Seven Ages - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

***Sharkû*** · 05-23-2002, 12:14 PM

"I imagine the gap to be about 6000 years : that is we are now at the end of the Fifth Age, if the Ages were of about the same length as S.A. and T.A. But they have, I think, quickened; and I imagine we are actually at the end of the Sixth Age, or in the Seventh." (footnote to Letter #211)

From letter #211:
"All I can say is that, if it were 'history', it would be difficult to fit the lands and events (or 'cultures') into such evidence as we possess, archaeological or geological, concerning the nearer or remoter part of what is now called Europe; though the Shire, for instance, is expressly stated to have been in this region."

What landmarks could be decisive for constituting the end or dawn of a new age if we are to take Tolkien's Middle-Earth into our own? The Fall of Troy (supposedly somewhere before 1100BC if I remember correctly), the downfall of the Roman Empire; perhaps the various conquests of Tol Albion (which is the point of connection between fact and fiction in Tolkien's Ælfwine idea). On the other hand, there is the hypothetical biblical history which could fit into Tolkien's gap and Age remarks.

05-23-2002, 12:14 PM	#2
*Sharkû* Hungry Ghoul Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 1,719	"I imagine the gap to be about 6000 years : that is we are now at the end of the Fifth Age, if the Ages were of about the same length as S.A. and T.A. But they have, I think, quickened; and I imagine we are actually at the end of the Sixth Age, or in the Seventh." (footnote to Letter #211) From letter #211: "All I can say is that, if it were 'history', it would be difficult to fit the lands and events (or 'cultures') into such evidence as we possess, archaeological or geological, concerning the nearer or remoter part of what is now called Europe; though the Shire, for instance, is expressly stated to have been in this region." What landmarks could be decisive for constituting the end or dawn of a new age if we are to take Tolkien's Middle-Earth into our own? The Fall of Troy (supposedly somewhere before 1100BC if I remember correctly), the downfall of the Roman Empire; perhaps the various conquests of Tol Albion (which is the point of connection between fact and fiction in Tolkien's Ælfwine idea). On the other hand, there is the hypothetical biblical history which could fit into Tolkien's gap and Age remarks.