That’s largely correct, he spent much of his life writing stories he did not expect to be published. The Hobbit started as a story to his own children, and the manuscript was occasionaly loaned out to people outside the family. Tolkien was only encouraged to finish it after it was read by a former student who had a friend at a publisher. LotR was started as a sequel to the Hobbit. Tolkien was struggling financially and was aware of the potential to build on it’s success, but the new story took on a life of it’s own. It took 12 years to write, and was not published for another 6 after that. The whole process was extremely torturous. He was never able to finish The Silmarillion in his lifetime.
Not helium, unicorn farts!
What do you mean, there will be?
The Svenska Teatern in Helsinki also produced an adaptation of LOTR in 2001, but we never went there, precious, never saw it. I remember hearing some of the music on the radio and thinking it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. English reviews of the plays are thin on the ground, but this one has some of the PR shots. (No, I don’t approve of the mask that the Gollum actor is wearing.)
http://www.enhorningen.net/Recensioner/Sagan_om_ringen_teater.shtml
While posting the one-liner about a LOTR musical I assumed it was subject to extensive footnotes. Still, Mr vifslan, to help you envision Sam watching a lonely star, here’s Fievel singing*Somewhere Out There* from An American Tail.
The ‘Sam watching a lonely star’ might have been done by having us hear Sam’s thoughts.
Sometimes that works. Sometimes it doesn’t.
Comments?
Topic reversal
I actually have this nagging, but ever-present irritation about Tolkien’s Map of Middle-Earth. The convenient rectangular mountain-range surrounding Mordor, just looks unnatural and way too convenient and contrived as opposed to the elegance of the rest of the geography.
This nag anyone else?
/Topic reversal
Oh HECK YEAH!
We used to make fun of that back in the day (1970s).
So freaking contrived that we just fan-wanked it (incidentally, a term that did not exist then) into being Sauron’s magic that created the mountains.
So, of course, for several years, many of our D&D landscapes included that silly configuration. I guess if you project a giant fortress where the walls are actually mountains, then the scale has to change.
Actually, it could have been Melkor (Morgoth.) He went around and randomly raised mountains (or took down mountains) to annoy other people.
Edit: well, not other people. Other valar.
Sauron in those days was merely one of Melkor’s minions.
It was Morgoth that caused the upheaval that led to Mordor. I can’t remember where I read that but maybe **QtM **will be by to point out the reference. Mordor existed before Sauron moved in though. That I am sure of. Shelob n fact is referenced as being there first.
Certainly it was not through naturally occurring plate tectonics (if such are even relevant to Middle Earth in the first place).
I think you may be right, but I couldn’t put my finger on the reference quickly, and I’m too lazy to put any real time into it. But I will say that Mordor was nothing compared to Thangorodrim and the Iron Mountains, which Morgoth certainly did raise himself as described in The Silmarillion, and Sauron’s Dark Tower was a pitiful hovel compared to Angband.
Ah, yes.
I read and reread LotR probably 10 times between 1970 and 1980.
The Silmarillion only twice.
So, Morgoth probably raised the ‘mountain fortress’?
And, of course, Mount Doom.
Gosh, it has been a long time since I read the Silmarillion.
Yeah, naturally occurring plate tectonics.
heh heh heh
Really?
You think not?
For what it is worth, I thought Tolkien was at least inspired a bit by Eastern Turkey/Iraq:
There are so many mountain ranges merging at this point and several huge lakes. Though Nurn is not fresh water. But still if 3 plates merge oddly ranges can do surprising things.
One theory regarding the formation of Mordor is that it’s the site of the great lamp Iluin, destroyed by Melkor in the early days of Arda. This caused the formation of the inland sea Helcar, which drained in the destruction at the end of the First Age. It seems to be a bit speculative that the location is correct, but if so the destruction of Iluin could well have created some sort of crater, and the draining of the sea could have flattened one side.
This theory isn’t without flaws, but is the most specific one I’ve come across.
It had crossed my mind that the mountain ranges were risen using some dark magic to fortify Mordor’s boundaries. But, I’m by no means well versed in the depths of Tolkien’s mythology. Just a general fan, with a passing interest. So, if someone does have some definitive cannon on that formation, it might help me look at the map in a more balanced way, without my eyes scraping over that damn sore spot.
I believe Tolkien did acknowledge that his geography was not realistic, but I can’t find a cite now. As others have pointed out, there are several instances in it’s mythology where it suffered upheavals, such as the toppling of the lamps and the sinking of Beleriand. The wiki article says:
So it’s seems it’s formation was not natural. It doesn’t give a source for that however.