80-711: Húrin is a fictional character in the Middle-earth legendarium of J. R. R. Tolkien . He is introduced in The Silmarillion as a hero of Men during the First Age , said to be the greatest warrior of both the Edain (Men of Númenor and their descendants) and all Men in Middle-earth. His actions, however, bring catastrophe and ruin to his family and to the people of Beleriand . Scholars have remarked
160-465: A Catholic , realised he had created a dilemma for himself , as if these beings were sentient and had a sense of right and wrong, then they must have souls and could not have been created wholly evil. Dragons (or "worms") appear in several varieties, distinguished by whether they have wings and whether they breathe fire (cold-drakes versus fire-drakes). The first of the fire-drakes ( Urulóki in Quenya)
240-638: A classical influence on Tolkien . He describes the sad tale of Húrin as " Aristotelian Epic-Tragedy ", as defined in the Poetics in terms of Aristotelian elements such as "plot, ... spectacle, language, character, ... reversal, and catharsis". The attorney Douglas Kane, writing in Tolkien Studies , discusses Húrin's trial as described in The Wanderings of Húrin , published in The War of
320-701: A tightrope unaided. Their eyesight is keen. Elves are immortal, unless killed in battle. They are re-embodied in Valinor if killed. Men were "the Secondborn" of the Children of Ilúvatar: they awoke in Middle-earth much later than the Elves. Men (and Hobbits) were the last humanoid race to appear in Middle-earth: Dwarves, Ents and Orcs also preceded them. The capitalized term "Man" (plural "Men")
400-793: A catastrophic transition from a flat to a spherical world, known as the Akallabeth, in which Aman became inaccessible to mortal Men. Tolkien described the region in which the Hobbits lived as "the North-West of the Old World, east of the Sea", and the north-west of the Old World is essentially Europe , especially Britain . However, as he noted in private letters, the geographies do not match, and he did not consciously make them match when he
480-467: A high mountain peak in chains, and lets him see and hear from the seat the evils that will befall his son and daughter , but not the good they will do. Húrin is embittered to learn that his children, both under a dragon-spell, marry each other, conceive a child, and commit suicide . After twenty-eight years of imprisonment and the death of his children, Morgoth releases Húrin: "He had grown grim to look upon: his hair and beard were white and long, but there
560-527: A life of disaster, in which Freeh sees the hand of fate, which threatens to overwhelm Túrin's free will. Shippey comments that Morgoth is one of the Valar , whose power in the world appears as luck, or chance, or fate . Terrible things in the Narn seem to be coincidences; but, writes Shippey, Tolkien often gives double explanations of these events, one fate, one just accident. Middle-earth Middle-earth
640-476: A little glorified by enchantment of distance in time. ...if it were 'history', it would be difficult to fit the lands and events (or 'cultures') into such evidence as we possess, archaeological or geological, concerning the nearer or remoter part of what is now called Europe; though the Shire , for instance, is expressly stated to have been in this region...I hope the, evidently long but undefined gap in time between
720-583: A rival to Sauron for absolute power in Middle-earth. Other races involved in the struggle against evil were Dwarves , Ents and most famously Hobbits . The early stages of the conflict are chronicled in The Silmarillion , while the final stages of the struggle to defeat Sauron are told in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings . Conflict over the possession and control of precious or magical objects
800-534: A son, Túrin , and a daughter, Nienor . Húrin rides his horse Arroch, 'Noble horse', to battle alongside his brother. In the midst of battle he meets Turgon again. Losing the battle, Húrin and Huor take a stand, allowing Turgon to escape. Huor is killed, but Húrin fights until he is buried under a mountain of Orcs and Trolls . Gothmog Lord of Balrogs brings him to Morgoth's fortress, Angband . Morgoth tries to force Húrin to reveal where Gondolin is. When Húrin refuses, Morgoth curses him along with his kin and puts him on
880-577: Is a recurring theme in the stories. The First Age is dominated by the doomed quest of the elf Fëanor and most of his Noldorin clan to recover three precious jewels called the Silmarils that Morgoth stole from them (hence the title The Silmarillion ). The Second and Third Age are dominated by the forging of the Rings of Power , and the fate of the One Ring forged by Sauron, which gives its wearer
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#1732776329279960-533: Is called Khuzdul , and was kept largely as a secret language for their own use. Like Hobbits, Dwarves live exclusively in Middle-earth. They generally reside under mountains, where they are specialists in mining and metalwork. Tolkien identified Hobbits as an offshoot of the race of Men. Another name for Hobbit is 'Halfling', as they were generally only half the size of Men. In their lifestyle and habits they closely resemble Men, and in particular Englishmen, except for their preference for living in holes underground. By
1040-463: Is one of the first stories of Tolkien's legendarium . Tolkien began writing the story that would become The Fall of Gondolin in 1917 in an army barracks on the back of a sheet of military marching music . It is one of the first stories of his Middle-earth legendarium that he wrote down on paper, after his 1914 tale, inspired by the Old English manuscript Crist 1 , "The Voyage of Earendel,
1120-579: Is taken by his lieutenant Sauron , a Maia . The Valar withdrew from direct involvement in the affairs of Middle-earth after the defeat of Morgoth, but in later years they sent the wizards or Istari to help in the struggle against Sauron. The most important wizards were Gandalf the Grey and Saruman the White . Gandalf remained true to his mission and proved crucial in the fight against Sauron. Saruman, however, became corrupted and sought to establish himself as
1200-580: Is the setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien 's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the Miðgarðr of Norse mythology and Middangeard in Old English works, including Beowulf . Middle-earth is the oecumene (i.e. the human-inhabited world, or the central continent of Earth ) in Tolkien's imagined mythological past . Tolkien's most widely read works, The Hobbit and The Lord of
1280-749: Is the elder son of Galdor of the House of Hador and Hareth of the Men of Haladin, who are Edain ; his younger brother is Huor. They live with their uncle Haldir in Dor-lómin in Beleriand , and join a war party against the Orcs . The brothers are cut off from their company and chased by Orcs in the Vale of Sirion. The Vala Ulmo, Lord of Waters, causes a mist to arise from the river, and they escape. Two Eagles bring them to
1360-476: Is the known world, "recalling the Norse Midgard and the equivalent words in early English", noting that Tolkien made it clear that this was " our world ... in a purely imaginary ... period of antiquity". Tolkien explained in a letter to his publisher that it "is just a use of Middle English middle-erde (or erthe ), altered from Old English Middangeard : the name for the inhabited lands of men 'between
1440-543: Is used as a gender-neutral racial description, to distinguish humans from the other human-like races of Middle-earth. In appearance they are much like Elves, but on average less beautiful. Unlike Elves, Men are mortal, ageing and dying quickly, usually living 40–80 years. However the Númenóreans could live several centuries, and their descendants the Dúnedain also tended to live longer than regular humans. This tendency
1520-593: The Grey Annals , the main sources for much of the published Silmarillion , both stop before the beginning of the Tuor story. A partial later version of The Fall of Gondolin was published in the 1980 book Unfinished Tales under the title "Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin". Originally titled "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin," this narrative shows a great expansion of the earlier tale. Christopher Tolkien retitled
1600-742: The Ainur entered Arda, following the creation events in the Ainulindalë and long ages of labour throughout Eä , the fictional universe . Time from that point was measured using Valian Years , though the subsequent history of Arda was divided into three time periods using different years, known as the Years of the Lamps , the Years of the Trees and the Years of the Sun . A separate, overlapping chronology divides
1680-710: The Black Speech (Burzum) for his slaves (such as Orcs ) to speak. In the Third Age , five of the Maiar were embodied and sent to Middle-earth to help the free peoples to overthrow Sauron. These are the Istari or Wizards , including Gandalf , Saruman , and Radagast . The Elves are known as "the Firstborn" of Ilúvatar: intelligent beings created by Ilúvatar alone, with many different clans . Originally Elves all spoke
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#17327763292791760-746: The Ainur entered Eä, and the greatest of these were called the Valar . Melkor , the chief agent of evil in Eä, and later called Morgoth , was initially one of the Valar. With the Valar came lesser spirits of the Ainur, called the Maiar . Melian, the wife of the Elven King Thingol in the First Age , was a Maia. There were also evil Maiar, including the Balrogs and the second Dark Lord, Sauron . Sauron devised
1840-654: The Chieftain." The Tolkien scholar Helen Lasseter Freeh notes that the longer version of the tale of Túrin Turambar in Unfinished Tales (the Narn ) contains a dialogue between Morgoth and Húrin about fate and providence. Despite his imprisonment, Húrin insists that Morgoth cannot control everything. While Morgoth does not directly contradict this, he says he will spread a "cloud of Doom" on everyone Húrin loves, and "wherever they go, evil shall arise". Túrin lives
1920-619: The Crebain, evil crows who become spies for Saruman , and the Ravens of Erebor , who brought news to the Dwarves. The horse-line of the Mearas of Rohan, especially Gandalf's mount, Shadowfax, also appear to be intelligent and understand human speech. The bear-man Beorn had a number of animal friends about his house. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings , both set in Middle-earth, have been
2000-671: The Evening Star". While the first half of the story "appears to echo Tolkien's creative development and slow acceptance of duty in the first year of the war," the second half echoes his personal experience of battle . The story was read aloud by Tolkien to the Exeter College Essay Club in the spring of 1920. Tolkien was constantly revising his First Age stories; however, the narrative he wrote in 1917, published posthumously in The Book of Lost Tales , remains
2080-433: The Fall of Barad-dûr and our Days is sufficient for 'literary credibility', even for readers acquainted with what is known as 'pre-history'. I have, I suppose, constructed an imaginary time, but kept my feet on my own mother-earth for place. I prefer that to the contemporary mode of seeking remote globes in 'space'. In another letter, Tolkien made correspondences in latitude between Europe and Middle-earth: The action of
2160-509: The Jewels . He assaults Hardang with a stool; he is drugged and put on trial; Manthor advises him. Húrin "falsely charges" the people of Brethil with failing to help Morwen. Kane calls the tale "some of Tolkien's most incisive political commentary", citing "Húrin's cold comfort to Manthor on his deathbed": telling Manthor that his friendship "was rooted in self-interest", as he hoped to "use his defense of Húrin to further his own ambition to become
2240-637: The Mountains of Shadow, standing for the coming catastrophe, but "the real sunset is in Húrin's heart". The dynamism is revealed, Shippey writes, by asking who is at fault on this occasion: is it Húrin, for despair, or Turgon, for being suspicious? Shippey comments that to answer fully would be to retell "the whole unhappy story of Middle-earth." He explains that the matter hinges on "a conflict of kinship"; Húrin remembers from many years earlier how he suffered to help Turgon; but though Turgon knows Húrin's situation,
2320-405: The Rings , are set entirely in Middle-earth. "Middle-earth" has also become a short-hand term for Tolkien's legendarium , his large body of fantasy writings, and for the entirety of his fictional world. Middle-earth is the main continent of Earth (Arda) in an imaginary period of the past, ending with Tolkien's Third Age , about 6,000 years ago. Tolkien's tales of Middle-earth mostly focus on
2400-571: The Rings , Tolkien writes: "Those days, the Third Age of Middle-earth, are now long past, and the shape of all lands has been changed..." The Appendices make several references in both history and etymology of topics "now" (in modern English languages) and "then" (ancient languages); The year no doubt was of the same length,¹ [ the footnote here reads : 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds.] for long ago as those times are now reckoned in years and lives of men, they were not very remote according to
2480-1127: The Rings: The Return of the King received 11 Academy Award nominations and won all of them, matching the totals awarded to Ben-Hur and Titanic . Two well-made fan films of Middle-earth, The Hunt for Gollum and Born of Hope , were uploaded to YouTube on 8 May 2009 and 11 December 2009 respectively. Numerous computer and video games have been inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien 's works set in Middle-earth. Titles have been produced by studios such as Electronic Arts , Vivendi Games , Melbourne House , and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment . Aside from officially licensed games, many Tolkien-inspired mods , custom maps and total conversions have been made for many games, such as Warcraft III , Minecraft , Rome: Total War , Medieval II: Total War , The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim . In addition, there are many text-based MMORPGs (known as MU*s ) based on Middle-earth. The oldest of these dates back to 1991, and
Húrin - Misplaced Pages Continue
2560-592: The ability to give conscious life to things. The precise origins of Orcs and Trolls are unclear, as Tolkien considered various possibilities and sometimes changed his mind, leaving several inconsistent accounts. Late in the Third Age, the Uruks or Uruk-hai appeared: a race of Orcs of great size and strength that tolerate sunlight better than ordinary Orcs. Tolkien also mentions "Men-orcs" and "Orc-men"; or "half-orcs" or "goblin-men". They share some characteristics with Orcs (like "slanty eyes") but look more like men. Tolkien,
2640-688: The book collects material already published, "it still succeeds in rounding out that task", for instance by putting the "Sketch of the Mythology" in the prologue. He wonders, though, why the editor included part of the poem "The Flight of the Noldoli from Valinor" (already in The Lays of Beleriand ), but omits the poem fragment "The Lay of the Fall of Gondolin" which is far more obviously relevant. Kane admires Alan Lee's illustrations, both in colour and in black and white, as providing "a perfect complement" to
2720-473: The book for the benefit of readers, despite the expense involved. The definitive and iconic map of Middle-earth was published in The Lord of the Rings . It was refined with Tolkien's approval by the illustrator Pauline Baynes , using Tolkien's detailed annotations, with vignette images and larger paintings at top and bottom, into a stand-alone poster, " A Map of Middle-earth ". In Tolkien's conception, Arda
2800-420: The depiction of Húrin in The War of the Jewels , crying aloud in the wilderness by the hidden entrance to Gondolin, creates a very different and far less optimistic and effect to that of The Lord of the Rings , which had already been written. The Vala Manwe sends an eagle to Turgon for help, but the account seems, writes Garbowski, to allow no time for the message to arrive. He calls Shippey's description of
2880-572: The events in Tolkien's stories take place in the north-west of Middle-earth. In the First Age , further to the north-west was the subcontinent Beleriand ; it was engulfed by the ocean at the end of the First Age. Tolkien prepared several maps of Middle-earth. Some were published in his lifetime. The main maps are those published in The Hobbit , The Lord of the Rings , The Silmarillion , and Unfinished Tales , and appear as foldouts or illustrations. Tolkien insisted that maps be included in
2960-591: The fall of Gondolin – Húrin had to take this blame in his place. Lewis comments that the long version in The Book of Lost Tales differs markedly from the account in The Silmarillion here. He notes that Tolkien started to revise the tale but never completed the revision. Lewis asserts, too, that "Hurin was a far better tactician than Fingon or Turgon. He had the best idea of keeping the high-ground advantage", putting this down to Tolkien's bias in favour of Elves over Men. David Greenman, also in Mythlore , proposes
3040-484: The final book in the "unique and remarkable" collaboration between Christopher Tolkien and his father. Jennifer Rogers, reviewing the book for Tolkien Studies , writes that it "highlights the power of the Gondolin story in its own right with minimal editorial intrusion." As Tolkien's first tale and the last one to be published by his son, the book is "laden with the sense of weight such a publication brings", taking
3120-478: The first big screen adaptation of the fictional setting was introduced in Ralph Bakshi 's animated The Lord of the Rings . New Line Cinema released the first part of director Peter Jackson 's The Lord of the Rings film series in 2001 as part of a trilogy; it was followed by a prequel trilogy in The Hobbit film series with several of the same actors playing their old roles. In 2003, The Lord of
3200-458: The gift of life but under the condition that they be taken and put to sleep in widely separated locations in Middle-earth and not to awaken until after the Firstborn were upon the Earth. They are mortal like Men, but live much longer, usually several hundred years. A peculiarity of Dwarves is that both males and females are bearded, and thus appear identical to outsiders. The language spoken by Dwarves
3280-555: The hidden Elvish city of Gondolin . King Turgon welcomes them, remembering Ulmo's prophecy that the House of Hador will aid Gondolin in its time of need. Turgon's nephew Maeglin urges that they not be allowed to leave, but Turgon overrides him; swearing secrecy, they return to Dor-lómin. Morgoth 's orcs attack Hithlum , killing Húrin's father; Húrin chases the Orcs away and becomes the Lord of his people. He marries Morwen, who bears him
Húrin - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-534: The history into 'Ages of the Children of Ilúvatar'. The first such Age began with the Awakening of the Elves during the Years of the Trees (by which time the Ainur had already long inhabited Arda) and continued for the first six centuries of the Years of the Sun. All the subsequent Ages took place during the Years of the Sun. Arda is, as critics have noted, "our own green and solid Earth at some quite remote epoch in
3440-635: The imagined history, the peoples other than Men dwindle, leave or fade, until, after the period described in the books, only Men are left on the planet. Tolkien's stories chronicle the struggle to control the world (called Arda ) and the continent of Middle-earth between, on one side, the angelic Valar , the Elves and their allies among Men ; and, on the other, the demonic Melkor or Morgoth (a Vala fallen into evil), his followers, and their subjects, mostly Orcs , Dragons and enslaved Men. In later ages, after Morgoth's defeat and expulsion from Arda, his place
3520-476: The last Haladin. Hardang the Chieftain of Brethil fears and imprisons Húrin. A leader, Manthor, sets the people against Hardang; they kill him. Manthor too is killed; he asks Húrin: "Was not this your true errand, Man of the North: to bring ruin upon us to weigh against thine own?" Húrin and the outlaws go to Nargothrond . They take the dragon's gold from the dwarf who had claimed it, to avenge his family. They bring
3600-653: The latitude of ancient Troy . In another letter he stated: ...Thank you very much for your letter. ... It came while I was away, in Gondor ( sc. Venice ), as a change from the North Kingdom, or I would have answered before. He did confirm, however, that the Shire , the land of his Hobbit heroes, was based on England , in particular the West Midlands of his childhood. In the Prologue to The Lord of
3680-414: The life of the "mightiest of the warriors of mortal men". The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey writes that the "lyric core" of the story of the fall of Gondolin , the source of narrative dynamism amidst all the description and genealogy in The Silmarillion , is the scene where Húrin is set free after 28 years imprisoned by Morgoth. In his view, "everything in this scene is emblematic"; the sun sets behind
3760-399: The location of Gondolin to Morgoth's spies, and leaves. Too late, Turgon changes his mind and sends Eagles, but they do not find Húrin. Húrin travels to the forest of Brethil where his son and daughter died, and meets Morwen at their grave, just before she dies. In anger and despair he seeks out the Folk of Haleth, blaming them for the deaths of his wife and children; a revolt ensues, killing
3840-544: The memory of the Earth. Both the Appendices and The Silmarillion mention constellations, stars and planets that correspond to those seen in the northern hemisphere of Earth, including the Sun, the Moon, Orion (and his belt), Ursa Major and Mars . A map annotated by Tolkien places Hobbiton on the same latitude as Oxford , and Minas Tirith at the latitude of Ravenna , Italy. He used Belgrade , Cyprus , and Jerusalem as further reference points. The history of Middle-earth, as described in The Silmarillion , began when
3920-445: The middle-earth sent unto men. This is from the Crist 1 poem by Cynewulf . The name Éarendel was the inspiration for Tolkien's mariner Eärendil , who set sail from the lands of Middle-earth to ask for aid from the angelic powers, the Valar . Tolkien's earliest poem about Eärendil, from 1914, the same year he read the Crist poem, refers to "the mid-world's rim". Tolkien considered middangeard to be "the abiding place of men",
4000-455: The north-west of the continent. This region is suggestive of Europe, the north-west of the Old World , with the environs of the Shire reminiscent of England , but, more specifically, the West Midlands , with the town at its centre, Hobbiton , at the same latitude as Oxford . Tolkien's Middle-earth is peopled not only by Men , but by Elves , Dwarves , Ents , and Hobbits , and by monsters including Dragons, Trolls , and Orcs . Through
4080-435: The only full account of the fall of the city. The narrative "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" in the 1977 book The Silmarillion was the result of the editing by his son Christopher using the 1917 narrative (minus some elements all too obviously evocative of World War I warfare) and compressed versions from the different versions of the Annals and Quentas as additional sources. The later Quenta Silmarillion and
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#17327763292794160-466: The other two are Beren and Lúthien and The Children of Húrin . All three stories are briefly summarised in the 1977 book The Silmarillion , and all three have now been published as stand-alone books. A version of the story also appears in The Book of Lost Tales . In the narrative, Gondolin was founded by King Turgon in the First Age . The city was carefully hidden, enduring for centuries before being betrayed and destroyed. Written in 1917, it
4240-410: The past." As such, it has not only an immediate story but a history, and the whole thing is an "imagined prehistory" of the Earth as it is now. The Ainur were angelic beings created by the one god of Eä, Eru Ilúvatar . The cosmological myth called the Ainulindalë , or "Music of the Ainur", describes how the Ainur sang for Ilúvatar, who then created Eä to give material form to their music. Many of
4320-490: The physical reality of creation as a whole. In careful geographical terms, Middle-earth is a continent on Arda, excluding regions such as Aman and the isle of Númenor. The alternative wider use is reflected in book titles such as The Complete Guide to Middle-earth , The Road to Middle-earth , The Atlas of Middle-earth , and Christopher Tolkien 's 12-volume series The History of Middle-earth . Tolkien's biographer Humphrey Carpenter states that Tolkien's Middle-earth
4400-428: The physical world in which Man lives out his life and destiny, as opposed to the unseen worlds above and below it, namely Heaven and Hell . He states that it is "my own mother-earth for place ", but in an imaginary past time, not some other planet. He began to use the term "Middle-earth" in the late 1930s, in place of the earlier terms "Great Lands", "Outer Lands", and "Hither Lands". The first published appearance of
4480-659: The power and grimness of the tale. Tom Shippey calls the scene where Húrin is freed after 28 years by the Dark Lord Morgoth the "lyric core" of the tale of the fall of Gondolin . Christopher Garbowski comments that when Húrin cries aloud, revealing the hidden entrance to Gondolin, the effect is quite unlike that of The Lord of the Rings . Helen Lasseter Freeh comments on the version in Unfinished Tales where Húrin and Morgoth discuss luck and fate in Middle-earth . Shippey remarks that Tolkien often provides double explanations of events throughout his Middle-earth writings, so that their cause could be luck, but could equally be fate,
4560-430: The power to control or influence those wearing the other Rings of Power. In ancient Germanic mythology , the world of Men is known by several names. The Old English middangeard descends from an earlier Germanic word and so has cognates such as the Old Norse Miðgarðr from Norse mythology , transliterated to modern English as Midgard . The original meaning of the second element, from proto-Germanic gardaz ,
4640-551: The reader back to the place where the whole Legendarium began, the story about Eärendel (later called Eärendil). According to Entertainment Weekly , "Patient and dedicated readers will find among the references to other books and their many footnotes and appendices a poignant sense of completion and finality to the life's pursuit of a father and son." Writing for The Washington Post , writer Andrew Ervin said that " The Fall of Gondolin provides everything Tolkien's readers expect." According to The Independent , "Even amid
4720-405: The rest of the physical world), which itself was part of the wider creation he called Eä. Aman and Middle-earth are separated from each other by the Great Sea Belegaer , though they make contact in the far north at the Grinding Ice or Helcaraxë. The western continent, Aman, was the home of the Valar , and the Elves called the Eldar . On the eastern side of Middle-earth was the Eastern Sea. Most of
4800-444: The road / And flung his cobweb cloak on me..." C. S. Lewis 's 1938–1945 Space Trilogy calls the home planet "Middle-earth" and specifically references Tolkien's unpublished legendarium; both men were members of the Inklings literary discussion group. Within the overall context of his legendarium , Tolkien's Middle-earth was part of his created world of Arda (which includes the Undying Lands of Aman and Eressëa , removed from
4880-402: The royal Elf "refuses to trust the man who saved him once", and does not relent until it is too late. It is thus vital to the scene, and to the whole story, that the reader appreciates why Húrin goes into this emotional sunset; and that in turn requires the reader to know about his kinship with Turgon, from the family tree. Christopher Garbowski writes in the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia that
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#17327763292794960-422: The same Common Eldarin ancestral tongue, but over thousands of years it diverged into different languages. The two main Elven languages were Quenya , spoken by the Light Elves, and Sindarin , spoken by the Dark Elves. Physically the Elves resemble humans; indeed, they can marry and have children with them, as shown by the few Half-elven in the legendarium. The Elves are agile and quick footed, being able to walk
5040-403: The scene, a "posed tableau", apt. Alex Lewis, writing in Mythlore , asserts that Tolkien introduced a historical bias into the tale of Húrin's coming to Gondolin. He suggests that Tolkien chose to favour Turgon at the expense of Maeglin, because Turgon was a direct ancestor of Elrond . Since in Tolkien's view ancestry indicated character , that meant that Turgon had to be spared the blame for
5120-403: The seas'." There are allusions to a similarly- or identically-named world in the work of other writers both before and after him. William Morris 's 1870 translation of the Volsung Saga calls the world "Midgard". Margaret Widdemer 's 1918 poem "The Gray Magician" contains the lines: "I was living very merrily on Middle Earth / As merry as a maid may be / Till the Gray Magician came down along
5200-420: The story before including it in Unfinished Tales , because it ends at the point of Tuor 's arrival in Gondolin , and does not depict the actual Fall. There is also an unfinished poem, The Lay of the Fall of Gondolin , of which a few verses are quoted in the 1985 book The Lays of Beleriand . In 130 verses Tolkien reaches the point where dragons attack the city. In 2018, the first stand-alone version of
5280-400: The story takes place in the North-west of 'Middle-earth', equivalent in latitude to the coastlands of Europe and the north shores of the Mediterranean. ... If Hobbiton and Rivendell are taken (as intended) to be at about the latitude of Oxford , then Minas Tirith , 600 miles south, is at about the latitude of Florence . The Mouths of Anduin and the ancient city of Pelargir are at about
5360-474: The story was published by HarperCollins in the UK and Houghton Mifflin in the US. This version, illustrated by Alan Lee , was curated and edited by Christopher Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien's son, who also edited The Silmarillion , Unfinished Tales , and the twelve-volume The History of Middle-earth . The book ends with a list of names, additional notes, and a glossary. Douglas Kane writes in Journal of Tolkien Research that The Fall of Gondolin
5440-434: The subject of a variety of film adaptations. There were many early failed attempts to bring the fictional universe to life on screen, some even rejected by the author himself, who was skeptical of the prospects of an adaptation. While animated and live-action shorts were made of Tolkien's books in 1967 and 1971, the first commercial depiction of The Hobbit onscreen was the Rankin/Bass animated TV special in 1977 . In 1978
5520-440: The time of The Hobbit , most of them lived in the Shire , a region of the northwest of Middle-earth, having migrated there from further east. The Ents were treelike shepherds of trees, their name coming from an Old English word for giant. Orcs and Trolls (made of stone) were evil creatures bred by Morgoth . They were not original creations but rather "mockeries" of the Children of Ilúvatar and Ents, since only Ilúvatar has
5600-409: The treasure, including the dwarves' necklace, the Nauglamír, to Doriath ; they insult Thingol by giving the necklace as payment for his care of Húrin's kin. This brings a curse on Doriath, leading to its downfall. Melian the Maia , queen of Doriath, uses kind words to reach Húrin's clouded mind. Húrin sees that all his deeds have only aided Morgoth. A broken man, he drowns himself in the sea, ending
5680-407: The will of the godlike Valar. [Húrin] was shorter in stature than other men of his kin; in this he took after his mother's people, but in all else he was like Hador his grandfather, fair of face and golden-haired, strong in body and fiery of mood. But the fire in him burned steadily, and he had great endurance of will. Of all Men of the North he knew most of the counsels of the Noldor . Húrin
5760-428: The word "Middle-earth" in Tolkien's works is in the prologue to The Lord of the Rings : "Hobbits had, in fact, lived quietly in Middle-earth for many long years before other folk even became aware of them". The term Middle-earth has come to be applied as a short-hand for the entirety of Tolkien's legendarium, instead of the technically more appropriate, but lesser known terms "Arda" for the physical world and " Eä " for
5840-578: Was "enclosure", cognate with English "yard"; middangeard was assimilated by folk etymology to "middle earth". Middle-earth was at the centre of nine worlds in Norse mythology, and of three worlds (with heaven above, hell below) in some later Christian versions . Tolkien's first encounter with the term middangeard , as he stated in a letter, was in an Old English fragment he studied in 1913–1914: Éala éarendel engla beorhtast / ofer middangeard monnum sended. Hail Earendel, brightest of angels / above
5920-663: Was Glaurung the Golden, bred by Morgoth in Angband , and called "The Great Worm", "The Worm of Morgoth", and "The Father of Dragons". Middle-earth contains sapient animals including the Eagles , Huan the Great Hound from Valinor and the wolf-like Wargs . In general the origins and nature of these animals are unclear. Giant spiders such as Shelob descended from Ungoliant , of unknown origin. Other sapient species include
6000-409: Was a fell light in his eyes. He walked unbowed, and yet carried a great black staff; but he was girt with a sword." He is brought to his old homelands, but enemies are living there. Seven outlaws join Húrin; they go to the Vale of Sirion. Húrin abandons his followers and seeks the entrance to Gondolin , but it is closed, and Turgon does not wish to allow him in. Húrin cries out against Turgon, revealing
6080-517: Was created specifically as "the Habitation" ( Imbar or Ambar ) for the Children of Ilúvatar ( Elves and Men ). It is envisaged in a flat Earth cosmology, with the stars, and later also the sun and moon, revolving around it. Tolkien's sketches show a disc-like face for the world which looked up to the stars. However, Tolkien's legendarium addresses the spherical Earth paradigm by depicting
6160-485: Was known as Middle-earth MUD , run by using LPMUD . After the Middle-earth MUD ended in 1992, it was followed by Elendor and MUME . The Fall of Gondolin J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Fall of Gondolin is a 2018 book of fantasy fiction by J. R. R. Tolkien , edited by his son Christopher . The story is one of what Tolkien called the three " Great Tales " from the First Age of Middle-earth ;
6240-629: Was the first of Tolkien's three "Great Tales" to be written, and the last to be published, the other two being the Great Tale of Túrin Turambar (published in The Children of Húrin , 2007, edited into a continuous story) and Beren and Lúthien (2017, presented as a set of versions of the story). That left the tale which was "arguably the one in which the world of Middle-earth is most vividly presented and in which Tolkien’s philosophical themes are most profoundly expressed." Kane adds that although
6320-477: Was weakened both by time and by intermingling with lesser peoples. The Dwarves are a race of humanoids who are shorter than Men but larger than Hobbits. The Dwarves were created by the Vala Aulë, before the Firstborn awoke due to his impatience for the arrival of the children of Ilúvatar to teach and to cherish. When confronted and shamed for his presumption by Ilúvatar, Eru took pity on Aulë and gave his creation
6400-478: Was writing: As for the shape of the world of the Third Age , I am afraid that was devised 'dramatically' rather than geologically , or paleontologically . I am historically minded. Middle-earth is not an imaginary world. ... The theatre of my tale is this earth, the one in which we now live, but the historical period is imaginary. The essentials of that abiding place are all there (at any rate for inhabitants of N.W. Europe), so naturally it feels familiar, even if
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