# Tolkien's exact location of Middle Earth?



## Miss Rainbow (May 12, 2004)

I was wondering, I know they filmed it in "New Zealand," but, where do you suppose Tolkien could have had all that located in Middle Earth?-Maybe portrayed in "France," or "Germany," or "Spain," or "New Zealand," or.....? I know there is a town in France called "Bree," or is it spelled different than the story?-What country do you suppose?
Thank you very much; may Christ guide your heart.


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## Turin (May 12, 2004)

I'm a little rusty but I remember UT says something about it being in England. Maybe someone else will give you a more detailed answer.


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## Ithrynluin (May 14, 2004)

Didn't J.R.R. equate the North-Western part of Middle-Earth (where _The Hobbit _and _The Lord of the Rings _take place) to Europe at one time, but later rejected the idea? I believe he modelled the Shire after the English countryside...

This site may be of some interest.


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## Dark_Glamdring (May 14, 2004)

I think Middle Earth is located on no-where in this planet, but it was inspired in Europe and some other places. Have no idea which places were exactly Tolkien´s inspiration but it was Europe , where he lived.


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## Lantarion (May 14, 2004)

The Shire + Tom Bombadil as the English countryside I think are the limits of Tolkien's equating M-e to anyplace real.. But there are obviously extremely many similarities with our Earth in his cosmology; having one Sun and one Moon is perhaps the greatest similarity; also he renamed many actual stars and constellations in Quenya and Sindarin, as part of Arda. And if you look at maps of Arda (e.g. Wynn-Fonstad's amazing Atlas), the continent of Far Harad looks a <I>lot</i> like Africa, Middle-earth seems to resemble Northern/Western Europe in shape and size, and Aman was located where America is in relation to Europe too.. And the whole Númenor/Atlantis thing too, I think Tolkien's 'version' was in the same palce as some legends say Atlantis was (or rather the island of Poseidonis, I think; Atlantis is said to have been an enormous kingdom, not just an island). 
But no precise equating, as far as I am aware.


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## Flame of Udûn (May 14, 2004)

This site sums it up nicely.


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## Barliman Butterbur (May 15, 2004)

Flame of Udûn said:


> This site sums it up nicely.



Wow! How did you find that site? And it seems to be "hidden" in a main site for a University!

Lotho


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## Flame of Udûn (May 15, 2004)

I searched for '"imaginary time" "real place"', because I remembered reading something like that term in one of the Letters.


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## Dark_Glamdring (May 15, 2004)

Oh well, interesting. For me it was just a fantasy world, I mean, just like any other person´s fantasy world it has many realtion with the real world, no exactly located in our terrenal-reality but inspired on it, a place in people´s mind.
I will read those articles and letters to have more info about Tolkien´s Middle Earth was truly based on terrenal-earth or something.


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## Miss Rainbow (May 24, 2004)

*Where is the exact location of Middle Earth?*

 Ok, this may be a shot in the dark, and also a silly question; here goes-Do you think that maybe perhaps Middle Earth could have been "New Zealand?" Well, because at one time the lands were once connected to each other and maybe New Zealand was connected to "Australia", and broke away through the eons of time. Is this crazy or what???? I don't know, it's a possibility.


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## aeglos (Jun 25, 2004)

Tolkien himself stated that Middle Earth was the very world in which we live today. However, the first, second, third, and fourth ages all occured thousands of years in the past. He said that The Silmarillion and LOTR was the very history that is tied to the world's past. He also claimed that he discovered the real "Red Book of Westmarch," and said that he did not create these masterpieces, but translated from the real book written by the hobbits.


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## greypilgrim (Jun 25, 2004)

I stared at the map in the books, and it looks like Europe to me.


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