From: private@gmx.liechtenstein   
      
   On Sun, 25 Dec 2016 19:40:01 +0000 (GMT), temujin   
    wrote:   
      
   >It's been a long time since I've read the books but was the   
   > solstice mentioned in Tolkien's writings? Come to think of it,   
   > was there any place in his world for orbits, planets and modern   
   > astronomy?   
   >   
   >Seems less than a handful of posters remain but it would be nice   
   > to revive a semi-regular conversation.   
   >   
   >Wishing you a merry tolkmas or the equivalent festive greeting in   
   > the common speech.   
   >   
      
   I had a look on glyphweb and it turns out that the Shire Calendar   
   marks the end of the hobbit year with Yuledays which are roughly   
   equivalent to the winter solstice. I also read an article about star   
   constellations on muse.jhu.edu (search Morwinyon) which identifies   
   modern counterparts to those set in Arda's night sky.   
      
   Lastly, my googling stumbled upon an article about technology in   
   middle-earth (search tolkien space travel) which explores Akallabeth,   
   The Straight Road and Starships. It's an interesting idea to convert   
   fantasy into science fiction - after all, Bilbo was only writing down   
   mythological accounts from other races  and his own understanding of   
   the physical world was pre-medieval at best.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)