion leave Middle-earth together. Yet the Appendices of The Lord … Read more
When the One Ring falls into the fire, it is tempting to imagine Middle-earth resetting itself. Sauron is overthrown. Barad-dûr collapses. Aragorn becomes king. The White Tree flowers again. The great enemy who shaped so much of the Third Age is gone. Yet the ending of The Lord of the Rings is striking precisely because … Read more
When Bilbo Baggins entered the trolls’ cave, he was looking at something much stranger than a pile of stolen treasure. The cave contained food, clothing, gold, weapons, and the accumulated possessions of victims unfortunate enough to fall into the hands of William, Bert, and Tom. Yet among that ordinary plunder were objects that did not … Read more
The Isle of Balar had always been there. Far out in the great bay south of Beleriand, beyond the mouths of Sirion, it lay separated from the wars and kingdoms of the mainland. The mariners of Círdan knew its waters. Pearls were gathered in the shallows around it. According to Elvish tradition, the island itself … Read more
Morgoth’s Final Defeat: What Really Happened When Angband Fell? For most of the First Age, Morgoth seemed almost impossible to overthrow. From beneath the volcanic towers of Thangorodrim, he commanded Angband, unleashed Orcs, Balrogs and dragons, shattered kingdoms, and gradually destroyed nearly every major stronghold that resisted him. By the closing years of the Age, … Read more
When Frodo prepares to leave Rivendell after the War of the Ring, the elderly Bilbo gives him an unexpectedly heavy inheritance: three books bound in red leather. They are not treasure in the usual Middle-earth sense. They contain no spell that can defeat an enemy, no secret road to a hidden kingdom, and no weapon … Read more