All Questions
Tagged with tolkiens-legendarium j-r-r-tolkien
36
questions
31
votes
9
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Is Tolkien prejudiced against the East?
In Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings series, there are generally two groups of Men. The good ones are coming from the West (Dúnedain, Men of the West), and the bad ones, the Easterlings, mostly fight ...
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How did J.R.R. Tolkien learn about the events of his books? (In-Universe)
So, according to Tolkien, all his Middle-earth novels take place in the real world, about 6,000 years before they were released.
So my question is, did he ever state how he learned of the history of ...
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2
answers
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Is Eru intended as a literal representation of the Christian God?
Given that ...
Tolkien is on record as saying he envisioned Middle-Earth as being a literal precusor to modern day earth "in a different stage of imagination".
As a Christian, a major theme of his ...
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13
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6
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What does JRR Tolkien say about the Elves (and other non-Human Races) and Free Will?
The Silmarillion has the following to say about Men and their specialness:
Therefore he willed that the hearts of Men should seek beyond the world and should find no rest therein; but they should ...
- 12.7k
10
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3
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3k
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Was Tolkien's "round-world version" really his definitive view of Arda?
I've heard many times that, in his final years, Tokien rejected the idea of a flat Arda, and embraced a new story in which the world was always round and the Sun and Moon existed from the beginning. ...
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214
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5
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Did Tolkien really explicitly consider Sam the true hero of The Lord of the Rings?
Quoting from Crouching Moron Hidden Badass: Literature on TVTropes (TVTropes link alert!!! Don't tell me I didn't warn you!):
Perhaps even more aptly: Samwise Gamgee. His name roughly translates to ...
- 343k
60
votes
12
answers
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Was Elrond, in Tolkien's opinion, more inherently powerful than Galadriel?
I always thought it was the other way around, but then I read this (Letter 246):
"Of the others only Gandalf might be expected to master him – being an emissary of the Powers and a creature of ...
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8
answers
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What age group did Tolkien write The Hobbit for?
Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as a story for children. However, I've never seen a specific age mentioned. Did Tolkien intend the story for young children or for teens?
What reading level should a child ...
- 3,536
23
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2
answers
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How much did Tolkien write about the connection between WWI and his work?
I know Tolkien often downplayed the influence his experiences as a messenger in World War I had on his writing, but he wasn't being entirely truthful- perhaps the memories were too horrific to think ...
- 70.1k
22
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2
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4k
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Did Tolkien ever write that Sauron killed Shagrat?
Many wiki entries, as well as many other sources about Shagrat (one of the Orc captains who captured Frodo outside Shelob's lair) say he was killed by Sauron shortly after Frodo's escape.
In the ...
- 70.1k
19
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2
answers
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Does a transcription of Tolkien's handwriting in this image exist?
In his answer to another question I asked here, Jason Baker included the following image, taken from a page of Tolkien's "Synoptic Time Scheme for The Lord of the Rings". We had some difficulty ...
- 70.1k
17
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2
answers
13k
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What do Orcs and Trolls actually look like, or rather how did Tolkien imagine them?
Bear with me, while the question seems sort of ridiculous because the movie of Jackson and fantasy-role playing games presented them in detail, in fact the original Tolkien does not describe their ...
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12
votes
2
answers
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What did Tolkien write regarding Elvish succession?
I was answering this question, which made me curious about the succession rules for the High Kingship of the Noldor.
Based on my analysis, it seems as though succession works on a variation of Salic ...
- 164k
71
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6
answers
12k
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Did Tolkien create any characters based on people he knew?
Tolkien had a lot of influence from religion, mythology and geography as mentioned here to create what seems like an entire literary universe. It's also not uncommon for authors to be influenced by ...
- 11.3k
52
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6
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Did JRR Tolkien ever write any music for the many songs in The Lord of the Rings?
Due to the number of songs in The Lord of the Rings, I have recently been wondering if Tolkien had any musical training and if any "official" music was written (by him or anyone else on his behalf) to ...
- 14.4k
46
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3
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12k
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Which of his races did Tolkien draw?
This question isn't as broad as it might appear at first glance. I've seen drawings of dragons, Dwarves, Trolls, and Hobbits by Tolkien, and I'm primarily interested in only a few other races. He ...
- 70.1k
26
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1
answer
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Where did J.R.R. Tolkien state that Arwen suggested that Frodo be allowed to sail West?
In The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien by Humphrey Carpenter (assisted by Christopher Tolkien), footnote 94 states:
What is meant is that it was Arwen who first thought of sending Frodo into the West, ...
user56
20
votes
1
answer
21k
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What does Tolkien say about Ancalagon's physical appearance, especially his size?
Questions like this one dealing with Ancalagon in particular, and Middle-earth's dragons in general, clearly show that Ancalagon was ridiculously, absurdly, unimaginably enormous.
The non-canonical ...
- 70.1k
6
votes
1
answer
773
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Did Tolkien deliberately place the Battle of the Pelennor Fields on the Ides of March?
I just realized that the Battle of the Pelennor Fields (aka the Battle of Minas Tirith) occurs on March 15th, or the infamous "Ides of March". The Ides of March was originally nothing more than a day ...
- 70.1k
58
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3
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28k
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Is "Lord of the Rings" a trilogy of books in Tolkien's opinion?
Is "Lord of the Rings" a trilogy of books?
It was published as 3 separate books, but can it be called a trilogy? Was it intended to be a trilogy by Tolkien himself?
The question arose in comment ...
- 343k
51
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2
answers
5k
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Did Tolkien think about language evolution when the speakers are immortal?
Tolkien, being a linguist, designed his fictional languages rather carefully. Quenya and Sindarin were closely related, having both descended from the primordial speech of the elves. Tolkien, of ...
- 98.6k
44
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1
answer
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Did Tolkien ever state that The Hobbit was a children's book? [duplicate]
Many people just assume that simply because The Hobbit is a lighter story than LOTR and the Silmarillion, it's a children's story, but I don't believe Tolkien himself ever said it was made for ...
- 10.8k
36
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2
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How much of the Middle Earth universe had Tolkien invented when he wrote The Hobbit?
This question was inspired by a comment from Darth Satan.
The Hobbit is a very different sort of work from Lord of the Rings: written in a style more like a children's book and less like an epic saga....
- 135k
30
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2
answers
6k
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Does a transcription of Tolkien's handwriting in this image exist? (Part 2)
Following on the success we had transcribing the text in the image on this question, I am hoping that lightning will strike twice. This image contains far more text, and is even less legible. It ...
- 70.1k
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6
answers
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Can any new information be canon if J.R.R. Tolkien is dead?
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the stories of the Middle-Earth and he has passed away, so can any new information be added to these stories without his approval?
- 6,063
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5
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Did Tolkien originally intend to write a very different Lord of the Rings?
Lord of the Rings is a big story with a dramatic buildup. At first it seems like the quest would unfold in a The Hobbit-like manner, with an eclectic band on a journey of adventure, but the story gets ...
- 5,151
11
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1
answer
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What is Tolkien trying to say in this letter?
In a draft of a letter, later recorded as #246, Tolkien makes a strange statement. I am interested in the first few sentences of the letter, but I will include the remainder for the sake of context.
...
- 70.1k
9
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1
answer
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Is there evidence that Tolkien intended to introduce racism/specism into Middle Earth?
As the answers come in at Was there racism in Middle-earth?? It's looking like there was racism/specism in middle earth.
Does Tolkien mention an intent to bring racism to Middle Earth? For example, ...
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8
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3
answers
3k
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Are there any specific examples in Lord of the Rings that are influenced by WWII?
I know that Tolkien is greatly influenced by folklore of many cultures and WWI directly. However, I wonder if there are any specific examples that show influence from WWII?
The best conjecture so far ...
user65648
7
votes
1
answer
968
views
Where has Tolkien's Second Age material been published?
A new Tolkien collection, The Fall of Númenor, is due to be published in a few months. It will contain all of the second age material. I believe this will all be reprints. Aside from The Silmarillion ...
- 451
6
votes
1
answer
937
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Did Tolkien ever discuss why rings were chosen? [duplicate]
With years of reading the books and watching movies, especially with the success of the Peter Jackson movies, the fact the main magical items of The Lord of the Rings are the rings seems ...
- 14.5k
6
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3
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4k
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Is there a longer audio clip than this where Tolkien discusses the Eagles?
I was linked to this today:
At first, I assumed that it was faked/cut together, but now I think it's real, and that he really did say this while alive. I never knew ...
- 133
6
votes
1
answer
589
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Does Tolkien ever speak of himself still living in Middle-Earth? [duplicate]
It has been noted in other questions and answers on this site that Tolkien's conception of Middle-Earth has an imaginative relation to Earth history. Some salient sections of Tolkien quotes from ...
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3
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5k
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What meaning(s) or message(s), if any, was Tolkien trying to convey with his books?
What overall meaning or message, if any, was Tolkien trying to convey with each of his books (The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, LOTR)?
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4
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0
answers
119
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How clear is it that Tolkien chose the 25th of March for the downfall of Sauron because of its Christian significance? [duplicate]
The downfall of Sauron and the end of the War of the Ring occurred on the 25th of March in the year 3019 of the Third Age. Many scholars and critics have speculated that Tolkien chose this date ...
- 135k
3
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4
answers
2k
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How did Tolkien's personal opinion concerning evolution affect his work?
In Tolkien's universe there are examples of evolution (e.g. hobbits originate from humans) as well as creation (e.g. dwarves made by Aulë).
What do we know about Tolkien's personal opinion concerning ...
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