For my third overall personal post here on HIVE, I very much wanted to share a brief history of the transition of the Middle Earth into our own world, as per the works that make up J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium.
That being said, before delving in a bit too much, I would very much like to stress the fact that, contrary to a popular belief shared by many (including long time J.R.R. Tolkien fans through his actual books or through Peter Jackson's cinematographic adaptations), the Middle Earth is not necessarily a separate world set in a parallel universe according to the legendary English high fantasy writer, but rather a predecessor of our current world.
According to J.R.R. Tolkien's imagination which birthed his legendarium over years of hard work and thorough assimilation of existing ancient cultures and mythologies of mankind's past (ranging from the Celts to the Norse, the Finns, or the Anglo-Saxons), the high fantasy realm of the Middle Earth was only one of the continents of Arda, the name which he ascribed to our (sic!) Earth.
Before transition however to the current state of continents, there were previously other huge land masses which formed the basis of our world, all that is, by virtue of artistic license, or, should I better put, literary license. While not clinging to the standard narrative of Pangea –> Lemuria/Mu –> Atlantis –> Europe/Asia/Africa/Oceania/North America/South America/Antarctica, Tolkien decided to be original and go from his own creations of Beleriand (1st age) –> Aman/Valinor (i.e. 'Land of the Valar'; 2nd age) –> Downfall of Númenor (end of the 2nd age) –> Our world as we know it (the 3rd and current age of mankind).
This is further represented down below in a beautiful and very creative map designed by Ian Alexander on Commons Wikimedia:
A beautiful and straightforward representation by Ian Alexander on the transition from Númenor to our Earth as we know it (as per the cosmology of J.R.R. Tolkien and Shippey, Tom (2005) [1982] The Road to Middle-Earth (Third ed.), The Lost Straight Road: HarperCollins, pp. 324−328 ISBN: 978-0261102750). The original caption on Commons Wikimedia where it was uploaded is the following one: 'The Downfall of Númenor and the Changing of the World: Tolkien imagined that the World began flat, so that Men could sail to Aman across the sea. Seeing the pride of Númenor, at the end of the Second Age Ilúvatar sundered the seas, drowned Númenor and Beleriand, and made the World round. The Elves were still permitted to sail "The Straight Road", but Men who tried would just sail in a circle around the World'.
Image source: Commons Wikimedia
P.S.: I truly wish this particular post and map not be taken as an argument by the flat Earthers in their waked conspiracy theories, I mean it! LOTR and the Hobbit (along with corresponding work such as, most notably, 'The Children of Húrin' or 'The Silmarillion') are ultimately works of fiction (tremendously well written) but should not replace your knowledge of science, kids! And don't get me started on something I heard a long time ago when some people living in the Modern Age quite schizophrenically thought that the Earth was placed/supported by various layers of turtles. That was one of the most absurd things I have ever heard of in my entire life!
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