Juventude.life!Journey to the Middle Earth (1)"Your Life! Your Way!"

What is Middle Earth?

Middle Earth is the name of one of the continents within the universe called by the same name, which was created by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien to add a new mythology to English Literature. Although we first saw the name ‘Middle Earth’ in the book The Hobbit in 1937, the name ‘Middle Earth’ originally comes from the word ”Middle-Erde”.

Middle-Erde is a word etymologically derived from the Old English word ”middangeard”. It is a Germanic word that defines the physical world, unlike the invisible worlds, which the Greeks call οικουμένη (oikoumenē) or the “faithful place of men”. ‘Middangeard’ also appeared six times in the famous old British Beowulf Epic, which was later translated by Tolkien. However, Tolkien designed the Middle-earth geography in a way that is similar to the geography of the world on which we currently live. While designing Middle-earth, Tolkien was inspired by Cynewulf’s Christ poem, which was a poem written in Old English and composed of three parts. Each part in the poem focuses on a different theme (Christ I on the Advent, Christ II on the Ascension, and Christ III on Doomsday), and a small annotation from the poem is shared below together with its translation:

(Original)

Éalá Éarendel, engla beorhtast,
ofer middangeard monnum sended,
ond sóðfæsta sunnan léoma,
torht ofer tunglas, þú tída gehwane 
of sylfum þé symle inlíhtes!
(Christ of Cynewulf, Lines 104 to 108)

(English)

Hail Éarendel, brightest of angels,
above the middangeard sent unto men
and true radiance of the sun,
bright above the stars – thou of thy very self
illuminest for ever every season

The name Earendel in the lines above (which may mean ‘the morning star,’ but in some contexts was the name of Christ) was the inspiration for the name of the sailor Eärendil in Tolkien’s book Silmarillion.

After this very brief information about the concept of Middle-earth and the origin of this legendary land, we will continue with the myths of creation that Tolkien designed for both the Middle-earth universe and the continent. In this way, you will understand how the characters in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were created, and you will feel illuminated by the fact that the real roles and purposes of those characters in Middle-earth shape the story.

Every Universe Has a Creator : Eru Ilúvatar

Eru Ilúvatar is the only creator of the fictional Middle-earth universe in J. R. R. Tolkien’s books. Ilúvatar encompasses everything. It is unique and knows everything. It is the one that has always existed in the past and will exist in the future.

According to the legend, Eru created beings that we could call angels to manage the universe, and He asked them to sustain its harmony. The name of these beings was Ainur. These beings were divided into two groups: Maiar and Valar. These angels created harmony together. Melkor was the smartest and strongest among all the Valar. Meanwhile, Eru Ilúvatar created Arda (the world), and Melkor used his strength and intelligence to disrupt the harmony in Arda; he wanted to create his own harmony in this world. This incongruous harmony created by Melkor attracted some other Maiar to his side as well. However, the Valar continued to shape Arda before the children of Eru were born. Meanwhile, Melkor continued to disrupt what the Valar did, and so all the pain and mismatches in Arda were born due to the disruptive behavior of Melkor.

Finally, Valar and Melkor went into a great war. Having heard about Valar’s struggle with Melkor, Tulkas, who was one of the strongest Valar warriors and the last member of Valar descending to Arda, managed to win against Melkor. After his failure, Melkor escaped from Tulkas and hid in the dark.

When Tulkas ended the war, the Valar started to beautify the world again. They created seas, lakes, rivers, and mountains. Then, they planted the seeds of plants and animals. These seeds needed light to grow and thrive. So, they built two giant, splendid lamps. Everything was very good in Arda. Plants grew and forests were formed again, but Melkor got an opportunity and returned to Arda. He began to spoil all the beauty in Arda and destroyed the lamps. However, the Valar somehow defeated Melkor again.

Meanwhile, Eru Ilúvatar created humans and elves (Eruhíni – Eru’s Children). This made them special and superior to other creatures. Humans were the favorites of Ilúvatar. Eru Ilúvatar rewarded them with mortality and granted them the power of self-determination. Humans also helped shape Middle-earth. On the other hand, Elves were not involved in worldly affairs.

Besides the power of sustaining harmony, the Valar also had the power to create their own non-angelic creatures called dwarves (a.k.a. adopted children of Eru), ents, and eagles. However, Melkor didn’t have the power to create his own creatures. He created the orcs by deforming some of the races as much as he could. As years passed, races around the world (Arda) fought in countless battles against Melkor and his army. At the end of their war, Melkor was punished, and the shape of the world changed. After years, some power rings were forged by a blacksmith named “Annatar,” and they were distributed to some races in Arda. J.R.R. Tolkien describes the purposes of those rings in his book as follows:

“Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.”

(The Ring Poem, J.R.R. Tolkien)

The creation of those power rings were exactly the start of all the epic stories mentioned in Middle Earth.

Rise of the Devil : Sauron

Sauron was a Maiar called the ”Dark Lord” or the ”Lord of the Rings”. Although Sauron was a good Maiar of Valar Aulë at the beginning, he later sided with Melkor, who was called the dark enemy of the World, and he became the greatest assistant of Melkor even during the period when Melkor was imprisoned by the Valar in Valinor (Immortal Lands). When the Valar defeated Melkor and condemned him to remain in the void forever, taking over Angband, Sauron disappeared.

Sauron was the strongest person after Melkor in the Dark Age. In the Third Age, Sauron reappeared as the Necromancer (Death Sorcerer), but was hiding his true identity. He made friends with blacksmith elves and created the power rings with them. He regained his former power thanks to the power ring that was made for himself. This ring could rule all the other power rings. As you can see, the Blacksmith Annatar I mentioned at the beginning of the post was indeed Sauron himself.

With the creation of those power rings, the war with the dark side started again. Elves and humans opposed Sauron with an army called the Last Alliance. After seven years of siege, Sauron left the black fort and started to fight. Isildur, the eldest son of the Supreme King Elendil, cut Sauron’s finger and took the Ring. Sauron’s power was in the Ring, so the Ring could not disappear unless it was destroyed, nor could the power of Sauron. Although Isildur cut the finger of Sauron and got his Ring, Sauron did not completely disappear because Isildur did not destroy the Ring. Sauron escaped and hid in Dol Guldur in South Mirkwood, which was also called the Hill of Dark Sorcery. Over there, he disguised himself as a dark wizard known as the “Necromancer” and ordered the Nazgûl to find the Ring. The activities of those Nazgûl (a.k.a. Nine Dark Riders or Nine Fallen Kings) attracted the attention of the Valar, and the Valar decided to send five Maiar to follow the Nazgûl’s activities and prevent them.

In the meantime, Isildur died and the ring disappeared. It was found by two Hobbits named Sméagol and Déagol. Sméagol was taken under the influence of the ring and killed his cousin Déagol to obtain the ring.

Sméagol changed a lot after he found the ring because of the ring’s dark power. He was excluded by his own people, and he had to leave his home. He gave the name “precious” to the ring. One day, the ring left him, and he dropped the ring. The ring was found by the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, who went to Erebor with a group of dwarves and joined their adventures.

The Five Istari

As a response to the reappearance of Nazgûl activities in different places and the possible Sauron threat that had been on the rise after Morgoth’s domination ended, the Valar sent five representatives to Middle-earth. When they were born in Middle-earth, they were greeted by a shipbuilder named Círdan in the Gray Havens. These representatives were called “Istari” by the Elves and “Wizards” by humans. They were all Maiar, but they could feel all the pleasure, pain, and fears just as humans did as long as they were in human form.

They all had different colors and different responsibilities in Middle-earth. Their colors also changed depending on their strength.

1. Saruman (Curumo)

Saruman was the strongest of these five wizards. It is the Valar Aulë who chose him to fight against Sauron, and who also created Sauron himself. When he set foot on Middle-Earth, he was dressed in white. and that’s why he was called “Saruman The White”. Unfortunately, Saruman also went over to the dark side and betrayed Valar.

2. Gandalf (Olórin)

He was called “Gandalf The Gray” for wearing a gray robe. Cirdan, who met the ”Five Istari”, regarded Gandalf as the most determined soul among all the Istari. Therefore, he gave him the Red Narya from the Rings of Power he was protecting. After Saruman couldn’t perform his duty and joined the dark side, he was prevented from being “White,” and this title was given to Gandalf. So, ”Gandalf The Gray” became ”Gandalf The White” in the end.

3. Radagast (Aiwendil)

The third Istari was called “Radagast the Brown” for wearing a brown dress. He did not deal with the worldly issues of humans and elves. The reason he was sent to Middle-earth was that he was interested in Kelvar (animals) and Olvar (plants), that is, the non-speaking creatures of Middle-earth, and he tried to protect them from Sauron’s evil.

4 &5. Sea-Blue Alatar and Pallando(Blue Wizards)

Two of the five Maiar who were sent by the Valar were wearing blue clothes. These two Maiar, named Alatar and Pallando, were known as the Blue Wizards. They went to the east and never returned.

This is the end of the Silmarillion stories and the creation myths covered by J.R.R. Tolkien related to Middle-earth. In my following post, I plan to cover the races that lived in Middle-earth and their connections with each other in more detail. Thank you for reading! See you in my next post.