Middle-earth Reflections
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Middle-earth Reflections is the record of the essays on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien
Middle-earth Reflections
11M ago
Languages hide a vast amount of information about a certain people, their history, traditions and culture. Words, phrases, names can be a huge treasury of lore and beliefs, values and viewpoints. When we speak of the Elves, it is also true. They were the Firstborn Children of Eru Ilúvatar — fair and gifted individuals who ..read more
Middle-earth Reflections
1y ago
Different peoples in the world of Arda have their own typical traits that make them special and different from other races. The Dwarves are known to be rather secretive about their own selves. They tend to keep to themselves and very little is known about them or their traditions to the peoples of Middle-earth. One ..read more
Middle-earth Reflections
1y ago
The importance of weather phenomena is hard to overestimate in the world of Arda. Whether weather conditions are natural, or the result of some activity on behalf of good or evil powers, they sometimes play a defining role in certain events in Middle-earth. When it comes to wind, it is not always a mere breath ..read more
Middle-earth Reflections
1y ago
J. R. R. Tolkien was a gifted philologist. His philological interests, according to the Professor himself, were largely scientific, and that shows clearly in his own literary work. Just a read through The History of Middle-earth with its linguistic bits, in-depth philological essays, carefully crafted and restored etymologies for his own invented languages demonstrates as ..read more
Middle-earth Reflections
1y ago
When it comes to stories by J. R. R. Tolkien, you can always rely on him in providing his readers with the most many-dimensional characters. There are rather few who are either absolutely good or absolutely evil: most individuals in the tales of Arda are rather complex and have their own — not always easy ..read more
Middle-earth Reflections
1y ago
Whenever we meet Elves in Tolkien’s tales, their age is often very hard to discern. To mortal eyes they may appear as middle-aged individuals in full vigour, but in reality they can be thousands years old. Having a different life-span to that of Men, Elves grow older much more slowly, but grow older they do ..read more
Middle-earth Reflections
1y ago
It is written in my life-blood, such as that is, thick or thin; and I can no other. I fear it must stand or fall as it substantially is. (Tolkien on The Lord of the Rings, 1947) When I look back at how Tolkien’s books entered my life, I like to think that it was ..read more
Middle-earth Reflections
1y ago
It was often the case that in his writings J. R. R. Tolkien used unusual words either in their older meanings changed today, or the ones no longer in active use. It is such words that create a very special old-fashioned atmosphere of most of the Professor’s tales, tone them down to the stories of ..read more
Middle-earth Reflections
1y ago
In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien readers meet various kinds of ghostly characters. While they are all different, have various origins, backgrounds and specific traits, one aspect unites them: these wights instil great fear and are downright spooky. It is hard not to have one’s blood chilled by the Ringwraiths, not to be ..read more
Middle-earth Reflections
1y ago
Melkor, mostly known as Morgoth, firmly belongs among the darkest characters in Arda. He is clearly associated with darkness, night and he is responsible for making these two notions frightening. However, Melkor’s downfall was a complex matter, and one of its constituents was his desire of Light. As he was becoming more and more corrupt ..read more