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The Shire: woods and fields and little rivers

noWizardme
Half-elven


Aug 2 2015, 9:45am

Post #1 of 6 (1666 views)
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The Shire: woods and fields and little rivers Can't Post

I remember that when our last read-through discussed the early chapters of Fellowship of the Ring (Book I) some folks were finding that the country side of the Shire & environs was rather more small-scale than they were used too - new terrain not too far away.

I recently took this picture of Oxfordshire countryside, which maybe helps envisage one obvious source of inspiration for that landscape?

[[Photo - Oxfordshire, authors own picture]]

The Hill you can see in the background is Whytham Hill (pronounced "White ham hill"). The River Thames flows around its base, between the trees in the mid-ground and the hill.And if you took the footpath over it you'd soon be walking into Oxford (about 7 miles by footpath, I'd guess).

The scale of fields isn't big here - if it takes you more than a few minutes to cross a field on foot, it's a big field. A farm not far from this site is called "Twelve-acre Farm". A number of little rivers - the Windrush, Evenlode and Chillbrook (I thought you might like the names) run down to join the Thames.

Whytham Hill has been wooded for ever so long - it was part of the Great Wychwood (yes, pronounced "witch wood") , originally. However, there's the remains of an Iron Age Hillfort at the top of the Hill, so I suppose they deforested it at least enough to clear sight lines against attackers. But this particular view might have been the same for much of the past 1,000 years.

Behind the photographer heading north, the land runs up to Long Hanborough and Coombe (yes, we have a Coombe). It gets a bit steeper, with some 100-metre escarpments ( I need to find out whether the land saw any glacial action).

Barrows and standing stones? Well, not too far: The Rollright stone circle to the North (cycling distance), and The famous White Horse and Wayland Smithy to the South (an hour's drive or so).

I don't think, myself, that you can stand anywhere in the Real World and point out Middle-earth scenic features. I think Tolkien's imagination tended to conflate & rearrange very many things to suit his needs. But this is the kind of scenery with which a nature-loving, Oxford Professor fond of walks would have had around him.

~~~~~~

Join us for a read-through of The Two Towers (Book III of Lord of the Rings) in the Reading-Room - 13 September- 29 November 2015.
Schedule etc: http://newboards.theonering.net/...i?post=864064#864064


Faramir74
Bree

Aug 3 2015, 5:01pm

Post #2 of 6 (1589 views)
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I am also in the Shire... [In reply to] Can't Post

Great article and excellent photo! I recognised Wytham Hill immediately as I am also an Oxfordshire resident, in fact I pass this point at least four times a day to work.

I am convinced that Prof. Tolkien based his version of the Shire on Oxfordshire, albeit to a much larger scale. The Thames is the Brandywine etc.

I have attached a picture I took recently which reminds me of The Water between Hobbiton and Bywater.


Elizabeth
Half-elven


Aug 3 2015, 10:57pm

Post #3 of 6 (1565 views)
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Sorry, no picture. [In reply to] Can't Post

I'd love to see it! I am also very fond of this area, although I live halfway around the world and don't get to visit it very often.








Hamfast Gamgee
Tol Eressea

Aug 3 2015, 10:59pm

Post #4 of 6 (1566 views)
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Is that were [In reply to] Can't Post

You can see flocks of tens of thousands of starlings in the winter, one of the most spectacular displays? Actually, quite often I think of Tolkien when I am in the country. Of course, were I live I have to have a good imagination as I have to minus the car noises, the streetlights, the motorway, the electric pilons, and sometimes even mobile phones going off, but heck I can do this as I do have a good imagination!


cats16
Half-elven


Aug 9 2015, 3:52am

Post #5 of 6 (1421 views)
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Thanks for this! [In reply to] Can't Post

Every image is helpful, for me.

I grew up in a rural area, but a flat one that was sometimes hard to imagine as being similar to Tolkien's Shire. Imagining distance--looking ahead, seeing undulating landscapes, changing flora and fauna--was hard for me while reading (and sometimes still is). The more I travel, the easier it becomes; still, for me it's a skill that I'm working to improve upon with each read-through.

It's very interesting to think that, for some people, aspects of the text such as this are more of a handicap in some ways than others. I'm a bit befuddled in my case, though: I would guess that, spending my childhood in a rural setting, it would be fairly easy to imagine the terrain described in much of FOTR, for example. Of course, that's not an absolute, and many sections pose no problems for me in that regard.

Ah, an interesting thought on a Saturday night!

Join us every weekend in the Hobbit movie forum for this week's CHOW (Chapter of the Week) discussion!




balbo biggins
Rohan


Aug 12 2015, 3:33pm

Post #6 of 6 (1348 views)
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film in th eUK [In reply to] Can't Post

its a crying shame we'll never see a lotr fmovie actually filmed in the english countryside, it is of course perfect for the shire for anyone whos been there, also bree and the old forest. you might have to go to europe for rivendell and the misty moutains to do them justice, iceland for mordor of course and id love to see gondor set in italy, i dream of this one day!

 
 

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