The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Middle Earth

Ealasaide · 09-30-2004, 07:09 AM

Thanks for the feedback Mark and Bethberry!

While neither of you were able to answer my question directly - I'm not sure there really is an answer - you were both quite helpful.

What an interesting notion that physical travel through Middle Earth runs a parallel to travel backward through time! I don't know that I necessarily agree with the timeline as plotted out - I still think Rohan reflects an older social structure than Gondor - but it is a fascinating idea. (For some strange reason, it makes me think of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the physical journey down the river there being reflective of a spiritual journey into the darker recesses of the heart.) I do agree, though, that hobbits are more Edwardian than Victorian. My mistake!

As for the two trends in gaming, etc, it is interesting to know the history of gaming on the Downs. I think where I was getting hung up was that I tend naturally toward the latter school of thought, i.e. "how would Tolkien have described this if he had included it?" but was thinking that maybe I should be trying harder to meet the requirements of the former. It's good to know that that is really not the focus here and that good writing in general is. Also, BethberryI'm very familiar with your RPG resource thread, having made use of it on a number of occasions. It does a wonderful job of providing vocabulary and insight into a wide variety of topics that are not exactly in the realm of common knowledge these days. Great stuff!

I am beginning to believe that there may be a fundamental error in my approach here in that I have been rather stubbornly attempting to apply a Western European timeline to a place that exists separately from history, within its own frame of reference. Being a blockheaded realist who is much more apt to be found toting around a volume of Tolstoy or the biography of Gertrude Bell in my briefcase than a fantasy or sci-fi novel, I think I may be trying a little too hard to apply historical standards where they really don't belong.

In the fabric of Middle Earth, it seems that various time periods can exist concurrently in terms of clothing styles and social structure. What ties it all together is that they all share the same level of technology... no one city-state being more advanced technologically than another... but... the question that remains is - What level is that? From what century does Middle Earth cull it's most advanced technology? 6th? 12th? 19th?

Which begs another question... has technology remained stagnant in Middle Earth throughout the ages or has it advanced at all with time? Are the ships, weapons, etc, all the just the same in the third age as they were in the first?

09-30-2004, 07:09 AM	#4
Ealasaide Shadow of Tyrn Gorthad Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: The Fencing Lyst Posts: 810	Thanks for the feedback Mark and Bethberry! While neither of you were able to answer my question directly - I'm not sure there really is an answer - you were both quite helpful. What an interesting notion that physical travel through Middle Earth runs a parallel to travel backward through time! I don't know that I necessarily agree with the timeline as plotted out - I still think Rohan reflects an older social structure than Gondor - but it is a fascinating idea. (For some strange reason, it makes me think of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the physical journey down the river there being reflective of a spiritual journey into the darker recesses of the heart.) I do agree, though, that hobbits are more Edwardian than Victorian. My mistake! As for the two trends in gaming, etc, it is interesting to know the history of gaming on the Downs. I think where I was getting hung up was that I tend naturally toward the latter school of thought, i.e. "how would Tolkien have described this if he had included it?" but was thinking that maybe I should be trying harder to meet the requirements of the former. It's good to know that that is really not the focus here and that good writing in general is. Also, BethberryI'm very familiar with your RPG resource thread, having made use of it on a number of occasions. It does a wonderful job of providing vocabulary and insight into a wide variety of topics that are not exactly in the realm of common knowledge these days. Great stuff! I am beginning to believe that there may be a fundamental error in my approach here in that I have been rather stubbornly attempting to apply a Western European timeline to a place that exists separately from history, within its own frame of reference. Being a blockheaded realist who is much more apt to be found toting around a volume of Tolstoy or the biography of Gertrude Bell in my briefcase than a fantasy or sci-fi novel, I think I may be trying a little too hard to apply historical standards where they really don't belong. In the fabric of Middle Earth, it seems that various time periods can exist concurrently in terms of clothing styles and social structure. What ties it all together is that they all share the same level of technology... no one city-state being more advanced technologically than another... but... the question that remains is - What level is that? From what century does Middle Earth cull it's most advanced technology? 6th? 12th? 19th? Which begs another question... has technology remained stagnant in Middle Earth throughout the ages or has it advanced at all with time? Are the ships, weapons, etc, all the just the same in the third age as they were in the first?