battle for minas tirith (youtube)

The Shire

The shire is situated to the far west of middle earth, past the misty mountains.

It is 18,000 square meters and is populated by Hobbits, a short, hardy people

who enjoy quiet lives filled with food and ale. The shire is bordered by

Westmarch to the west, the river Shirebourne to the south and Buckland to

the east. The area is very picturesque, with beautiful scenery and fruitful land.

It is covered with fields and small pockets of forests similarly to the English

country side on which it is based. It is a peaceful region in which there are

almost no battles. The Shire is split into four farthings:

Northfarthing

It is the smallest region of the Shire. It has the town of Hardbottle and the

bindbole woods which are the largest woods in the shire

Westfarthing

It is the home of the largest town in the shire, Michel Delving. It also has a

smaller town called little Delving which is north of Michel Delving. The majority

of the Tooks live there in the town of tuckborough. The town of Bywater is

home the shire biggest and most popular inn, the green dragon.

Southfarthing

An especially green area in the shire where the Longbottom is to be found,

the area in which all the Shires pipe weed is grown. It is also home to the

Overbourne, a marshy yet fertile area.

Eastfarthing

Mostly taken up by the Marish, a marshy region separated from the

Overbourne by the Brandywine River. It also has the city of Stock, which is the

second biggest city in the Shire.

Gondor

The region of Gondor lies in the west of middle earth opposite Mordor. It

stretches from the White Mountains to the north to the mountains of shadow

in the east. It used to be bigger but much of its lands were given to rohan.

The capital of Gondor is Minas Tirith which is the largest city of man in all of

middle earth. It stand opposite the city of Minis Morgual which was captured

by Sauron and is now the home of the ring wraith. The city is ruled by the King

but while the king is away there is a steward to take his place. It has been

estimated that the region of Gondor is about 716,000 square miles and it is

split up into different regions:

Ithilien

Ithilien lay between the river Anduin and the Mountains of Shadow to the far

east of Gondor. At the beginning of the third age it was a prosperous land but

as the threat of Mordor grew, it inhabitants left until it was only populated

by rangers who live in secret refuges. In the Lord of the Rings the Two Towers

Tolkien describes it as “a fair country of climbing woods and swift-falling

streams with gentle slopes shielded from the east by the Ephel Dúath and yet

not under the mountain-shadow, protected from the north by the Emyn Muil,

open to the southern airs and the moist winds from the Sea”. The area is home

to a vast array of plants, herbs and trees and during the fourth age is said to

have been the fairest country in the entire west.

Calenardhon

Calenardhon was situated to the north of the White Mountains. Its name

means the green province due to its wide plains and rolling hills. It was never

a heavily populated area but after the Great Plague most people migrated

south. The region was later attacked and would have been capture but for the

Éothéod cavalry who defeated the invaders and saved the region. As a reward

they were give Calenardhon and it was renamed Rohan.

Anfalas

Anfalas was to the south of the hills of Pinnath Gelin, between the rivers Lefnui

and Morthond. Its name means longbeach. Due to it being a long distance

from the capital and being constantly attacked by the Corsairs of Umbar, it was

never a very densely populated area.

Belfalas

A shore land between the city of Dul Amroth and the island of Tolfalas after

which the Bay of Belfalas was named. The element of falas in its name means

 shore.

Mordor

The region of Mordor is a rectangular region surrounded by the Ash Mountains and the Mountains of Shadow. It is a harsh and desolate region created by Melkor and it is inhabited solely by his creations. The only entrances from the west are the pass of Cirith Gorgor and the secret entrance through Shelob’s lair. Across the pass of Cirith Gorgor Sauron built the Morannon (the black gate). Just inside was the acrid Plains of Gorgoroth in which were the fortress of Barad-dûr and the volcano, Mt Doom. The south of Mordor, Núrn, was more fertile and was farmed by Sauron’s slaves to support his army. Just outside the black gates was the Dagorland where many battles had been waged over the years. The entire area is polluted and dead and the only vegetation that grow are small trees, withered moss and tangled brambles. The only animals are maggots, flies and midges 

The beginning of Middle earth

The universe in which Tolkien’s stories are set is Ea. Within this universe is the world called Arda. On this world are two continents, Amen and Middle earth. They are separated by the great sea, Belegaer. It is on the continent of middle earth that the stories take place.

At the beginning of time the God Ilúvatar created spirits called the Ainur. He taught them to play music and when they were ready Ilúvatar commanded them to play based on his own design. One of the Ainur called Melkor disrupted the melody and added his own design. In response Ilúvatar changed the melody so that it was beyond the comprehension of the Ainur. This song created the fate of middle earth. When they were told about this the Ainur wished to see these events in person so Ea was created. When they entered the found it empty as it was the start of time and nothing had been created yet. The Ainur set about molding the universe and filling it with things unreachable to man. Eventually they set about creating Arda and readying it for the coming of man. The Valar, who were the fifteen most powerful of the Ainur, created two lamps to light the world. Melkor, who was the most powerful of the Valar, destroyed the lamps forcing the Valar to retreat to Amen in the far west. There they planted two trees which gave light to the continent. Many ages later the Valar managed to capture and imprison Melkor but when he was released he poisoned the two trees. The Valar rescued the last two fruit and used them to create the sun and moon which were separated from Arda. Later Ilúvatar created the men and the elves to populate the world of Arda. Although unable to create anything original, Melkor was able to created crude copies of Ilúvatar’s creations. In this way he created creatures such as orcs and trolls. Much later, during the second age of men, the King of Númenor attacked Amen to gain the immortality of the Valar so the Valar destroyed the island of Númenor and removed Amen from middle earth.

       

What this blog is

hello, my name is kevin and i shall be doing a blog on the geography of middle earth. Also, please visit ThisIsABlogThingIThink as it is Peter's blog and as we all know, this blog is better than Peter's blog.