The World of Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien's monogram.

As I watched The Hobbit today, I was intrigued by the level of grandeur and the expansive of the plot. It was quite different from what I had read in the book by Tolkien. I started googling stuff that I thought wasn't sure was a part of the original story, like the sequence about Thorin Oakenshield & Azog is depicted, it was not in the book. I didn't think that these padding could have been invented by Peter Jackson, just to stretch the movie series into a trilogy. On further research I found the there more to the children's tale of the Hobbit than what meets the eye.

Those who have seen the The Lord of the Rings trilogy must have been impressed with imagination of the parallel world created in the movies. The adaptation of the books has been done quite intelligently in contrast to what is usually seen when movies are based on novels, they usually leave the fans begging for more. But with this particular trilogy it is like watching imagination come to life. (I experienced this in reverse though, watched the movies and then read the books.) It is still a mystery to me though, that why didn't the fantasy fiction of Tolkien get the popularity and hype that it deserved. I presume that it is just because he never wrote for the sake of writing novels. Most of his books and literature has been salvaged from his letters to friends, and his notes, by his son Christopher. The father of modern fantasy fiction only published the Hobbit and TLOTR. But in fact he had created a whole new universe. The Middle Earth.

Like any world, this world also has a tale of its creation. Eru Ilúvatar, the Father of All creates invokes the Valar, like the Hindu gods & goddesses for you and me, who create Arda, the Middle Earth. One of the Valar, Melkor is corrupted by evil thoughts and jealousy, he's named Morgoth. Several wars and battles are fought between the Valar and Melkor to bring peace to Middle Earth and make habitable for the children of Eru, namely the Elves, the Men, & later the Dwarfs. The parallel world has its own concept of sun and the moon, which are depicted as trees. When these trees are destroyed by Morgoth, the Arda is engulfed in a shadow. The last fruits of these trees are then placed on two vessel which would slowly move across the Arda's sky and were named the sun and the moon. The Eru sends Maiar to aid the Valar. Some join Melkor and are known as Balrogs, strongest of them all is Sauran. While of the other Maiar, the wisest and the most powerful would be, yes ofcourse our own Mr. Gandalf. You can spend rest your lives finding more about this world.

There are so many legendary tales in the entire history of Middle Earth, one could become a scientist I guess if they'd set out researching the universe that Tolkien created.

I couldn't imagine how he could have imagined so much out of his own mind. If it were not released as fiction by the author but instead declared to be coming from a divine source, I'm sure that it is strong enough to even have challenged the Bible. He invented so much. For very explanation that religion gives us about anything, has an alternate in Tolkien's world. Why is the Earth round? Tolkien had his answers.

I just wanted to write something in the honor of him. The treasure trove of literature that he has left behind has been a treat for me, an escape into the mythologies of Middle Earth. The tales of courage, mystery and battles. I guess I'm in love with the swords & shields. The names of characters, swords, and the lands in the entire work is I guess the best part of it.

The Middle-Earth

Links: Middle Earth, The LOTR Wikia, Middle Earth Portal