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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast. Why I help

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<v Speaker 1>you drift off one fact at a time. I'm your

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<v Speaker 1>host Benjamin Boster, and today's episode is about middle Earth.

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<v Speaker 1>Middle Earth is the setting of much of the English

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<v Speaker 1>writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent

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<v Speaker 1>to miss Garthur of Norse mythology and Middingarde in Old

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<v Speaker 1>English works, including Beowulf. Middle Earth is the ecumene i e.

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<v Speaker 1>The human inhabited world, or the central continent of Earth

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<v Speaker 1>in Tolkien's imagine mythological past. His most widely read works,

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<v Speaker 1>The Hobbed and The Lord of the Rings are said

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<v Speaker 1>entirely in Middle Earth. Middle Earth has also become a

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<v Speaker 1>shorthand term for Tolkien's Legendarium, his large body of fantasy writings,

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<v Speaker 1>and for the entirety of his fictional world. Middle Earth

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<v Speaker 1>is the main continent of Earth arda in an imaginary

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<v Speaker 1>period of the past ending with Tolkien's Third Age about

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<v Speaker 1>six thousand years ago. Tolkien's tales of Middle Earth mostly

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<v Speaker 1>focus on the northwest of the continent. This region is

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<v Speaker 1>suggestive of Europe, the northwest of the Old World, with

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<v Speaker 1>the environs of the Shire reminiscent of England, but more

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<v Speaker 1>specifically the West Midlands, with a town at its center, Hoptum.

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<v Speaker 1>At the same time, latitude is Oxford. Tolkien's Middle Earth

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<v Speaker 1>is peopled not only by men, but by elves, dwarfs, ends,

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<v Speaker 1>and hobbits, and by monsters, including dragons, trolls, and orcs.

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<v Speaker 1>Through the imagined history, the people's others than men dwindle,

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<v Speaker 1>leave or fade, until after the period described in the books,

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<v Speaker 1>only men are left on the planet. Tolkien's stories chronicle

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<v Speaker 1>the struggle to control the world called Arda and the

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<v Speaker 1>continent of Middle Earths between on one side, the angelic Valar,

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<v Speaker 1>the elves and their allies among men, and on the

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<v Speaker 1>other the demonic Melchor or Morgoth a vola fallen into evil,

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<v Speaker 1>his followers and their subjects, mostly Orc's dragons and enslaved men.

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<v Speaker 1>In later ages, after Morgoth's defeed and expulsion from Arda,

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<v Speaker 1>his place is taken by his lieutenant sauron a Maya.

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<v Speaker 1>The Valar withdrew from direct involvement in the affairs of

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<v Speaker 1>Middle Earth after the defeat of Morgoth, but in later

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<v Speaker 1>years they sent the wizards or Astary to help in

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<v Speaker 1>the struggle against Sauran. The most important wizards were Kandulph

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<v Speaker 1>the Gray and Sauraryman the White and Alf remained true

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<v Speaker 1>to his mission and proved crucial in the fight against Sauron. Saraman, however,

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<v Speaker 1>became corrupted and sought to establish himself as a rival

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<v Speaker 1>to Sauron or absolute power in Middle Earth. Other races

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<v Speaker 1>involved in the struggle against evil were Dwarfs, hence and

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<v Speaker 1>most famously, Hobbits. The early stages of the conflict are

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<v Speaker 1>chronicled in The Silmarillion, while the final stages of the

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<v Speaker 1>struggle to defeat Saaron are told in The Hobbit and

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<v Speaker 1>in the Lord of the Rings. Conflict over the possession

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<v Speaker 1>and control of precious or magical objects is a recurring

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<v Speaker 1>theme in the stories. The first age is dominated by

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<v Speaker 1>the doomed quest of the Elphaeenor and most of his

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<v Speaker 1>Noldoran clan to recover three precious jewels called the Silmarils

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<v Speaker 1>that Morgoth stole from them, hence the title the Silmarillion.

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<v Speaker 1>The second and third age are dominated by the forging

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<v Speaker 1>of the Rings of Power and the fate of the

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<v Speaker 1>one ring forged by Sauron, which gives its wearer the

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<v Speaker 1>power to control or influence those wearing the other rings

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<v Speaker 1>of power. In ancient Germanic mythology, the world of men

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<v Speaker 1>is known by several names. The Old English Middangard descends

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<v Speaker 1>from an earlier Germanic word, and so has cognates, such

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<v Speaker 1>as the Old Norse mythsgharer from Norse mythology, transliterated to

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<v Speaker 1>modern English as mid guard. The original meaning of the

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<v Speaker 1>second element from proto Germanic gardas was enclosure, cognate with

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<v Speaker 1>English yard. Meddingard was assimilated by folk etymology to Middle Earth.

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<v Speaker 1>Middle Earth was at the center of nine worlds in

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<v Speaker 1>Norse mythology, and of three worlds was heaven above held

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<v Speaker 1>below in some later Christian versions. Tolkien's first encounter with

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<v Speaker 1>the term mitten guard, as he stated in a letter,

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<v Speaker 1>was in an Old English fragment he studied in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>thirteen to nineteen fourteen. This is from the christ First

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<v Speaker 1>poem by Kinnewulf. The name Aarundel was the inspiration for

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<v Speaker 1>Tolkien's mariner Aerundel, who set sail from the lands of

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<v Speaker 1>Middle Earth to ask for aid from the angelic powers

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<v Speaker 1>of Alar. Tolkien's earliest poem about Arundel from nineteen fourteen,

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<v Speaker 1>the same year he read the Christ poem refers to

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<v Speaker 1>the midworld's rim. Tolkien CON's tittered midden Gard to be

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<v Speaker 1>the abiding place of men, the physical world in which

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<v Speaker 1>man lives out his life and destiny, as opposed to

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<v Speaker 1>the unseen worlds above and below it, namely Heaven and Hell.

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<v Speaker 1>He states that it is my mother Earth for place,

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<v Speaker 1>but in an imaginary pastime, not some other planet. He

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<v Speaker 1>began to use the term Middle Earth in the late

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen thirties in place of the earlier terms great lands,

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<v Speaker 1>outer lands, and hither lands. The first published appearance of

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<v Speaker 1>the word middle Earth in Tolkien's works is in the

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<v Speaker 1>prolog to the Lord of the Rings. Abbots had in

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<v Speaker 1>fact lived quietly in Middle Earth for many long years

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<v Speaker 1>before other folk even became aware of them. The term

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<v Speaker 1>Middle Earth has come to be applied as a shorthand

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<v Speaker 1>for the entirety of Tolkien's legendarium, instead of the technically

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<v Speaker 1>more appropriate but lesser known terms Arda for the physical

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<v Speaker 1>world and Aea for the physical reality of creation as

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<v Speaker 1>a whole. In careful geographical terms, middle Earth is a

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<v Speaker 1>continent on Arda excluding regions such as Amman and the

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<v Speaker 1>Isle of numenor the alternative wider use is reflected in

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<v Speaker 1>book titles such as The Complete Guide to Middle Earth,

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<v Speaker 1>The Road to Middle Earth, The Atlas of Middle Earth,

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<v Speaker 1>and Christopher Tolkien's twelve volume series The History of Middle Earth.

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<v Speaker 1>Tolkien's biographer Humphrycarp under states that Tolkien's Middle Earth is

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<v Speaker 1>the known world, recalling the Norse Midguard and the equivalent

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<v Speaker 1>words in Early English, noting that Tolkien made it clear

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<v Speaker 1>that this was our world in a purely imaginary period

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<v Speaker 1>of antiquity. Tolkien explained in a letter to his publisher

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<v Speaker 1>that it is just a use of Middle English middle Rada,

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<v Speaker 1>or Earth, altered from Old English, mittinguard, the name for

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<v Speaker 1>the inhabited lands of men between the seas. There are

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<v Speaker 1>allusions to a similarly or identically named world in the

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<v Speaker 1>work of other writers, both before and after him. William

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<v Speaker 1>Morris's eighteen seventy translation of the Volsung Saga calls the

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<v Speaker 1>world Midguard. Margaret Whittimer's nineteen eight eighteen poems The Gray

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<v Speaker 1>Magician contains the lines I was living very merrily on

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<v Speaker 1>Middle Earth, as merry as a maid may be till

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<v Speaker 1>the Gray Magician came down along the road and flung

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<v Speaker 1>his cobweb cloak on me. C. S. Lewis's nineteen thirty

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<v Speaker 1>eight nineteen forty five Space Trilogy calls the home planet

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<v Speaker 1>middle Earth and specifically references Tolkien's unpublished Legendarium. Both men

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<v Speaker 1>were members of the Inkling's Literary Discussion Group. Within the

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<v Speaker 1>overall context of his Legendarium, Tolkien's Middle Earth was part

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<v Speaker 1>of his created world of Arda, which includes the underlying

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<v Speaker 1>lands of Ahman and Eressa, removed from the rest of

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<v Speaker 1>the physical world, which itself was part of the wider

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<v Speaker 1>creation he called Aya. Aman and Middle Earth are separated

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<v Speaker 1>from each other by the great Sea Belager, though they

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<v Speaker 1>may contact in the far north at the Grinding Ice

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<v Speaker 1>or Helcaraxa. The western continent Amman was the home of

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<v Speaker 1>the Valar and the elves called the Eldar. On the

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<v Speaker 1>eastern side of Middle Earth was the Eastern Sea. Most

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<v Speaker 1>of the events in Tolkien's stories take place in the

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<v Speaker 1>northwest of Middle Earth. In the First Age, Further to

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<v Speaker 1>the northwest was the subcontinent Bellerian. It was engulfed by

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<v Speaker 1>the ocean at the end of the First Age, Tolkien

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<v Speaker 1>prepared several maps of Middle Earth, some were published in

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<v Speaker 1>his lifetime. The main maps are those published in The Hobbit,

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<v Speaker 1>The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales,

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<v Speaker 1>and appear as fold outs or illustrations. Tolkien insists that

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<v Speaker 1>maps be included in the book for the benefit of readers,

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<v Speaker 1>despite the expense involved. The definitive and iconic map of

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<v Speaker 1>Middle Earth was published in the Lord of the Rings.

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<v Speaker 1>It was refined with Tolkien's approval by the illustrator of

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<v Speaker 1>Pauline Baines, using Tolkien's detailed annotations with vignette images and

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<v Speaker 1>larger paintings at top and bottom into a standalone poster.

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<v Speaker 1>A map of Middle Earth in Tolkien's conception art was

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<v Speaker 1>created specifically as the habitation Imbar and Ambar, where the

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<v Speaker 1>children of a Luvitar elves and men. It is envisaged

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<v Speaker 1>in a flat earth cosmology for the stars and later

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<v Speaker 1>also the sun and moon revolving around it. Tolkien's sketches

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<v Speaker 1>show a disc like face for the world, which looked

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<v Speaker 1>up to the stars. However, Tolkien's Legendarium addresses the spherical

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<v Speaker 1>Earth paradigm by depicting a catastrophic transition from a flat

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<v Speaker 1>to a spherical world known as the yak Lebath, in

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<v Speaker 1>which Ahman became inaccessible to mortal men. Tolkien described the

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<v Speaker 1>region in which the Hobbits lived as the northwest of

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<v Speaker 1>the Old World, east of the Sea, and the northwest

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<v Speaker 1>of the Old World is essentially Europe, especially Britain. However,

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<v Speaker 1>as he noted in private letters, the geographies do not match,

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<v Speaker 1>and he did not consciously make them match when he

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<v Speaker 1>was writing. He did confirm, however, that the Shire, the

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<v Speaker 1>land of his Hobbit heroes, was based on England, in

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<v Speaker 1>particular the West Midlands of his childhood. In the prologue

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<v Speaker 1>to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien writes, those days

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<v Speaker 1>the Third Age of Middle Earth are now long past,

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<v Speaker 1>and the shape of all lands has been changed. The

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<v Speaker 1>appendacees make several references in both history and etymology of

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<v Speaker 1>topics now in modern English languages and then ancient languages.

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<v Speaker 1>Both the appendices and the Silmarillian mention constellations stars planets

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<v Speaker 1>that correspond to those seen in the northern hemisphere of Earth,

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<v Speaker 1>including the Sun, the Moon, Orion and his belt, Ursa

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<v Speaker 1>Major and Mars. A map annotated by Tolkien places Hobbitant

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<v Speaker 1>on the same latitude as Oxford, a ministerius at the

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<v Speaker 1>latitude of Ravenna, Italy. He used Belgrade, Cyprus, and Jerusalem

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<v Speaker 1>as further reference points. The history of Middle Earth, as

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<v Speaker 1>described in The Silmarillion, began when the Anur entered Arda,

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<v Speaker 1>following the creation events in the Ainulindale and long ages

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<v Speaker 1>of labors throughout Aa. The fictional universe. Time from that

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<v Speaker 1>point was measured using valley in years, though the subsequent

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<v Speaker 1>hist history of Arda was divided into three time periods

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<v Speaker 1>using different years, known as the Years of the Lamps,

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<v Speaker 1>the Years of the Trees, and the Years of the Sun.

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<v Speaker 1>A separate overlapping chronology divides the history into ages of

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<v Speaker 1>the children of a Lubatar. The first such age began

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<v Speaker 1>with the awakening of the elves during the Years of

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<v Speaker 1>the Trees, by which time the Anor had already long

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<v Speaker 1>inhabited Arta, and continued for the first six centuries of

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<v Speaker 1>the Years of the Sun. All the subsequent ages took

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<v Speaker 1>place during the Years of the Sun. Arta is, as

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<v Speaker 1>critics have noted, our own green and solid Earth at

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<v Speaker 1>some quite remote epic in the past. As such, it

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<v Speaker 1>has not only an immediate story, but a history, and

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<v Speaker 1>the whole thing is an imagined prehistory of the Earth

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<v Speaker 1>as it is now. The Ainre were angelic beings created

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<v Speaker 1>by the one god of Aa Eru Elluvatar. The cosmological

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<v Speaker 1>myth called the Nulindale or Music of the Ainore, describes

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<v Speaker 1>how the Anor sang for Alluvatar, who then created Aya

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<v Speaker 1>to give material form to their music. Many of the

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<v Speaker 1>Ainre entered Aya, and the greatest of these were called

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<v Speaker 1>the Valar. Melchor, the chief agent of evil an Aa

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<v Speaker 1>and later called Morgoth, was initially one of the Valar.

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<v Speaker 1>With the Valar came less her spirits of the Anor

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<v Speaker 1>called the Mayar Melian. The wife of the Elvin king

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<v Speaker 1>Singhal in the First Age was a Maaya. There were

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<v Speaker 1>also evil Mayar, including the Baurogs and the second dark

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<v Speaker 1>lord Sauron. Sauran devised the black speech Bursum for his

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<v Speaker 1>slaves such as orks, to speak. In the Third Age,

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<v Speaker 1>five of the Mayar were embodied and sent to Middle

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<v Speaker 1>Earth to help the free peoples to overthrow Sauron. These

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<v Speaker 1>are the Astari or wizards, including Gandalf, Sauraman, and Ratagast.

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<v Speaker 1>The elves are known as the first born of a Luvatar,

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<v Speaker 1>intelligent beings created by a Luvatar alone, with many different clans. Originally,

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<v Speaker 1>elves all spoke the same common Eldern ancestral tongue, but

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<v Speaker 1>over thousands of years it diverged into different languages. The

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<v Speaker 1>two main Elven languages were Quenya, spoken by the light elves,

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<v Speaker 1>and Sindarin, spoken by the dark Elves. Physically, the elves

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<v Speaker 1>resemble humans. Indeed, they can marry and have children with them,

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<v Speaker 1>as shown by the few half Elvin in the Legendarium.

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<v Speaker 1>The Elves are agile and quick footed, being able to

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<v Speaker 1>walk a tight rope unaided. Their eyesight is keen. Elves

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<v Speaker 1>are immortal unless killed in battle. They are re embodied

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<v Speaker 1>in Vallenore if killed. Men were the second born of

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<v Speaker 1>the children of a Luvatar. They awoke in Middle Earth

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<v Speaker 1>much later than the Elves. Men and Hobbuds were the

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<v Speaker 1>last humanoid race to appear in Middle Earth. Dwarfs, ense

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<v Speaker 1>and Orcs also preceded them. The capitalized term man plural

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<v Speaker 1>men is used as a gender neutral racial description to

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<v Speaker 1>distinguish humans from other human like races of Middle Earth.

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<v Speaker 1>In appearance, they are much like elves, but on average

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<v Speaker 1>less beautiful. Unlike elves, men are mortal, aging and dying quickly,

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<v Speaker 1>usually living forty to eighty years. However, the Numenorians could

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<v Speaker 1>live several centuries, and their descendants, the Dunodine, also tended

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<v Speaker 1>to live long and regular humans. This tendency was weakened

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<v Speaker 1>both by time and by intermingling with lesser peoples. The

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<v Speaker 1>Dwarfs are a race of humanoids who are shorter than

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<v Speaker 1>men but larger than hobbits. The dwarfs were created by

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<v Speaker 1>the Valla Allah before the first born awoke, due to

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<v Speaker 1>his impatience for the arrival of the children of a

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<v Speaker 1>Luvatar to teach and to cherish. When confronted and shamed

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<v Speaker 1>for his presumption by a Luvatar, Heeru took pity on

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<v Speaker 1>Allah and gave his creation the gift of life, but

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<v Speaker 1>under the condition that they be taken and put to

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<v Speaker 1>sleep in widely separated locations a Middle Earth, and not

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<v Speaker 1>to awaken until after the first born were upon the Earth.

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<v Speaker 1>They are mortal like men, but live much longer, usually

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<v Speaker 1>several hundred years. A peculiarity of dwarves is that Both

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<v Speaker 1>males and females are bearded, and thus appear identical to outsiders.

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<v Speaker 1>The language spoken by dwarves is called Kustoul and was

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<v Speaker 1>kept largely as a secret language for their own use.

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<v Speaker 1>Like Hobbods, dwarves live exclusively in Middle Earth. They generally

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<v Speaker 1>reside under mountains, where they are specialists in mining and metalwork.

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<v Speaker 1>Tolkien identified Hobbits as an offshoot of the race of men.

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<v Speaker 1>Another name for Hobbits is halfling, as they were generally

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<v Speaker 1>only half the size of men. In their lifestyle and habits,

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<v Speaker 1>they closely resemble men and in particular Englishmen, except for

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<v Speaker 1>their preference for living in holes underground. By the time

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<v Speaker 1>of the Hobbit, most of them lived in the Shire,

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<v Speaker 1>a region of the northwest of Middle Earth, having migrated

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<v Speaker 1>there from further east. The Nts were treelike shepherds of trees,

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<v Speaker 1>their name coming from an Old English word for giant.

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<v Speaker 1>Orcs and trolls made of stone, were evil creatures bred

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<v Speaker 1>by Morgoth. They were not original creations, but rather mockeries

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<v Speaker 1>of the children of Aluvatar elves and ends, respectively. Since

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<v Speaker 1>only a Louvatar has the ability to give conscious life

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<v Speaker 1>to things, The precise origins of Orcs and trolls are unclear,

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<v Speaker 1>as Tolkien considered various possibilities and sometimes changed his mind,

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<v Speaker 1>leaving several inconsistent accounts. Late in the Third Age, the

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<v Speaker 1>Urugs or Uruki appeared, a race of Orcs of great

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<v Speaker 1>size and strength that tolerate sunlight better than ordinary Orcs.

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<v Speaker 1>Tolkien also mentions men orcs and orcmen, or half orcs

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<v Speaker 1>or goblin men. They share some characteristics with Orcs, like

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<v Speaker 1>slinty eyes, but look more like men. Tolkien, a Catholic,

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<v Speaker 1>realized he had created a dilemma for himself. If these

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<v Speaker 1>beings were sentient and had a sense of right and wrong,

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<v Speaker 1>then they must have souls and could not have been

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<v Speaker 1>created wholly evil. Dragons or worms appear in several varieties,

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<v Speaker 1>distinguished by whether they have wings and whether they breathe fire.

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<v Speaker 1>Cold drakes versus fire drakes. The first of the fire

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<v Speaker 1>dregs Uruloki in Quenya was Glaurrung, the Golden bred by

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<v Speaker 1>Morgoth and Engbad, and called the Great Worm, the worm

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<v Speaker 1>of Morgoth and the father of dragons. Middle Earth contains

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<v Speaker 1>Sapian animals, including the eagles Huon the great Hound from Vallenor,

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<v Speaker 1>and the wolf like wargs in general. The origins and

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<v Speaker 1>nature of these animals are unclear. The horse line of

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<v Speaker 1>the Miras of Rohan, especially Gendolf's Mount Shadow Facts, also

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<v Speaker 1>appears to be intelligent and understand human speech. The bear

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<v Speaker 1>man Bijorn had a number of animal friends about his house.

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<v Speaker 1>The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, both said

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<v Speaker 1>in Middle Earth, have been the subject of a variety

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<v Speaker 1>of film adaptations. There were many early failed attempts to

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<v Speaker 1>bring the fictional universe to life on screen, some even

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<v Speaker 1>rejected by the author himself, who is skeptical of the

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<v Speaker 1>prospects of an adaptation. While animated and live action shorts

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<v Speaker 1>were made of Tolkien's books in nineteen sixty seven, in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventy one, the first commercial depiction of The Hobbit

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<v Speaker 1>on screen was the Rankin Bass animated TV special in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventy sevennineteen seventy eight, the first big screen adaptation

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<v Speaker 1>of the fictional setting was introduced in Ralph Bakshi's animated

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<v Speaker 1>The Lord of the Rings. New Line Cinema released the

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<v Speaker 1>first part of director Peter Jackson's The Lord of the

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<v Speaker 1>Rings film series in two thousand one as part of

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<v Speaker 1>a trilogy. It was followed by a prequel trilogy in

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<v Speaker 1>the Hobbit film series, with several of the same actors

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<v Speaker 1>playing their old roles. In two thousand three, The Lord

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<v Speaker 1>of the Rings The Return of the King received eleven

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<v Speaker 1>Academy Award nominations and won all of them, matching the

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<v Speaker 1>totals awarded to Ben Her and Titanic. Two fan films

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<v Speaker 1>set in Middle Earth, The Hunt for Gollum and Born

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<v Speaker 1>of Hope, were uploaded to YouTube on May eighth, two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand nine, and December eleventh, two thousand nine, respectively. Numerous

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<v Speaker 1>computer and video games have been inspired by J. R. R.

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<v Speaker 1>Tolkien's works set in Middle Earth. Titles have been produced

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<v Speaker 1>by studios such as Electronic Arts, Vendi Games, Melbourne House,

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<v Speaker 1>and Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment. Aside from officially licensed games,

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<v Speaker 1>many Tolkien inspired mods, custom mAbs and total conversions have

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<v Speaker 1>been made for many games, such as war Craft three, Minecraft, Rome,

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<v Speaker 1>Total War, Medieval two, Total War, The Elder Scrolls four Oblivion,

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<v Speaker 1>and The Elder Scrolls five Skyrim. In addition, there are

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<v Speaker 1>many text bays, m m O r pgs known as

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<v Speaker 1>m use based on Middle Earth. The oldest of these

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<v Speaker 1>dates back to nineteen ninety one and was known as

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<v Speaker 1>Middle Earth m U D run by using l P

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<v Speaker 1>m U D. After the Middle Earth m U D

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<v Speaker 1>ended in nineteen ninety two, it was followed by eleandor

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<v Speaker 1>N m U m E