Did Valinor exist?, page 1

reply to post by Donnie Darko

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Stories like this go back to the very start of human civilization and are prevalent in nearly all cultures leading many to believe that we are storing an unconscious memory of a time when humanity was united and a great cataclysm tore us apart and scattered us. The memories of our ancient homeland (science tells us this is likely Africa) faded and changed and were blended with myth and legend to give us stories of lost cities and continents decimated by angry gods.

Stories of a great flood are also common and there is some evidence to suggest flooding at the end of the ice age, the drastic rise in sea level, is to blame for some of these legends.

We have to understand that while human history only goes back maybe 8,000 years or so that our species and our ancestors go back hundreds of thousands of years and who knows what dark memories we harbor in our collective unconscious, memory inscribed on our very genetic code perhaps or hard wired into our brain...

So some place like Atlantis, or Valinor, or insert name of lost civilization here, may have once existed. There are thousands and thousands of years of human existence that we have little idea what was happening. Scattered tools and bone fragments give us a glimpse but they hardly give us the big picture... Human civilization may have existed and been destroyed countless times (the Mayans believed the 'world' would end numerous times, not saying I agree with them but...)

We really don't know... which is where fiction comes in to fill in the gaps...

reply to post by punkinworks

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I would see Stalin as the main enemy. What did Tolkien himself say was the inspiration?

reply to post by Hanslune

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hi there hans,

have no idea what was in tolkiens mind.
My brother came up with analogy.
we had thought how stalin might figure in,maybe stalins ussr was one of marginaly alligned kindoms of men inferred, but not a part of the story, that lay in the east, that eventually sided with good.

reply to post by punkinworks

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I've seen an analysis of this somewhere someplace. Which had the two towers being Nazism and Communism. Cannot find it anywhere thou.

I think Luxembourg is the shire....either that or the Grand Duchy of Fenwick.

I tried reading the Lord of the Rings series of books when I was a kid. I could not make heads or tails of them. I have also watched the movies and still don't understand them. Oh well, I guess I just don't have the right mindset.

Anyway, here is a link to some things you might find interesting.

J.R.R. Tolkiens' Middle Earth did not come out of thin air. Tolkien, an academic linguist, drew on the following source materials to inspire his world-building exercise. The texts presented at this site are complete and in some cases in the original languages.

reply to post by Donnie Darko

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Then there is the myth of Avalon. Or should I say story? Who knows, I would argue it maybe possible, if improbable.

[edit on 20-9-2009 by Watcher-In-The-Shadows]

reply to post by Hanslune

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Actually Tolkien was a technophobe after the first World War and that is largely what it was about with the Orcs and Sauron representing the encroaching industrial revolution.

reply to post by Watcher-In-The-Shadows

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That has some creditability too. As Russian Communism was hot on heavy industry.

reply to post by Hanslune

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I am not so sure it was of a political bend*Fascism, Communism, etc* just more so about as the "Good" races followed a more or less monarchal system.www.nationalgeographic.com/ngbeyond/rings/influences.html

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