Posted: November 23, 1999 at 04:52:49: by Ras Thavas
: : The Etymologies include the word for "lion" (RAW). Were they indigenous to ME and if yes where exactly were they found? It may be possible that the Eldar meet some lions during the Great Journey, but isn't strange that they (i.e. lions) should be found at such a northerly latitude?: Lions were found throughout Eurasia (the so-called cave-lion) during the Old Stone Age. More recently they were found in the Balkans in the Bronze Age and in Anatolia (modern Turkey) into the Mediaeval period. Of course the lion's relative the tiger is found in Eastern Siberia to this day. There is also some evidence that Lions were present in Classical Era Greece. Alexander the Great is reputed to have killed a lion in his youth and there are other references to them in Greek Literature although some historians think that they are apocryphal.
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