# Places in Middle Earth you'd most like to visit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 20, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069 "2003-06-20T02:52:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ray\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ray\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ray_Walker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/1 "2003-06-20T02:52:41Z")
What locations in Middle Earth do you want to visit the most? Doesn’t have to be limited to just Middle Earth proper, could also be the Undying Lands or Numenor. Places I’d like to visit: The mountains of Mirkwood. Just think about what the view from the top of those mountains must be like. It would be just a sea of dark woods for as far as you can see, in all directions. The Sea of Rhun. We never really get much information about this, so just exploring an obscure part of Middle Earth would be kinda cool. Imagine being on the forest side of the sea, looking out over the water. To your back you’ve got the woods, and in front of your eyes, across the vast water is a mountain chain. Lake Town. A peacefu,l prosperous town located on an artificial island on the River Running. Imagine climbing to the rooftop of one of the buildings, and off in the distance you can see a lone mountain and nearby are the Iron Hills. Looking down from the roof you can see all the dockworkers milling around, going about their business. And then off in the west you can just vageuly make out the treeline of Mirkwood. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/2 "2003-06-20T22:19:28Z")
The Mines of Moria, before they woke up Mr. Grumpy. Vast vistas, soaring sky-high ceilings, an Endless Stair… And all the works of hands. Amazing. Lothlorien, of course. I don’t think I need to go into details. Aule’s workshop. Gotta be all sorts of nifty toys there. The Shire is nice and homey, but it’d be a bit cramped for someone like me. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/3 "2003-06-20T22:51:37Z")
I’ll go with you to Moria, **Chronos**. In happier times, as you say. I’m not a woodsy guy, but I’d go into Fangorn with Legolas as guide. I would love to see the caves of Helm’s Deep after Gimli moved in and became the Lord of the Glittering Caves. More than any other place, however, I’d like to see Angbad when Luthien and Beren break in and steal the Silmaril. From a safe, comfortable distance–of course. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/4 "2003-06-20T22:58:24Z")
Annuminas! Seat of the high King Elendil! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/5 "2003-06-20T23:55:25Z")
Call me a homebody type, but I would like to visit Hobbiton, and to be a guest at Bag End. Something about all those pantries of food and drink. Maybe I could have been a good housekeeper for the Baggins clan. ---
**Author:** ![c\_carol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@c\_carol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_carol)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/6 "2003-06-21T00:01:45Z")
Everywhere! I want to take a long, quiet, vacation in the Shire, then spend a month or two raiding Elrond’s library in Rivendell. I want to see what Lothlorien _really_ looks like (it’s the only location that the movie folks got wrong). The Argonath. Henneth Annun at sunset. From the Silm, Nargothrond (mostly because Finrod is one of my favorite characters). Oh, I don’t know, _everywhere_! ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/7 "2003-06-21T00:12:19Z")
Tuckborough. Them Tooks know how to party! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/8 "2003-06-21T00:39:34Z")
Ondolindë! The rock of the music of the water! Also known as Gondolin, or “hidden rock”. It is characterized as the fairest city of the Eldar outside of Tirion upon Tuná back in the undying lands. The willow-meads of Tasarinan would be nice too. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/9 "2003-06-21T02:09:49Z")
Galadriel’s bedroom. Rrrrrow! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/10 "2003-06-21T02:16:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > \*\*Galadriel’s bedroom. Rrrrrow! \*\* You like older women, then? ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/11 "2003-06-21T02:24:34Z")
Touring the Old Forest with Tom Bombadil. Watching fireworks in the Shire on one of Gandalf’s visits. The view from the top of Orthanc when Saruman was still White. And I’m sure Numenor was fascinating before all that trouble. Definitely Lothlorien and Rivendell. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/12 "2003-06-21T02:49:45Z")
I have to confess a curious desire to travel to the East of East until I come to the Last Desert (so named, presumably, because you have to go through at least two other deserts to get there–although if you were traveling west, I guess it would be the “First Desert” by the same logic), and find out just what the hell a “Were-Worm” is. Surely it can’t be what it sounds like: “Oh no! The desert moon is full, and suddenly I have the desire to aerate the lawn! I’m…I’m turning into a _worm!_” I’ve always visualized the Were-Worms as sort of dragon- or lizard-men, although that seems a bit un-Tolkienlike somehow. Whatever they are, I’m sure they have a fascinating culture. ---
**Author:** ![JDeMobray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@JDeMobray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JDeMobray)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/13 "2003-06-21T03:09:32Z")
Anybody who is saying something other than Rivendell has clearly been sampling the Hobbit’s weed too frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/14 "2003-06-21T14:28:50Z")
Rivendell is a good choice, for a _typical tourist_. \ But the Kingdom of the Wood Elves in Mirkwood sounds facinating, if I was a welcome guest. I suspect their art & music alone would be worth the trip. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/15 "2003-06-21T14:30:44Z")
Oh–any links to art that closely corresponds to what **Tolkein** thought his characters looked like? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/16 "2003-06-21T15:19:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor \* > \*\*Oh–any links to art that closely corresponds to what **Tolkein** thought his characters looked like? \*\* JRRT was a fair hand at drawing landscapes, but admitted himself that he really sucked at portraying people, so he seldom tried. Somewhere in HOMES I think there are descriptions of what the various peoples looked like. I might dig into it later if I have time, and noone else has popped in to answer this. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/17 "2003-06-21T15:33:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor \* > \*\*Oh–any links to art that closely corresponds to what **Tolkein** thought his characters looked like? \*\* Among Tolkein’s illustrations for _The Hobbit_ is a picture of Bilbo at Bag End; it’s right at the end of the edition I bought recently for my niece and nephew. I don’t know if it’s online, but I’ll have a look and see if I can find it. I’d love to live in the Shire, but a vacation at Lothlorien would be wonderful. Minas Tirith. A walk through the Barrow Downs–on a sunny day–might be interesting. I’d also like to see the Long Lake and Lonely Mountain after they got the place cleaned up after Smaug’s demise. Do you suppose the dragon’s bones are much of a tourist attraction? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/18 "2003-06-22T01:23:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan \* > \*\*You like older women, then? \*\* Sure! If she’s a hot elf-babe, what’s a few millennia age difference? ---
**Author:** ![Nycteris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8c91f0/32.png) [@Nycteris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nycteris)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/19 "2003-06-22T02:52:30Z")
i’d like to have a few toddies with goldberry and tom. ~still grumbling about their being left out of the movie~ (hullo - i’m new here & on leave from ship of fools as it’s docked this weekend undergoing maintenance)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TheWatcherInTheWater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9d8465/32.png) [@TheWatcherInTheWater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheWatcherInTheWater)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069/20 "2003-06-22T04:05:47Z")
Moria. Anywhere with Frodo. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-in-middle-earth-youd-most-like-to-visit/183069.md?page=2)