I see Middle-earth

[alatar]

Have you ever 'seen' a place from Middle Earth as you're walking/driving around? Now that the movies are out, we all have new images of ME available to replace those created in our heads when we first read the books (Note that PJ was pretty spot-on when it came to the scenery).

However, for me the old images still persist, and there are places around where I live that to me are Middle Earth. For example:

There's a coke plant (the material used to make steel, not the beverage) nearby that I always see as Mordor. At night the place has an eerie, menacing look with orange fires and red lights playing atop towers of black. Ever present smoke smudges the view, and the bridges/ramps jutting out of buildings at odd angles make it look more like a growth of black crabgrass than something made by men.

The place is surrounded by coal fields where (obviously) coal is stored. Machines pile it into small mountains, then remove it again as it is needed for processing. This makes the ground appear black, sharp and lifeless. Puddles of rain collected in depressions appear as sickly mirrors, as there's always some oil to add color. I always see this as Gorgoroth, especially as the air has a sharp sulfur smell, and on a good day can really get you coughing.

The hills across the river, downwind and so receiving most of the pollution, are barren of color for most of the year. These 'Brown Hills' are mostly dirt and rock with some patches of scratchy weeds that never seem to turn green.

As kids we used to play in the remains of an old deserted terra-cotta pipe mill near where we lived, and the concrete roads and structures served as Moria. Fire-blackened brick furnaces still remain, and we could see where the Dwarves made their livelihood and also marks of the Balrog's passage. The underground sewer that runs from the mill to the river (about 100 yards) gave an understanding to the meaning of "long dark road" as we made our way sans lights from one end to the other.

A private owner now lives in Lothlorien, and not wanting to trespass I can only see what is visible from the street. It's rumored that the owner (or former owner) of this estate is a botanist, and she brought and planted trees from all over on the grounds, and now the exotic trees of many colors, textures, etc give the place a wooded, elvish feel. The trees are large and so block some of the sun, adding to the mystery. In winter snow adds to the effect, as the 'whiteness' makes me think more of Galadriel.

A man-made hill of slag juts up above the treeline near a road I travel, and one day I would like to get a closer look at the top of Weathertop to see if there are any rocks there that are scored with a 'G' rune - you never know.

Anyway, anyone else so afflicted?

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Nothing so interesting as that, I am afraid. Those are some interesting examples you post, especially Gorgoroth.

I am reminded of the Shire a lot; British countryside will do that to you.

[Glirdan]

It is a very interesting thought, but there isn't really anything around here (Canada) that reminds me of ME, except maybe the mountains here. They kind of remind me of Caradhras.

[alatar]

I really hope that it's not just me being a little too geeked out about ME. Note that I've left out places that as a teenager I'd named as ME locations just because they have one attribute in common.

[Lathriel]

I am somewhat afflicted

For exampl when I see an extremely dark red sunrise It reminds me of Mordor and I call it a Mordorian sunrise. This view is however affected by the movies.

But i also have the old forest nearby. Althought it is a very small old forest since Alberta doesn't have many deciferous trees.

[mark12_30]

There are beech groves nearby that sing to me of Lothlorien.

Pine ridges that remind me of Frodo's desire to check out the Pine Ridge in Rivendell.

Drumlins (that's what New Englanders call rocky outcroppings on the tops of old hills) remind me of trolls caves in the Ettenmoors.

Any beach reminds me of the Grey havens or of the older elf-havens to the south (Edhellond.)

Streams remind me of the stream near Bag End that both Bilbo and Frodo crossed as they departed (with the little wooden bridge, there are a few of those around.)

...I could go on and on...

[Snorri Swifthammer]

My aunt has a cabin up near Imperial, PA that struck me as a good vision of Woodhall. Nice old trees with some good paths between them. Clearings that my family maintained. Racoon Creek is literally down a hill from the cabin.

Originally Posted by Lathriel

For exampl when I see an extremely dark red sunrise It reminds me of Mordor and I call it a Mordorian sunrise.

Is it just me or would that make a great drink name?

[Lhunardawen]

This is posted at the door of a room in my univ's Bio building (of sorts):

NUMENOR is a COMPUTER ROOM.



It is NOT a tambayan*!

*a place for hanging out in Filipino

To think that will be my home in the univ...that's so cool!

[Farael]

Well, I just read the thread about "walking to Rivendel" and I had an epiphany. There is this this great forest which I once went biking to with a friend. It was not the best idea as it had just rained and the trails were very muddy.... but while biking around I got this feeling of re-tracing Frodo's journey... specially as the mosquitoes drove my friend and I away. I think next summer I will go walking rather than biking... and who knows? I might just find Rivendel lost in there!

[alatar]

Originally Posted by alatar

A man-made hill of slag juts up above the treeline near a road I travel, and one day I would like to get a closer look at the top of Weathertop to see if there are any rocks there that are scored with a 'G' rune - you never know.

Anyway, wanted to add one more. At the bottom of this steep hill is a square doorway - aged, dark, of stone construction. Try as I might I cannot see where it leads, and again it is on private property so... I assume that the actual purpose of the 'room' is for some kind of storage, like a root cellar frm years past. However, to me it just inspires visions of the Paths of the Dead.

Both pictures were taken from my car, and so they might not be the best. Plus I didn't want to be seen, as the 'truth' if asked why I was taking the pictures might have landed me in the loony bin.

"Well, there's this online forum where all we talk about is Tolkien..."

[Formendacil]

Weathertop is sweet, Alatar, but I must quibble with your Paths of the Dead. Tolkienish they look indeed, but they conjure up an image more of the Barrow Downs... (Not these ones, the ones by Tom Bombadil's house. )

Thanks for sharing. Clearly, you live in a mystical neighbourhood.

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

Weathertop is sweet, Alatar, but I must quibble with your Paths of the Dead. Tolkienish they look indeed, but they conjure up an image more of the Barrow Downs... (Not these ones, the ones by Tom Bombadil's house. )

Actually, I would agree, as in the PotD, what I see is in this case not 'what I see.' Completely illogical, but there it is.

Clearly, you live in a mystical neighbourhood.

Maybe, but it may be all in my head, as I think that the neighbors wish I lived in some other mystical neighborhood.

Neighbor #1 to neighbor #2: "If he says, 'You shall not pass!' one more time to me..."

Edit: Note that the "Weathertop" hill is situated just above a major road, as it should be.

[Galadriel55]

http://nerwen20.deviantart.com/#/d3hi3sj

This one looks Shirish as well. Or maybe Breeish.

Galadriel, I see you changed yor sig as well as your avvie. I had to look at your profile to make sure its you.

[Galadriel55]

Not seeing ME, but hearing it...

Recently I discovered that the Rohirric tongue reminds me of Ukrainian. Probably because of the abundance of e and y sounds. But maybe that's just because that is how I see Ukranian as compared to Russian...

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Not seeing ME, but hearing it...

Recently I discovered that the Rohirric tongue reminds me of Ukrainian. Probably because of the abundance of e and y sounds. But maybe that's just because that is how I see Ukranian as compared to Russian...

Maybe also Ukraine reminds you of Rohan, because of those wide plains... being roamed by the Cossacks on horseback.

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

Maybe also Ukraine reminds you of Rohan, because of those wide plains... being roamed by the Cossacks on horseback.

Yes, that too.

[Bom Tombadillo]

Sadly, I've nothing to contribute myself, as I don't get out much (and when I do, it's to urban areas - and not even especially Mordor-esque ones!) but Eonwe's picture of the Helcaraxe is marvelous.