XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: degrafi@freenet.de   
      
   Hi!   
      
   Am 13.08.2015 um 14:01 schrieb Wayne Brown:   
      
   > I've always believed, ever since I read LOTR somewhere around 1969,   
   > that the events in Middle-Earth took place so far in the past that   
   > all traces of those civilizations had vanished.  At the very least   
   > the idea of silverware must have been lost and reinvented, since I   
   > seriously doubt that those spoons that Bilbo and Lobelia fought over   
   > were inspired by anything Marco Polo brought back from China.  :-)   
      
   That's true, but reinvention (or parallel development) wouldn't be unusual.   
   Yet I don't think that all remains of the Four Ages had been wiped out   
   in latter years. I always thought that Tolkien regarded the greek, roman   
   and nordic pantheon as "falsified" myths, which were originally inspired   
   by the "true myth" of the Valar as guardians of Arda.   
   And additionally I don't think that the name for Númenor after the   
   downfall in Quenya is purely unintentional (Atalantë)   
      
   Michael   
      
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