I see Middle-earth

[Pitchwife]

I'd love to explore your Dunharrow and Downs, G55! The pictures look like a hiker's dream (at least for this hiker).

A friend sent me this today. Not a swan-ship, but hey, at least it's white.

[Herenya]

It might seem preposterous, but pictures like this are now connected to early 5th Age Gondor in my imagination, despite being taken from an anime television series that has nothing to do with that particular place and time.



To be honest, I love to fantasize as if such places were located somewhere in Osgiliath (the capital of the Reunited Kingdom according to my fanfiction story), or perhaps in Dol Amroth. I'm not sure if anyone else is interested, but I've been able recently to find the corrent ideas to complete my fanfiction story, as a side effect of the exchange of messages with the members of this forum, Inziladun and Galadriel55, that took place in another thread and turned out to be really beneficial for the purpose of my project. So I can afford now to fantasize about it confidently which seems like a vacation to a peaceful fantasy realm full of pinky ponies.

[Mithadan]

Visualizing Middle-Earth is a common phenomenon among fans. To some, it is highly personal, leading many to be vocal about their dislike of illustrations by artists published in Tolkien calendars, etc. One thing that many people enjoyed about the LoTR movies was the scenery and many of the sets which corresponded to their views about what places in Middle-Earth looked like. John Garth published a book, The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien dedicated to a review of places that Tolkien had lived or visited that he suggests inspired the imagery of Middle-Earth. While Garth may go a bit too far regarding his attempts to find Tolkien's "sources," some photographs in his book do seem to portray some of Tolkien's inspirations, for example of Rivendell.

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

Originally Posted by Mithadan

Visualizing Middle-Earth is a common phenomenon among fans. To some, it is highly personal, leading many to be vocal about their dislike of illustrations by artists published in Tolkien calendars, etc. One thing that many people enjoyed about the LoTR movies was the scenery and many of the sets which corresponded to their views about what places in Middle-Earth looked like. John Garth published a book, The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien dedicated to a review of places that Tolkien had lived or visited that he suggests inspired the imagery of Middle-Earth. While Garth may go a bit too far regarding his attempts to find Tolkien's "sources," some photographs in his book do seem to portray some of Tolkien's inspirations, for example of Rivendell.

Personally I mostly visualised specific locations, not always in great detail, often it is more about visualising an atmosphere than specifics. Some capture that atmosphere better than other (Ted Nasmith often gets the closest, but a lot of Alan Lees work gets it as well), but I seldom outright dislike illustrations of places.

Characters on the other hand... I get much more worked up about character illustrations.

[Galadriel55]

Today I found Middle-earth in an ophthalmology clinic. (Photos not mine, but I found the same product online).



What's that word in the corner of the prisms box? Shall we take a closer look?



Yup! Beren's Instruments.

I suppose playing around with a Silmaril helps with understanding the physics of light refraction.