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Author Topic: Modelling Sources and References  (Read 7515 times)

monks

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Modelling Sources and References
« on: February 23, 2013, 10:16:54 pm »

You'll find here a list of sources and references for modelling. This is a wip so feel free to add to it.

The books:
 LoTR
 Silmarillion
 The Hobbit
 Unfinished Tales
 Book of Lost Tales I & II
 12 volume History of Middle-Earth series
J.R.R Tolkien Artist & Illustrator. Hammond & Scull
 Pictures by J.R.R Tolkien. Houghton Mifflin
---------------------------
 Atlas of Middle Earth: Karen Wynn Fonstad
 Journeys of Frodo: Barbara Strachey
 Pictorial Artwork from the various Tolkien artists. J.Howe, A.Lee, etc.
 Middle Earth Role-Playing (MERP) books by Iron Crown Enterprises (I have a complete hard copy and most of them in pdf form)
 Films and extended DVDS of Peter Jackson

monks
« Last Edit: February 23, 2013, 10:28:11 pm by monks »
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Matthew B

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Re: Modelling Sources and References
« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2013, 06:21:33 am »

Beware of taking these sources too literally.

I know that Middle-earth is a "fictional world," but Tolkien strove to make it as realistic as possible, and to abide by as many rules of the world that we live in now as possible (indeed, he said that Middle-earth WAS this world).

This means that there are many things that need to be taken into consideration regarding the stated sized of towns/cities, and the populations present in Middle-earth that do not "precisely" jibe with the reality of the situation (for instance, given the stated size of Minas Tirith, it would be hard to get 2,500 people into the city, much less the 250,000 it is supposed to hold).

The town of Bree is actually larger than Minas Tirith if you just do the math.

But in "The History of Middle-earth" both CJRT and JRRT are quoted as saying that they hadn't sufficient time to check their assumptions about such things.

And be VERY Wary of the Peter Jackson films as a source.

The films are extremely flawed in both their consistency and adherence to canon sources (for instance, Dale is over 2X the size of Minas Tirith in his movies - and he puts Thranduil on an Elk, something that comes from a Pagan tradition that Tolkien tended to reject).
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Redrobes

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Re: Modelling Sources and References
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2013, 03:27:24 pm »

Hi Matthew - yes I think using the films as a reference is a bad idea too. Not that everything in them was incorrect but that some was and also that's their take on it rather than generating something new and interesting. Many people have made unique interpretations that are all in keeping with the text yet all quite different. I think it would be nice if MeDem was plausible and in keeping with the books and Tolkiens intentions and I would value that more than being consistent with the films.
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