Your Ultimate Fantasy
Books have a wonderful way of transporting us to a new place, don’t you think? You get so wrapped up in the pages, the characters, and the descriptions that it’s easy to form the words into real, tangible settings in your head. This is especially true with Tolkien’s work, as he made sure to give as much detail as he possibly could. The Lord of the Rings, and Middle-Earth by extension, is ravaged by war and dark forces, but there are many comforting, loving aspects that would make it a wonderful place to live.
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1. Magic
What’s better than living in a world with magic? Between the long lives of the elves, speaking trees, and a great wizard spreading peace and justice throughout the land, even the minuscule amount of magic in Middle-Earth today is better than nothing at all.
2. Stunning Views
From end-to-end, Middle-Earth has rolling hills, beautiful forests, strong rivers, and stunning architecture. Outside of Mordor, which have stunningly terrible views in its own right, you’ll never get tired of the view, no matter where you go.
3. Historical Forests
Does your forests have a race of tree-shaped beings protecting them? Didn’t think so. The Ents keep Middle-Earth’s forests alive and well, and act as a way of high-speed internet, passing information from across the land quickly and effiecently.
4. A Proud People
Nobody is perfect, but when it comes to protecting their home, the communties across Middle-Earth stood tall and fought against a great evil. This is a place of honor, respect, and responsibility to your home and people.
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5. Mithril
The shining star of the Dwarves, mithril is an extremely rare metal that is lightweight but incredibly strong. While mithril can no longer be mined, anyone lucky enough to be blessed with the metal has armor unlike any other.
6. Anti-Capitalist Society
If you’re a Hobbit, you have no need for money. The Shire, specifically, runs on an agrarian society and community building. Need your fence painted? A basket of fresh veggies is payment enough for your next-door neighbour.
7. Strong Communities
Alongside the Shire, the many kingdoms across Middle-Earth have a long history and culture engrained into each and every one of them. Their armies strong and prepared for battle, their castles standing proud and tall. Even the ghosts uphold their promises!
8. So Much Space
Just a rough estimate, but it’s thought that Middle-Earth is larger than the whole of Europe, meaning nearly four million square miles of space. You and your loved ones will easily find a piece of land to settle on.
9. Good Food
No matter where you go in Middle-Earth, the food is abundant and the meals are hearty. Hobbits are known to take multiple meals a day, and grow nearly everything themselves. Even the elves have lembas bread, a travel-food that can satisfy you for days on end.
10. Great Parties
From the Shire to Gondor, Middle-Earth-ians know how to have a party. They have it all: Food, drink, fireworks, mistchief, and a cause for celebration. Swing on down to The Shire to celebrate someone’s 111th birthday!
11. Magic (Again)
Sure, we have Gandalf the White, but we also have Saruman the White. The power-hungry wizard left his mark on Middle-Earth, and not in the good way. Corrupted by power and greed, Saruman twisted the magic of Middle-Earth for his evil bidding.
12. Sauron
Speaking of evil bidding, Mordor’s leader is the puppetmaster to all the evil that cursed Middle-Earth for thousands of years. His solid teflon, silently working away at a world-changing plot, manipulating communities from the inside certianly don’t give off “neighborly” qualities.
13. Deforestation
Before Mordor expanded into the smoking, desolate place it is today, the Southlands were a somewhat deserted, but overly peaceful space. The same rings true for the surrounding area of Isenguard, which saw drastic and, frankly, illegal deforestation practices, losing major sections of history and even lives to the Ent population.
14. Balrogs
These firey demons are frightening enough to make any wizard doubt his own power. The balrog are tall, easily disguised, and armed with whips made of fire. It’s said balrogs cannot be vanquished without a great measure of strength and ferocity.
15. Smaug
In different worlds, dragons can be friends to the specieces they cohabitate with. In Middle-Earth, however, this dragon cares for nothing but itself. Smaug is a greeedy, strong, and fearsome creature that sits on a pile of stolen treasure.
16. War
Even the strongest of kingdoms struggle in times of war. The continuous unrest affects all Middle-Earth residents (save for most of The Shire), and constant food rationing, rebuilding, and mourning is reason enough to want to leave for the Undying Lands.
17. Corrupt Political Systems
As steward of Gondor, Denethor II was gready and self-indulgent, not to mention a pretty bad father. Instead of being corrupted by the ring, Denethor believed he can control Sauron’s power, putting Gondor at further risk during a time of great destruction.
18. The Nazgûl
Spreading dread and fear throughout the land, the Nazgûl are Sauron’s slaves, cursed with immortality and invisibility, alive but not living. While most people can’t see the Nazgûl, they pose a massive threat to anyone foolish enough to come into contact with them. Oh, and they have posionous knives.
19. So Much Space (Again)
Beautiful in one hand, tiring in the other. The space between capitals in Middle-Earth makes every letter, march, or move incredibly time-consuming. Gondor and Rohan are 300 miles apart, Lothlórien and Rivendell are 470 miles apart, and Frodo and Sam walked 1,800 miles during their journey from Bag End to Mount Doom.
20. Corrosive Jewlery
Meaning, of course, corrosive to the mind. Need we say more?
