The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Of Middle-Earth and it's relation to our world

Evenstar1 · 06-07-2002, 09:48 PM

When Tolkien wrote "The Hobbit," it was child's story that he had originally invented for his own children. It came out of a series of "Father Christmas" letters he'd written to them -- one a year, becoming more and more elaborate as the years passed -- from the time his oldest son was about four years old.

The "Silmarillion" was Tolkien's version of the Genesis story, with many Christian/Catholic undertones and symbolisms. (JRRT had this concept of Christ's life being "true myth." A myth is a story that illustrates a truth, but since Jesus really lived, the story of Jesus's life was a true myth.) Set in a time long before the birth of Christ, the ideas for LOTR came out of the background of the Silmarillion (something he'd never published), but his publisher had asked for a sequel to The Hobbit. Hence the trillogy.

So, in answer to your question, Aragorn, yes, "Middle Earth" and "Earth" are one and the same, and no, they are not. They are the same via the allegories and symbolism rooted in the Silmarillion. And they were also, perhaps, the same (for the author's intent) when he initially penned the children's book. But the need to marry the concepts of the Silmarillion with the storyline of the Hobbit actually brought the races of halflings and dwarves to a much deeper and more profoundly symbolic place than they'd originally been intended to inhabit. So in that sense, Middle Earth and Earth are not actually the same.

Hope that makes sense/helps! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[ June 07, 2002: Message edited by: Evenstar1 ]

06-07-2002, 09:48 PM	#8
Evenstar1 Wight Join Date: May 2002 Location: Colorado (just east of the Misty Mts.) Posts: 111	When Tolkien wrote "The Hobbit," it was child's story that he had originally invented for his own children. It came out of a series of "Father Christmas" letters he'd written to them -- one a year, becoming more and more elaborate as the years passed -- from the time his oldest son was about four years old. The "Silmarillion" was Tolkien's version of the Genesis story, with many Christian/Catholic undertones and symbolisms. (JRRT had this concept of Christ's life being "true myth." A myth is a story that illustrates a truth, but since Jesus really lived, the story of Jesus's life was a true myth.) Set in a time long before the birth of Christ, the ideas for LOTR came out of the background of the Silmarillion (something he'd never published), but his publisher had asked for a sequel to The Hobbit. Hence the trillogy. So, in answer to your question, Aragorn, yes, "Middle Earth" and "Earth" are one and the same, and no, they are not. They are the same via the allegories and symbolism rooted in the Silmarillion. And they were also, perhaps, the same (for the author's intent) when he initially penned the children's book. But the need to marry the concepts of the Silmarillion with the storyline of the Hobbit actually brought the races of halflings and dwarves to a much deeper and more profoundly symbolic place than they'd originally been intended to inhabit. So in that sense, Middle Earth and Earth are not actually the same. Hope that makes sense/helps! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] [ June 07, 2002: Message edited by: Evenstar1 ] __________________ - Eve