Fourth Age of Middle Earth gaming

[combatmedic]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

But Eriador is closer to that then Australia.

He wasn't talking about climate.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

But Eriador is closer to that then Australia.

It is, that's quite true. But I wasn't using Australia as an analogue to Eriador, I was writing about the conditions that formed my sense of the words "empty" and "desolate". I was explaining why there is no contradiction between Tolkien describing Eriador as being generally empty, and my continually emphasising that there were nevertheless some people living there. The likeness of Eriador to Siberia is not germane to that explanation, nor is the unlikeness of the climate of Eriador to that of Australia.

Tolkien describes Eriador as empty and desolate. I think that the impression I take from those words is not the impression that he meant to give when he wrote them. The reason is that he grew up in Buckinghamshire and thought Wales was remote and desolate, whereas I grew up in Kempsey Shire (it was the Macleay Shire back then) and thought that the Simpson Desert was remote and desolate.

Neither Tolkien nor I grew up in Siberia or Sweden, so conditions in those places aren't a guide either to what he meant or what I understood.

[combatmedic]

Originally Posted by Brett

It is, that's quite true. But I wasn't writing about Eriador, I was writing about the conditions that formed my sense of the words "empty" and "desolate".

Tolkien describes Eriador as empty and desolate. I think that the impression I take from those words is not the impression that he meant to give when he wrote them. The reason is that he grew up in Buckinghamshire and thought Wales was remote and desolate, whereas I grew up in Kempsey Shire (it was the Macleay Shire back then) and thought that the Simpson Desert was remote and desolate.

Neither Tolkien nor I grew up in Siberia or Sweden, nor Eriador for that matter. I was explaining why there is no contradiction between Tolkien describing Eriador as being generally empty, and my continually emphasising that there were nevertheless some people living there. The likeness of Eriador to Siberia is not germane to that explanation, nor is the unlikeness of the climate of Eriador to that of Australia.

Yep.

It makes me wonder what sort of world he might have created had he grown up in the land of his birth, assuming that his life cirumstances and choices still led to writing fantasy.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by combatmedic

The pearls might be fresh-water. I'd bet they were. What bodies of water are close to Moria?

Maybe the lake monster made them.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Maybe the lake monster made them.

I don't think it was put there until Balin returned to Moria. Remember that Gandalf was surprised that the Sirannon was not flowing down the Stair Falls, and marvelled at the lake that had filled the valley before the gate.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Brett

I don't think it was put there until Balin returned to Moria. Remember that Gandalf was surprised that the Sirannon was not flowing down the Stair Falls, and marvelled at the lake that had filled the valley before the gate.

Maybe it made pearls when it was a baby river monster...

If the economics of Middle Earth are problematic, the ecology is even more so.

[combatmedic]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Maybe it made pearls when it was a baby river monster...

If the economics of Middle Earth are problematic, the ecology is even more so.

I don't see any notable ecological 'problems' in the setting.

The 'river monster' may not have been a 'natural' creature.

Or maybe it was.

[combatmedic]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Maybe the lake monster made them.

But I do love the idea of pearls being formed inside the thing.

That's just fun. Kill the monster and cut it open to grab the treasure.

[Hans Rancke-Madsen]

Originally Posted by combatmedic

But I do love the idea of pearls being formed inside the thing.

That's just fun. Kill the monster and cut it open to grab the treasure.

And it explains why the monster is so irritable. You'd be irritable too if you had pearls growing in some internal organ.


Hans

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Hans Rancke-Madsen

And it explains why the monster is so irritable. You'd be irritable too if you had pearls growing in some internal organ.

In oysters the pearls decrease the irritation.

Bill Stoddard