# Geography of Middle-Earth...



## Orcrist (Jun 1, 2004)

I've always been curious as to why Tolkien, who made the goegraphy of his fantastic world realistic, decided to distance from a realistic look when 'designing' Mordor. I mean, after all, when would one ever find a mountain range that makes a sudden 90 degree turn, or actually two different ranges that intersect perpendicularly?

Was it simply to give the area a look of an 'impenetrable fortress' and to make it seem isolated, or did he want to give Middle-Earth more of a fantastic look?

Thanks for any input!


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## HLGStrider (Jun 1, 2004)

I'd say it was simply a matter of making Mordor as hard to get into as possible. I mean, if it had had a huge open plain on the top there would have been no need to go through Cirith Ungol. . .Truthfully, I like how it looks. It looks strange in a good way.


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## Maeglin (Jun 1, 2004)

does it say in any of the HOME books that Sauron raised the mountains as a fortress around Mordor? I'm not sure if it does, but if that's the case, then Tolkien just made the mountains as another part of the mythology he created, more so than the geography.


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## Arthur_Vandelay (Jun 2, 2004)

Someone's borrowing my _Atlas_ at the moment, but I believe Karen Wynn Fonstad demonstrates (i.e. in the _Atlas of Middle-earth_) how Mordor's geological morphology--if not its climate--is actually quite feasible. (From memory it has something to do with volcanic activity?--could be wrong though).


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## GuardianRanger (Jun 3, 2004)

Arthur_Vandelay said:


> Someone's borrowing my _Atlas_ at the moment, but I believe Karen Wynn Fonstad demonstrates (i.e. in the _Atlas of Middle-earth_) how Mordor's geological morphology--if not its climate--is actually quite feasible. (From memory it has something to do with volcanic activity?--could be wrong though).



Breaking out my Atlas by Fonstad...

Her discussion of Mordor and the adjacent lands is on pages 90 and 91. There is no direct reference as to why the three mountain ranges meat at 90 degree angles and create a three sided wall. There are, though, numerous references to volcanos and volcanic activity.

One passage states:


> Possibly the ranges could have been folded and faulted as well. Faulting probably produced the truogh between the Ephel Duath and the Morgai through which the Hobbits crept north from Cirith Ungol.



Other than that...there is nothing specially mentioned about the ranges that I could find.

I may have missed something.


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## Arthur_Vandelay (Jun 3, 2004)

> Breaking out my Atlas by Fonstad...
> 
> Her discussion of Mordor and the adjacent lands is on pages 90 and 91. There is no direct reference as to why the three mountain ranges meat at 90 degree angles and create a three sided wall. There are, though, numerous references to volcanos and volcanic activity.



Damn...so I was wrong about that, then.

We need a TTFer with geological expertise to clear this up for us.

(On the other hand, as Fonstad points out, Mordor's climate is completely "unrealistic"--the product of Sauron's power rather than natural conditions. So the same can probably be said for the shape of the mountain ranges surrounding Mordor, as well.)


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## Barliman Butterbur (Jun 4, 2004)

Orcrist said:


> I've always been curious as to why Tolkien, who made the goegraphy of his fantastic world realistic, decided to distance from a realistic look when 'designing' Mordor. I mean, after all, when would one ever find a mountain range that makes a sudden 90 degree turn, or actually two different ranges that intersect perpendicularly?
> 
> Was it simply to give the area a look of an 'impenetrable fortress' and to make it seem isolated, or did he want to give Middle-Earth more of a fantastic look?
> 
> Thanks for any input!



I would imagine that he designed the map to fit the story, not knowing fact one about topology, geography, geology, climatology, meteorology or vulcanology.

Barley


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