In his early stories Tolkien was trying to forge a link between Middle Earth and Anglo Saxon times. Eriol was supposed to be an Anglo Saxon (for want of a better name!) adventurer from the Germanic tribes which invaded Britain who, by a bizarre fluke, sailed instead to Valinor.
He also toyed with the idea that Britain was made from Tol Eressea, which had been sent back to Middle Earth, and that Kor-Tirion was in fact Warwick Castle. Tolkien himself lived in Warwick for a time. Did he dream of elves inhabiting the Kingmaker's high towers?
In the Eriol tales, the 'hidden garden' idea appears. This may be related to the early 20th century gardens in Warwick. (I used to live there a few years ago and saw a documentary where they restored one of the hidden gardens) These gardens were plots of land purchsed by well-off town dwellers in Victorian times which were walled off from the rest of the world and transformed into private, beautifully manicured spaces for the relaxation of the upper-middle classes.
Oh dear i appear to have rambled (too much port I expect) so my theory that Minas Tirith is, in fact, Birmingham University will have to wait.
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Rumil of Coedhirion
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