Abby Epplett, Historian

This week, I am back with more from Appendix A, by far the longest and most dense of the appendixes. For those concerned with timing, my final post about Appendix A is currently scheduled to run on July 7, while my final post about the appendixes as a whole will appear many months from now on November 10, all dates subject to change. This week, I move along to “(iii) Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur”, which focuses mostly on the North Kingdom and the Dúnedain, the Men of the West. As for historical connections, the section is filled with references to topics from across European and world history, including ancient burial customs, colonization, Arctic technology, idioms, royal jewels, and how medieval internships worked. Plus, a few popular characters from the dialogue portion of the books make appearances. The section began with a brief refresher on what land was considered Eriador: everything from the Misty Mountains to the east and the Blue Mountains to the west,...

The Lord of the Rings: Part One, Fellowship of the Ring opens on page 1 not with lush scenery or snappy dialog, although plenty of this will come later, but with an approximately 7,500-word essay on the fictional world of Middle-earth. Fourth grade Abby found this authorial decision to be delightful, but readers unprepared for a short thesis might quietly place the book back on the shelf and step away. For the next few weeks, I will dive into the Prologue from the perspective of a historian, examining where events in the essay mirror those in the real world. Today’s post reflects on the authorial decisions of writing style for the overall Prologue, the origin of the text that Tolkien claims to translate, and the use of anthropology in the first section, “1 Concerning Hobbits”. The longest of the five sections, J.R.R. Tolkien details the physical traits and skills of the race; their evolution, migration, and colonization; and how their beliefs differ from other races in the wor...