Fantasy or Real?
 

I find Tolkien astonishing how one man can do all that. He has created a whole world on his own with his imagination. But today as I sat here thinking I thought what if Tolkien never made middle-earth and made up the stories. I believe in magical things and maybe Tolkien knew things we never knew and met magical creatures, it is possible! He has named creatures, plants, made maps etc and it all seems too real to be fantasy. What do you guys think?

~Niluial

cool thought, I sometimes think that myself. Like one of those people who can access the fourth dimension? or perhaps a portal? maybe he had one of the lost palantir, and never actuallly visited Middle Earth.

I often wonder how, in one lifetime, Tolkien managed to make up middle-earth. Think of all the different languages, maps, people and different stories that he has made. It definatly makes me think along with some of my friends

I do belive in magic to a extent, but, im not sure if i could actually believe that Middle-Earth was real. Maybe it was maybe it wasnt. All i know is that Tolkein managed to fit an awful lot of things to do with Lotr and ME in one life and, he also managed to fit in time with his social life with friends.

I think I do believe it. But that might just be because I need something better to believe in than what's here. But there are a lot of people like that, maybe Tolkien was just one of them. Maybe that's why it all seems to real.
Either way, I'd love to believe it's real, which isn't really a very hard thing to do, considering how detailed and alive the books are.

In it's own way, isn't everything we imagine real?

Does belief create reality? I like to think so. I have to believe in something better than 'reality', or I'll lose all my hope. Dreams keep my sanity. What is real, and what is dream? Sometimes I can't tell the difference.

Middle-Earth is real for me.

When I first read LotR, before the Two Towers movie was released, I was able to create mu own movie in my mind because of the elaborate details given by Tolkien. Now, whenever a scene replays in my mind out of nowhere, it takes time for me to tell whether the scene came from the movie or from my "movie".

And when I was trying to study Quenya, I can't help but be amazed at how Tolkien was able to do such.

He has made ME real for me as well, Elennar Starfire. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

I suppose that Tolkien created his own reality, and we all have our own reality of ME depending on how we interpreted the books. (Does that make sense?)

It is difficult to believe that one man could come up with all of Arda in one lifetime. I have no proof that's it's real, but I can hope, can't I?

I have often wondered that myself. The only conclusion I can come up with, is that he had been through a portal (sp?) of some sort, or that he`s mad, or brilliant. (It`s remarkable how often those two traits coincide.) [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

He's just a genius. And it probably helps that he has been a soldier in a war, so he could be able to draw some inspiration from his experiences.

Tolkien is [was] very talented- but so are many of today's science fiction and fantasy authors.
Take Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, for example. They wrote the Darksword Trilogy, which was easier to read than LOTR, but Thimhallan was still obviously a very complicated world to create. It's very hard to try and explain the concept of the Living being those who possess magic, and the Dead being those who do not.
Perhaps Tolkien did enter a secret portal somewhere. But I just think he was a genius, that's all. [Not to try and disprove any of your theories. I'm just a stick-in-the-mud.]

There is so much information that Tolkien included that it is extremely difficutlt to imagine that he created it all from his mind. Yet if he did, it just proves he is as much of a genius as I say every day. I think that I would love to believe that Middle Earth and Arda actually existed. It is a dream of mine that it would be an actual place.

I don't know. I just a bundle of contradictions here, aren't I?

Good topic.I was thinking of making up a similar thread like this,but was afraid you would all try to haul me off to the nuthouse [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Now im not going to say that Middle earth is a real plase and the stories are true but,a reflection of the way the world that we know,use to be.

Maybe at one time in our world wizards,dwarves,elves,dragons,hobbits,and man all lived on this world together.If you study ancient history and mythology this world was full of magic,wonders,and diffrent beings.

Of course in todays society most people just chalk this up to utter nonsence,they want scientific proff before they could believe it which I can't fault them on,I would want cold hard facts before I could truely believe it.But I wont write it off completly.

If you pay close attention to the world around you there are stories and incidents that are considerd the strange or unknown that happen everywere.While a bunch of these are just complete crud that wind up on ghost story and mystery shows for the T.V,there are some that people just don't a explantation for.

There are marvels of the world and the mind I think we don't clearly understand,and history and peoples we have all but forgotten.

Allright,you can take me away now [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Well if there's a heaven, amybe it will be Arda Healed? [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Ooh...idea...Tolkien MUSHes are cool...especially Elendor...it's based on roleplaying rathe rthan fighting, so many people's characters are jsut happy little Hobbits being happy and short, or crazy Orks....well, I don't know what Orks do, butI guess it's violent. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

I wouldn’t mind if heaven has like ME. Though Tolkien wrote great stories I cant help thinking he did go through a portal or something. I just chalk it up to the fact that he had an amazing imagination and was super smart.