All Questions
Tagged with tolkiens-legendarium j-r-r-tolkien
36
questions
31
votes
9
answers
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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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84
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4
answers
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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 ...
- 67k
10
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2
answers
3k
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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 ...
- 5,717
13
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6
answers
3k
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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. ...
- 149
214
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5
answers
252k
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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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50
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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
votes
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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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
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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 ...
- 4,636
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