The White Council

Re: Middle-earth is the entire Earth (was Re: middle earth size)

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: : : : can anyone tell me just how large middle earth is? can you : : compare it with what country in terms of land mass? im having : : trouble imagining it....how far gondor is from rohan(not in : : miles...just say, for example...as far as france is from : : china...?)how far beleriand is from thangorodrim? isengard from : : the shire? how high is the tower of orthanc? please in : : reference to known landmarks and buildings...

: I have only just now read this thread. I'm afraid you're all laboring under a misunderstanding.

: Middle-earth is the entire world. It is not just one continent or even just one portion of a continent.

: In the mythology "Endor" was originally a land mass situated between two other land masses on a flat world (called Imbar or Ambar). The world was the heart of "Arda" (the Realm), which itself was only a small portion of Ea (the created universe).

: Tolkien equated Arda with the Solar System, and the mythology speaks of the creation of the Sun, the Moon, and Venus (the Star of Earendil). When Numenor was destroyed Iluvatar took Aman out of Arda and made Middle-earth (Endor) into a round world with new lands (basically the Americas, Australia, Polynesia, etc.) in addition to the Old World (Europe, Africa, and Asia). The shapes of the lands were changed as well.

: The map used in the story was conceived of without any thought for where things might have corresponded with actual Europe, and Tolkien only later tried to confer some associations to give people an idea of what correlations he might have devised, had he thought about that when "designing" the broader Middle-earth he devised for THE LORD OF THE RINGS.

: In many letters, however, Tolkien explains that Middle-earth is our world, "round and inescapable", "the habitable lands of men".

: Many people misread the part of the Prologue which speaks of where Hobbits live. He says:

:

 :   Those days, the Third Age of Middle-earth, are now long past, :   and the shape of all lands has been changed; but the regions :   in which Hobbits then lived were doubtless the same as those :   in which they still linger: the North-West of the Old World, :   east of the Sea.... : 

: Tolkien isn't saying that Middle-earth is Europe. He is merely saying the Hobbits which now linger in northwest Europe were doubtless living in the same area during the Third Age.

i know ME is our earth...but my question was about comparing ME landmarks and countries with todays countries...like...is gondor as big as china? is rohan as big as canada? i dont mean miles...just simple comparisons...thanks anyway for the infos...