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Could Skara Brae have inspired JRRT?

Hobbity Hobbit
Lorien


May 26 2015, 2:05am

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Could Skara Brae have inspired JRRT? Can't Post

If you don't know what Skara Brae is, it is a place in Scotland that was built in the Neolithic Period, and it was found when JRRT was possibly a teenager. In the place, there were small houses, sunken into the ground. The small houses had no roofs, and looked a bit like a hole, and the people who lived there were most likely farmers who raised livestock.

Sounds suspiciously familiar to me, however JRRT sometimes did claim that Middle-Earth was a forgotten period in Earth. The rolling hills of the Shire always reminded me about Scotland, now after researching the Neolithic Period for my story, I found this.

EDIT: Also, I cannot tell since I've only begun to research, but I think they people who lived there are a few feet smaller than humans.

"As the snowflakes cover my fallen brothers,
I will say this last goodbye."

(This post was edited by Hobbity Hobbit on May 26 2015, 2:07am)


Otaku-sempai
Immortal


May 26 2015, 5:17am

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Hmmm? [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To
EDIT: Also, I cannot tell since I've only begun to research, but I think they people who lived there are a few feet smaller than humans.


I don't know how much (if anything) Professor Tolkien would have known about the site, but I think it's safe to say that the builders were human (if shorter than average).

"At the end of the journey, all men think that their youth was Arcadia..." - Phantom F. Harlock


Elizabeth
Half-elven


May 26 2015, 5:25am

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I have a few pictures... [In reply to] Can't Post

...that I took there in 2009. It's really fascinating.

A street in the "village"

A scale copy you can walk in.

A "dresser" in the copy house, identical to ones found in the excavated houses.

A bed frame. Beds were covered with furs for comfort.

No idea whether Tolkien thought about these as models for his hobbit holes. Could be! The village was discovered in 1850, and extensively excavated in the 1920's. Here's a little more info & more pictures.








(This post was edited by Elizabeth on May 26 2015, 5:28am)


Bumblingidiot
Rohan

Jun 3 2015, 10:30pm

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I think Tolkien was familiar with Cornwall - so possibly Chysauster [In reply to] Can't Post

and the various fogous and quoits that are dotted around the county might have had some influence. Certainly, when I read about the Shire, I think of Cornwall rather than Orkney; it's a much softer landscape, with many hills, little valleys and country lanes, not to mention numerous woods and copses - something that Orkney doesn't have. It also has the high moors, with mysterious standing stones - and most important of all, good country pubs.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear."


Morthoron
Gondor


Jun 4 2015, 12:51am

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Tolkien and archaeology... [In reply to] Can't Post

Here is an interesting article from British Archaeology magazine regarding Tolkien and Anglo-Saxon archaeological sites:
http://www.archaeologyuk.org/ba/ba65/feat4.shtml

Please visit my blog...The Dark Elf File...a slighty skewed journal of music and literary comment, fan-fiction and interminable essays.


 
 

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