Middle-Earth Essence

[ninlaith]

Is there anything that makes you feel "connected" to Middle-Earth? I know sometimes when I eat, drink, or smell something when I'm reading LOTR it gets stuck in my head and every time I encounter one of those things I'm wisked away to Middle-Earth even if it's just for a moment. It's truly a remarkable journey. So BDer's..is there anything that gives you the same feelings??

[Son of Númenor]

Bob Marley - Johnny Was
Wings - Band On The Run

I couldn't tell you exactly why (it may have something to do with my listening to them frequently while surfing the Downs, and with the melancholy tones of the songs), but these songs seem to 'connect' me to the world of Middle-earth more than any other specific experiences (aside, maybe, from reading my favorite parts of the books). There is also the elusive word, scent or sound that sends me to Middle-earth; I most often find myself in the fire-lit den at Bag End with Frodo and Gandalf, in the Dwarrowdelf with the Fellowship, and walking in the hills of Caras Galadhon with Estel.

[ninlaith]

I get the same feeling when I smell wood smoke...One major scent though is that of vanilla. The whole time I was reading the Hobbit for the first time I lit a French Vanilla candle every time I started reading. Also whenever I eat those Frosted Animal Cookies it reminds me of what I imagine the texture of Lembas to be...except without the frosting.

[mark12_30]

On a crisp winter night, the delicate moon-shadow of bare branches on the snow.

The moon "caught in the branches" of a bare tree in winter.

( In February: Golden scottish crocus = Elanor. Snowdrops = Niphredil, of course. )

Making a pot of tea to share with a friend.

The wind in my hair.

The sun on the water.

The way an open window freshens the air of a room, enticing you to go out of doors... perhaps without a pocket-hankerchief.

The Milky Way. The Northern Cross. The Pleiades.

Moss (actually, that draws me into George MacDonald's works even more.)

Following a deer-trail to see where it goes (Archet.)

Walking on a pine ridge (Rivendell.)

Beech trees, especially the Crown Beech or the Beech Woods nearby.

Watching the waves roll in and break on the beach or on the rocks: Grey Havens.

Bedewed gossamer.

The sheen on a leaf.

[Raefindel]

The smell of maple leaves after they've fallen.

Frost on a fallen leaf.

fiddle-necks (partially unrolled ferns) in the spring.

Coffee, out of doors on a chill morning.

fog on the bay with the mountains just peaking out above.

Licorice ferns hanging form the maples in the rainforest.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

What a nice idea for a thread... For me, the sight of a field of corn, just ripening. A cup of hot cider on a cold autumn evening. Sitting by the fire with friends. Any time I see a plain gold wedding band.

Fea

[ninlaith]

This turned out to be better than I expected. You all give me chills.

Seeing my Uncle sitting is his chair smoking and thinking(Gandalf & Bilbo)

Mist on the peaks of nearby mountains.

The smell of fall

A pale spring morning

Going barefoot

Sitting fairly low to the ground at anytime

Certain people in my life that are true and honest who remind me of Hobbits and intellectuals who remind me of Elves

the snow

living in a valley surrounded by mountains

rolling foot-hills and little rivers

[Neferchoirwen]

Originally Posted by Feanor of the Peredhil

Any time I see a plain gold wedding band.

Fea

... and conspicuously so Now that you've mentioned it, I do feel a bit eerie everytime I see a gold wedding band and stare at it for too long. Seriously, it happens to me sometimes.

There is a time of the year when my room would be brightened up by the 4 pm sun, and I would feel like I'm in Frodo's room in Rivendel. I have a book shelf in my room which I totally adore. Thankfully, that time of the year is this time, and it's wonderful for meditation!

And there's something about the sea that makes me feel fear, if not melancholy. I generally have a slight phobia towards clouds (a mind trip cooked up by my then 6-year old self---my childhood was full of trodding into unguarded territory, physical or mental), and sometimes the sea compliments this fear, but I love gazing at the sea more than cloud watching. I can gaze at the sea alone as long as I'm under a shade, but I need someone with me when I look at clouds. But I adore clouds more than I do the sea because there is a certain depth to them. An elven thing, the thing about the sea.

We have this fruit tree at our backyard whose fruit is indigenous to our part of the world, which also happens to be my favorite fruit. Gathering the fruit (bite size little things with large seeds) made me bond with the tree. Had I been an 8 year old Tolkien-phile, I would have given that tree a name, and I would have made up stories about her (I assume that the tree's a her) walking around our backyard at night.

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

Coming home through the dark after a long day, and having my baby son passed into my arms.

"Well, I'm back."

[Lalwendë]

Things which make me think of Middle-Earth?

Really, anywhere which has a mystical or weird atmosphere makes me think of Middle Earth. The Lambourn Downs on a misty day, especially when the racehorses are out exercising. Stanton Moor and Eyam Moor in Debyshire, The Merry Maidens and Chysauster iron age village in Cornwall. St Michael's Mount. The big old oak tree in Sherwood Forest. Minack Theatre, which is carved out of a cliff, makes me think of Gondor. Standing on the cliffs at the Mull of Galloway and seeing the Isle of Man and Ireland rising from the mists makes me think I am seeing Numenor with the undying lands in the far distance.

My father's orchard, surrounded by willow and hawthorn, with the handmade willow gate was like The Shire. You could sit on the gate and look across the fields at the wild flowers and horses during the day, and after a summer rain storm the earth used to steam. Alas, someone else lives there now and they ripped up all the trees.

Steelworks make me think of Mordor, but thrillingly so.

Some peculiar things which make me think of Middle Earth include the smell of canvas, as I used to read LOTR hiding behind piles of old canvas-seated chairs at school. Also crackly, hissing AM radios, as I used to listen with my earphones on late at night while I read. And the eerie sound of sheep at night time.

Good beer. The smell of pipe smoke. Putting up Christmas decorations. Lighting the fire. Bone-chillingly cold evenings. Hot days lounging around on clifftops, watching the waves roll in. Bees. Bluebell woods.

[Nimrodel_9]

I don`t know why, but the smell of submarine sandwiches.

My room
Fallen Leaves
A Field
Fireworks
Horses

[Encaitare]

Originally Posted by Fordim Hedgethistle

Coming home through the dark after a long day, and having my baby son passed into my arms.

"Well, I'm back."

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww... Daddy Hedgethistle

[Evisse the Blue]

Listening to Celtic music

Any time I go camping, hiking or taking long walks in nature, a beautiful scenery, be it mountain, hill or plain.

Flowers.

The sea - the sound of the waves at night time, when the beach is relatively quiet.

Clear summer nights, when the air is fresh and it's so quiet, and eveything is suddenly so clear , you can hear yourself breathing - it makes me feel like I'm one of the First Elves awaking under the stars.

Also, because the first time I read LOTR was around Easter, in the springtime; the coming of spring reminds me of Middle Earth.

Oh - and the smell of popcorn reminds me of the agonizing wait in movie theatres during the opening nights of a Lotr movie...and not only the opening nights. That should tell you how often I go to the cinema, lol.

[ninlaith]

The same thing happens to me when I smell popcorn.

Being with really good friends

Whenever I go on a trip. No matter who I'm with or where I'm going I feel like we just set out for our adventure.

Whenever I see long TRULY blond hair. Not dyed blond.

Beautiful blue eyes.

Gardening...majorly. i feel totally connected to Middle-Earth when I'm working with nature.

Looking at antiques...reminds me of Rivendell

Thinking of anything dealing with Anglo-Saxon literature

[Encaitare]

Grey eyes. So many characters in LotR have grey eyes, and yet they're not really all that common. I think they're beautiful.

[Morai]

Listening to Celtic music

Same here, the fact that most of it is in a minor key, giving it a sad/ romantic/ mysterious feel. This reminds me of Middle Earth a lot. Like the fast Irish Reels make me think of hobbit birthday parties. Or the airs which put images of Frodo after destroying the Ring, memories of elves into my mind.

Which brings me to waterfalls. There's a "state park" near where I live where there's a dozen waterfalls a very near to eachother. So every time I visit I think of Rivendell.

[turgon]

I can't think of a better way to pay respects to JRRT, then what I have been reading from all of you. For me anything can spark my mental ride to middle-earth. Actually, I sometimes have to remind myself to "come back" so to speak.
Anywhere away from technology and the noise of man is good enough. My best friend and I often joke our world is what sauron and melkor envisioned-spewing forth black smoke, filth, no regard for nature and it's creatures, etc.
A wooden mug of ale by a woodfire, the crisp air in autumn, the sound of wind in the trees. And yes, dare I say this -- a beautiful woman often puts me in mind of Idril Celebrindal or Finduilas-Sp?

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Listening to Celtic music

This usually brings to mind brotherhood, or more generallly, family, for me.

One thing that immediately brought to mind Middle Earth for me was when I got to see this incredible waterfall this spring. It was about 20 feet high, and in the middle of the woods out behind a field in the middle of nowhere. The field was wet with dew, so by the time we finally got to the woods, we were already pretty throroughly soaked. And then the walk through the woods... deer, birds... it was like "the real world" didn't exist. The trees hadn't quite gotten over winter, but were trying like heck to embrace the spring. Usually around here, spring is pretty brown and depressing, but the trees were more of a greyish green, and it was just beautiful. When I finally got to see the 'falls, I half expected to see a long train of Elves walk into view any second. Incredible... by far my favorite nature-memory of the past few years.

Fea

[Lhunardawen]

Originally Posted by Fordim Hedgethistle

Coming home through the dark after a long day, and having my baby son passed into my arms.

"Well, I'm back."

Originally Posted by Encaitare

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww... Daddy Hedgethistle

Exactly what I said.

Seeing a ring of any kind dangling from a chain, like a pendant, around anyone's neck.

The planet Venus (which I lovingly call Earendil) amidst a clear night sky.

Anything remotely related to Christmas (since I finished LotR circa Christmas 2002)

[Child of the 7th Age]

What a great idea for a topic! Fun to read what others have said or to think about this on your own.

Let's see. Here goes....


***Tramping over the sand in Galveston while watching the waves from the Gulf come piling onto the beach..... I always feel like one of the inhabitants of Numenor who had so much but always wanted a little more. I stand looking out at the water, fascinated by the power of the waves and filled with longing, but can only get the tiniest glimpse of Tol Eressea,

***Sitting at my desk late at night or early in the morning when no one else is up. The house is dead silent, and I am working on a character or scene from a story.....For the life of me, I can't help but think of Tolkien in his garage study, or Frodo at Bag-end scribbling in the Red Book after the war, all linked together and dabbling in a sea of stories,

***Planning a big, crazy party for an extremely excited twelve-year old daughter (who is having a bat mitzvah) gives me considerable sympathy for poor Bilbo who was going nuts with all the last minute details while thinking of how he needed more time to write and wanted to escape to Rivendell.... ,

***Here's one probably unique to me but I am instantly reminded of hobbits whenever I spend an afternoon at a baseball game in a minor league park accompanied by family or friends....The hobbits would have loved the hodgepodge of small town activity, the smell of sausages being grilled, the sack races and competitions to chow down the most moonpies in five minutes, children playing under the stands while their parents chat and root for their favorite team, even the young players not yet spoiled by success who will come over to the railing to talk with you before and after the game, offering sage tips on batting to middle-age wannabees,

***Barrelling down I-95 through the middle of New Jersey and watching all the belching smokestacks from the refineries, their lights twinkling in a grotesque wonderland of horrors, sadly makes me remember Saruman and his evil genius for despoiling the land....Why couldn't he have put that talent to use on other things? And why can't we stop doing this to ourselves. Sigh....,

***Standing in a sea of bluebonnets in mid-April, with blossoms stretching out as far as I can see, the scent from flowers heavy in the air....for a minute Texas becomes a little piece of Middle-earth, though I'm not sure precisely where,

***Reflecting on my life with a certain degree of longing and sadness....recalling so many places I would love to revisit and people with whom I'd like to talk again....But turning back the page isn't possible, so I remember Frodo on Tol Eressea as he turns eastward and wonders what Samwise is doing at that precis moment of the day,

***And, like Fordim, the ultimate epiphany comes through the eyes of my own children....They are older than his, so for me the tie-in is not the present ending of the book, but the discarded epilogue of Lord of the Rings where Samwise sits in glory among his young crew and tells stories of the old days, trying to capture the glow that still remains, even though so much has ended. I have a pre-teen and a teenager but they are still not to old to sit down and share stories, adding a few of their own....

[Kransha]

Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age

***Barrelling down I-95 through the middle of New Jersey and watching all the belching smokestacks from the refineries, their lights twinkling in a grotesque wonderland of horrors, sadly makes me remember Saruman and his evil genius for despoiling the land....Why couldn't he have put that talent to use on other things? And why can't we stop doing this to ourselves. Sigh....,

Child...I'm slighted. You've stolen one of my all-important connections to Middle-Earth!...Well, I suppose this makes us kindred spirits. Comfort yourself with the fact that I-95 isn't quite the model route for roadside aesthetics, and that better can be found. Plus, in NJ, you can turn off almost anywhere and find yourself in the middle of scenic, rural, low-tech nowheresville.

For me...

-Reading Hemmingway, or Hawthorne. For some reason, despite the lack of jollity, I feel like I'm listening to (in my crazy little head) a rather twisted combination of Tom Bombadil and Treebeard, with all the 'hastiness' of the old Tree-herder, and all the droning prose-etry of Tom. Also, listening to certain poetry read or from a recording, gives me the distinct impression that I'm listening to Tom, but not all poetry. Mostly Yeats, Whitman, or Longfellow, which has some mild effect, and/or affect on my countenance. It doesn't really connect me to M-E, per se, but it is easier to listen to Yeats when you imagine Bombadilo reciting it...

-As some of you may know, and some of you, like the esteemed F. Hedgethistle, certainly know, one of my lower-paying, secondary jobs is thespianary, or, the business of dramatic, melodramatic, polydramatic, and pickledramatic theater. Certain roles, that a thespian is presented in his or her life, are bound to remind him of his own life experiences, unless the play is downright weird (Marat Sad, for example). So, every now and then, I get to perform in something that draws me into Tolkien, via characterization, or maybe plot. Once, after a performance of Shakespeare's play, Othello (Plot in a nutshell, for those who don't know: Moor meets girl, moor loves girl, moor thinks girl is cheating, moor kills girl), in which I was playing the 'villain,' Iago, I was told by a colleague, who had recently seen the LotR movies at my behest (not quite into the books yet), commented off-hand that my performance reminded him, slightly, of Grima Wormtongue. Now, this is not a point of pride, since I was trying to make the performance distinctly non-Brad Dourif, but it was still interesting to hear from another that I had actually slipped, mentally, into the comfortable vernacular of a character from Tolkien. Such things have happened on more than one occasion...not always for the better (making Winston Churchill sound like Treebeard is definately not something to be proud of).

-White gems, diamonds, or something to that effect, in a group of three. I swear, I can't touch certain shiny, crystalline objects, for fear that my hand will melt on contact, and I really like my hand. I really don't have any phobia for Rings, if you know what I mean, but jewels make me both uncomfortable an intrigued. I get the urge to grab those sparkly little trinkets and whisk them off to the Sons of Feanor, or better yet, keep them for myself. There's actually a very funny story I could tell, but it would take to long, and make too little sense out of context...

There are probably more "connections," but I've named my top three. Others will be expunged in the event that I feel a sudden, unquellable need to get nostalgic.

[Encaitare]

-Whenever nature seems just beyond my grasp. When I am in the car going down a highway and there is a tangled bit of woods along the side of the road, I have this indescribable longing to go tramp among the trees, away from all the cars whizzing by.

(making Winston Churchill sound like Treebeard is definately not something to be proud of).

"Weeeeee shaaaaall fiiiiiiight on the .... beaaaachessss, weeeee shaaaall fiiiiight on the laaannnding grounnnnds ..... weeee shaaall fiiiiight in the fiiiiiiields and in the streeeeeeets, weeee shaaaall fiiiiiiight ... in the 'a-lalla-lalla-rumba-kamanda-lindor-burume's" -- or as we prefer to say, "hills"

[Morai]

Politics always remind me of the conflicts in middle Earth. When I think of the fight between enviromentalists and industrialists, I am reminded of Elves and the dwarves.

I see a unusally short person with curly hair and I almost believe that I am seeing a hobbit with shoes, until I remind myself that I probably wouldn't see one in a supermarket full of the race of man.

[Bêthberry]

The pretty leaves of Lothlorien were but pretty leaves for me, until...

I stood at a kitchen sink and looked out the window one grey pewter day in November. I was waiting for the inescapable and inevitable to happen, the death of someone dear to me. And it was to come soon, four days later. And I was visiting one last time but one my childhood home, which I could never then visit again.

As I looked out I saw the white, peeling bark of a silver birch tree, with golden oranges leaves, dead but still hanging on the branches, limbs and twigs, fluttering forlornly in the breeze. They would not fall until spring. I had never recognised that about this tree, but it had happened year in and year out. The leaves turned colour in the autumn but did not fall until spring.

I realised how very closely Tolkien observed the natural world, that he could take a specific characteristic of a real species of tree and give to it the characteristics of faerie. Lothlorien called to me then as it never had before.

[piosenniel]

* Unfolding a map, tracing a route to some destination, setting out in truth or in dreams . . .

Road maps from Bilbo's desk

Physical maps from Dwarven holds

Topographic maps from the Rangers' hidden fastness

Political maps from Denethor's hidden chamber in the White Tower

And from the library at Rivendell, orthophoto maps that capture everything in detail, freezing it in time

[paavo]

Everytime I hear the word 'concerning' I think of 'concerning hobbits'. no matter where or when I hear it, that always comes to my mind.

[mark12_30]

Sitting at my desk at work, wanting only to take off my badge-and-chain from around my neck and throw it into a lava-filled chasm and walk away a free hobbit...

...but knowing I have a long way to trudge still before I can do it.

"That’s the one place in all the lands we’ve ever heard of that we don’t want to see any closer; and that’s the one place we’re trying to get to! And that’s just where we can’t get, nohow. We’ve come the wrong way altogether, seemingly."

[mark12_30]

Curly, golden-brown beech-leaves in the winter still clinging to the branches.

When Spring unfolds the beechen leaf.

Silver beech-bark.

[Encaitare]

Silver beech-bark.

This, and trees with silvery leaves. Whenever I see one, I tell myself it's a descendant of of Telperion or the White Tree of Gondor.

[The Only Real Estel]

Mushrooms.

[rutslegolas]

The taste of fresh bread somehow reminds me of Lembas ,and it somehow connects me to Middle-Earth.

[Sapphire_Flame]

Groves of quaking aspens in the autumn. With their white-grey bark and golden yellow leaves, they remind me of mellyrn!

Reading with a flashlight. The first time I finished reading RotK, my family was driving home from vacation; it was dark out, and I was sitting in the back seat, reading RotK with a flashlight wedged in the crook of my neck.

The song "My Immortal", by Evanescence. It's my Frodo song.

When the mountains near my house are shrouded in clouds and mist.

Being in a large group of people, and not knowing any of them. I feel so much sympathy for Merry, when he's all by himself with the Rohirrim.

Abedithon le,

~ Saphy ~

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

Autumn. It always makes me want to start walking east so I can reach Rivendell in time for Yule.

[Mithalwen]

I have a sweater that is a particularly elvish shade of green

I live on the fringe of an ancient forest. At the time I first read the books, I used to go riding there and even now when I only really drive its roads, I still think of Mirkwood as I pass...

When I go back to Oxford and Warwickshire, the countryside, I really think "Shire". When I hear passed down quotes of Sam, my Great-grandfather , I think of the Gaffer :

-Sam on being told a fab cook my poor great granny was
" she can cook and she can grumble"
{ Great Grannie's most remembered quote "I shouldn't mind a few years as a widow"}
- Sam's son emigrated to Australia in 1922. In 1948 he made his first visit home. Sam's comment after 3 weeks "Noisy young b*****, when's he going back?"
-Sam on his increasing deafness 'I can always hear in the pub if someone says "Would you like a drink, Sam?" '


You get the picture....


But mainly of course, everytime I look in the mirror, I just think "Galadriel" ... (I wish... balrog is closer to the mark

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

Seriously, this is easy for me.

Eating bread.

I'm always eating some sort of bread product when I read LOTR. Just plain old sliced bread, out of the package. Bagels, wheat breads, cakes, brownies, any bread group things.

And sometimes cheese. Like, I'll take a brick of cheese and just slice off chunks and eat it as I read, with the bread, or without.

And then every time somebody says something about good bread and good cheese, I'm like "DARN RIGHT!"

Gets me right into the story. I have to read fast too, if I try to analyze as I'm reading, I just don't get sucked into it.

But other than that, my imagination seems to be good enough to keep me in Middle Earth for large periods of time.

[turgon]

Darn right! I know what you mean. (I think) The smell of any good hearty old fashioned meal, does it for me. like say a TRUE home made beefstew, slow stewing. the fumes wafting thru the house on a windy autumn night as the tree branches slowly dance against the star struck heavens. And the blanket only a woodstove fire can make wraps about me. A wood pipe on the mantelpiece, hard cheese,crisp apples and finally an oil lamp throwing impish shadows about the walls.
Any road thru the woods.

[ninlaith]

I feel the same way everybody...

Making breakfast. And I mean BREAKFAST!! Making everything possibly you could have for breakfast. Pancakes, bacon, eggs...just everything. It makes me feel like I'm a Hobbit making breakfast for Dwarves.

Eating more than three times a day. "But what about breakfast!?" "You've already had it." "We've had one yes..but what about Second breakfast!? "I don't think he knows about Second breakfast Pip." "But what about Eleventies...Luncheon..Afternoon tea..Dinner...Supper..he knows about them..doesn't he!!?? "I wouldn't count on it."

Bread and cheese..so simple it's hard to forget

[mark12_30]

Originally Posted by turgon

...on a windy autumn night as the tree branches slowly dance against the star struck heavens. And the blanket only a woodstove fire can make wraps about me. A wood pipe on the mantelpiece, hard cheese,crisp apples and finally an oil lamp throwing impish shadows about the walls.
Any road thru the woods.

Yes... they call, don't they?

Using a walking-stick.

Rocky outcroppings in the woods.

Falling leaves.

The next turn in the path.

Trails that go uphill. Or downhill. Any trail through the woods at all... from a deer-trail to an old logging trail... (looking for hints of Numenorean roadbuilding, just for fun.)

Stone walls in the middle of nowhere.

Old foundations in the middle of nowhere (My, how those Numenoreans got around!)

Lilacs or Forsythia or Lily of the Valley in the middle of nowhere.

[Farmira]

For me the world is a bitter-sweet reflection of Middle Earth...
- On one end of this world you have the destruction of so much for the gain of so little. Take for instance hundreds of acres of beautiful forest that used to be next to my neighborhood that was destroyed by the airport to make a new run way... such a waste... the airport isn't even doing well... There is also the other mile and a half of the most beautiful green meadow i had ever seen in my life laid out before my window to my house... yet it is now all gone and going up instead is a new subdivision...
- On the other hand there is the beauty that still rests in the things that man cannot destroy. Take for instance the Stars at night, or like someone else said the beauty of a planet on a clear night. What remains of the trees around my home i have come close to because i consider the trees and myself connected in a certain special way... like i should take care of them somehow, like we all should take care of this Earth which we so easily take for granted...

- im so glad this forum is here!!! Its nice to listen to what others have to say, and know exactly how they feel because we all see the beauty in Earth and are sad by those who do not

[Neferchoirwen]

I was in the middle of lightly cramming for the next day's lesson plan when I had to take a step back and take a picture of my desk .

My brother thought I was watching the FOTR EE on my laptop.