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Plate Tectonics and Middle Earth

Sheilawisz

Queen of Titania
Moderator
When I looked at a Middle Earth map for the first time, I thought that the mountains and other features were displayed in a very unnatural order and that they could not be explained from a realistic and geological point of view.

I mean, why is Mordor a high plateau surrounded by mountains, like it was a natural fortress or something??

The map even made me think of the world Fantastica and also my own Fantasy worlds, where the high mountains, vast forests, freezing ice fields and also huge lakes exist at very unusual places for no apparent reason =)

I think that Tolkien did not really care about realistic geology, and from my point of view, this tells us that we should not always take so seriously the realistic details and construction of our Fantasy worlds.
 

Sparkie

Auror
I think that Tolkien did not really care about realistic geology, and from my point of view, this tells us that we should not always take so seriously the realistic details and construction of our Fantasy worlds.

In my opinion, there can indeed be such a thing as too much worldbuilding.
 
I dunno. There has to be a midpoint between overexplaining and rivers that run through mountain ranges (thank you, Paolini!)
 

Mindfire

Istar
I dunno. There has to be a midpoint between overexplaining and rivers that run through mountain ranges (thank you, Paolini!)
You saying mountains don't have rivers? Huh?

Perhaps Sauron took a few thousand years to shift the landscape around so that Mordor would essentially be a fortress. He was an Ainur, after all.
One of the Maiar to be more precise. IIRC, the term "Ainur", though not technically wrong, is generally used to describe their state of being outside of Eä.
 
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