Tolkien defined Middle-earth in an interview with Denis Gueroult
Quote:
D. Gerrolt:: I thought that conceivably Midgard might be Middle-earth or have some connection?
J.R.R. Tolkien: Oh yes, they're the same word. Most people have made this mistake of thinking Middle-earth is a particular kind of earth or is another planet of the science fiction sort but it's just an old fashioned word for this world we live in, as imagined surrounded by the Ocean.
D. Gerrolt: It seemed to me that Middle-earth was in a sense, as you say, this world we live in, but this world we live in at a different era.
J.R.R. Tolkien: No … at a different stage of imagination … yes.
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Though the usual interpretation is as Nogrod has stated, Earth in the middle of the Overworld & Underworld. The interview can be heard here
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/..._Interview.php
Personally, I find the most interesting his comment that Middle-earth is this world "at a different stage of imagination". Any thoughts on what
that might mean?