0:00 - Intro 0:16 - Years of the Lamps 1:17 - Years of the Trees 5:28 - First Age 10:03 - Second Age 25:22 - Third Age 46:04 - Fourth Age Ollie Bye: / olliebye Feanor Ra: / @feanorra8785 Patreon: / vologdamapping
i think it's incredible to see how detailed the history of this world is considering it's not until minute 44 out of 47 that the events of the lord of the rings trilogy actually begins
If you think that's incredible, consider that a human lifespan, if you condense the age of the universe to 24 hours, is roughly equivalent to a single millisecond.
Can we give a praise both to this man who analyzed the entire timeline and to Gigachad Cirdan in Lindon who stood for thousands of years withouth his realm being touched by countless wars and hardships.
Let's also praise Terrachad Ereinion Gil-Galad who kept Lindon for the entirety of the longer Second Age and fought two successful wars against Sauron, one of which was the only time enemy forces entered Mordor and Barad-Dur was under siege.
@@andrasbalogh4291 and don't forget the Woodland Realm which stayed there, just north of Dol Guldur, not so far from Gundabad Mt and exposed to attacks from Easterlings. All with Thranduil
Lindon was severely depopulated by numerous wars in the Second Age, and most of its male population died along with Gil-Galad in the Last Alliance. In the Third Age, its only contribution besides being a port of exit was defeating Angmar, and only with the help of Gondor and what was left of Arthedain.
Cirdan the Shipwright, One of the first Elven Lords to rule in Beleriand during the years of the Trees before the first age... and finally the last elf to depart Middle Earth and sail into the West.
and unlike Galadriel and Elrond, he did it for thousands of years after handing over Narya to Olorin/Mithrandir/Gandalf/THarkun/Incanus. Yeah.. Dude was "Galf of the Many Names" if you will...LOL
“My heart lies with the sea.” He waited all that time, from the first elves, until the elves left Middle Earth. Perhaps the most underrated and selfless elf of all time.
@@thomasalvarez6456"perhaps" while i cannot say about underrated, he was undoubtedly the most Selfless of them all. The last time he was selfish was when he missed the first few times elves could attempt to reach Valinor before the first age even truly begun at its worst. Like from that point on since his duty was to build the ships to Valinor and only go there once every elves wishing to leave left Middle Earth with the last ship, he put the dreams of every.single.remaining elf in front of his. Galadriel was a child and he has already been doing his duty for a long time, he saw Gandalf and gave him one of the most powerfull artefacts in the world without hesitation because he knew Gandalf would make better use of it, its stuff Elrond and Galadriel no matter how wise and kind they were would be torn... granted Cirdan was gifted foresight but still, when you are so old Ents would be the type of being closer in age to you than the rest of your kind as they all left for heaven a while back, you get that the patience of the guy was above that of everyone else in the world
Small correction: not all elves left Middle Earth in the 4th Era. Most did, but some remained permanently. However, over time their powerful souls overwhelmed their bodies and they became more akin to wilderness spirits.
@@ticker0157 As far as I know it's just a small piece of information from the Silmarillion or the Appendices. I don't think Tolkien ever developed the idea thoroughly.
@@ticker0157 I think the idea is that elves and dwarves eventually became the stuff of fairy tales, remaining in men's memories as common gnomes, fairies, elfs and dwarfs of myth and legend, up to the present day. Middle-earth was conceived of as a distant mythical past of our own Earth, after all.
@@Faerandur well shit if that's true we gotta go find the fucking silmarills so feanor can beak them and morgoths bitch ass can get slapped by turin turambar and this shit ass world can finally end
Just came across this video, amazing work and congrats to you! For someone who have read all of Tolkien books, some of them more than once, I've never come across such a detailed, in-depth, thorough video which presented the universe so well. A funny note to your comment, Tolkien wrote in a letter to (I think) his publisher after having finished writing The Lord Of The Rings saying basically the same as you; that he was happy it was over hehe. I can imagine it took a lot of work and research for you guys!
Notice the incredible attention to detail put in this video: for example, the inclusion of Nan Elmoth as part of Doriath, and the fact that in the small "Elves" box we see _Eldar_ written in Tengwar. Truly amazing, good job!
The attention to detail is top tier. For example, not all of Mordor was barren. Its southeastern region was an agricultural land. The creators of this video didn't miss that detail and painted that spot(around the lake of mordor) with green colour. I didn't know the continent of Middle Earth was covered with forests in early times until I watched the video. Throughout the ages and after every conflict the land becomes more deforested... Thank you for your amazing work.
If I remember correctly, it was said in LoTR that back in the day a squirrel could jump from tree to tree all the way from Fangorn to the Old Forest or something along those lines. Not a very obscure piece of the Middle-Earth lore, since all who have read LoTR have read it.
@@clockworkthoughts7830"neutral" is a big word, they did help when the problem was litteraly in their neighborhood and the last alliance, id say "passive" because they only helped if things were truly going down
@@erwannthietart3602 More like they helped because Gil-Galad was King and had Premonitions of Sauron rising once again so HE marched the Armies of Lindon, alongside Elrond of Rivendell, to Mordor with the Last Aliance. The most Cirdan did himself was helping out against Angmar during the Third Age while the Witch King was messing things up. I think he also helped fight off Dor Daedloth when they LITTERALLY invaded Falas and fucked with his ships, but other than that, all other conflicts involving Lindon were lead by Gil-Galad and Elrond. Moral of the story . . . don't fuck with Cirdan's ships . . .
This is truly amazing. While watching, I was wondering what J.R.R. Tolkien would have thought of people taking the time to do all of this. I can only imagine that he would be joyed by such a thing.
This video is of a higher effort to comprehend the Tolkien timeline than the disgusting abomination by Amazon: Rings of Power. Just by watching this video one can see how much they slaughtered the timeline, how nonsensical their story and plot is, and how much they disrespected Tolkien. The Rings of Power is a dumpsterfire of unseen magnitude.
But in this case it is better to do nothing at all. Come on, it was a cynical attempt by rich guys to get rich even at the expense of Tolkien's work.@@invinsible1987
Why they doing this without all rights?! IF Amazon body truly would love LotR, this TV show would stop by _now_ or he would get _all_ rights and starting new and better...
considering they're the furthest from harm and closest to escape, it doesn't sound like an achievement. The real honors belong to Cirdan, over ten thousand years old and one of the very first elves to awaken, yet is one of the last to leave Middle Earth. He managed to survive countless horrors. Balrugs, dragons, orcs in all their kinds, Morgoth, Sauron, corruption of the rings, ungoliant offspring, etc.
It's strange to think that in a way, Morgoth and Sauron defined the elves while they were in Middle Earth. The Noldor largely returned specifically because of Morgoth's deeds while the second and third age saw them have to account their plans around Sauron, all while living and trying to build in settlements that where pale imitations of their elder cities, destroyed after centuries of war with the Dark Lords, and when Sauron and the Mordor were *finally* destroyed...the last major Noldor settlements faded away while the other elves more or less declined with time, there greatest deeds seemingly done as their entire history faded to myth.
I think that it is because Elves and Orcs are antithetical to each other, and so thesis + antithesis = synthesis in the form of men, who go either way in terms of allegiance. Once the magical world of clear good and evil, of orcs and elves and ents and wizards and dwarves fades, a world of men is what's left. Magical light and dark are replaced by realistic gray as the world moves from myth into history.
Music time stamp: 0:00 Alexander Nakaranda - Adventure 4:33 Alexander Nakaranda - Nomadic Dawn 7:41 Evan King - Guardians 9:33 Alexander Nakaranda - Tavern Loop 11:49 PGN Music - Embers in the Wind 15:33 Alexander Nakaranda - Hymn to the Gods 21:40 Ragesound - Vortex 25:22 Alexander Nakaranda - Celebration 27:43 Alexander Nakaranda - Now we Ride 30:39 Free Dramatic Scores - Castle of Darkness 32:40 Alexander Nakaranda - Vopna 36:12 Evan King - Guardians 38:37 Alexander Nakaranda - The Lone Wolf 42:59 Alexander Nakaranda - Nakaranda’s Theme 43:19 Timur Haisyn - Brutal Fervour 45:40 Alexander Nakaranda - Adventure Thanks to Tim Taylor for finding the last I missed.
Bonus: Artwork 0:18 Stefan Meisl - Ormal 1:05 Ted Nasmith - At Lake Cuviénen 4:54 Elena Kukanova - The Light of Valinor 9:33 Peter Xavier Price - Celebrimbor’s Death 25:23 Ted Nasmith - The White Tree 46:05 Ted Nasmith - The Shire; A view of Hobbiton from the hills
In Tolkien's notes there were a few other things that were supposed to happen later in the 4th age. Around the year 220 (forth age) the corruption of men would begin in the story called "the New Shadow." Men would begin worshiping dark cults similar to the "unfaithful" in the time of Numenor. After many centuries of corruption Morgoth would return in another story called Dagor Dagorath (year unknown). This final battle would lead to the destruction of Arda in a Ragnarok / Book of Revelation apocalypse. No living creature would survive the war. After Dagor Dagorath Eru would conduct the 2nd music of the Ainur and remake Arda in it's flawless form as it would be if Arda was never corrupted by Melkor.
@@heremapping4484 It is worth noting that Tolkien abandoned most of this over the years, "the New Shadow" for example is one snippet, he didn't write much more on it as it was very quickly abandoned. The same with Dagor Dagorath, which while potentially still canon to an extent as an end state, it is a topic he later regretted stating anything about, as he preferred in his later years to keep it at best hinted at, concealed. Some wild ideas exist of earlier drafts of the story though. In fact, Tolkien even regretted saying the orcs were corrupted elves and was working on a re-working of the idea in the end; to make it Men corrupted instead. The only reason we have what we have is that the new idea was not finished in his writings, leaving his son Christopher with little choice when creating the Silmarillion to stay with what was clearly established. Sadly i do not have the sources in front of me, nor do i have the links available at this moment (this comes from his letters at least). But it does come via credible Tolkien scholars, that much i can promise. At least this is what i must suspect Juliano was pointing to.
@@textbookidiocy3896 Look, no one here ever said that the New Shadow or similar works were cannon. The words "supposed" were used, not "would". Really he was just saying that Tolkien made plans, yes plans change.
Bro honestly I am a major lord of the rings nerd and this was one of the best things I've seen. Showing how little of the lore is actually in the movies and stuff even the books like this is good
@@VologdaMapping no thank you sir funny thing is I found this by accident. I have been playing middle earth shadow of Mordor and shadow of war with a friend. And she was like wait so there was more than the lord of the rings and hobbit. Then I found your video she is in for such a surprise with this one
I managed to The Silmarillion years ago; it was tough slugging, so to speak. Once you got through the first part of the book and understood Tolkien's style, it was fantastic! It made one appreciate the LoTR events much easier knowing the backstory of the world and it's changing geography. Good video, by the way.
@@desmondd1984 I really hope the Amazon Show isn't a complete travesty. I really want it to be good! I'm excited for it to start. I wonder if we will ever get to see the First Age on screen?
THeo, I discovered it FAR easier to digest in a n Audible audiobook. Your brain was free to imagine things and reference the known maps, instead of half your brain power being spent on reading/comprehension.
@@ZakhadWOW same here, had problems reading because of ADHD, but with audiobooks is sooo easier, i feel guided through the story. Just finished all the audiobooks for Dune and will begin the Silmarillion
The beginning is hard going but when you get to stuff like hurin and Turin turambar it gets really, really good imo. I think the story of Turin turambar is as epic as anything in lotr. Seriously adult stuff compared to lotr and especially the hobbit. Hardcore. Its badass. Super tragic.
It's nice to see the whole history laid out like that. It seems like the Elves have been around forever yet they only awoke like 55% into the entire story lol. The world in the first age seemed so magical and mysterious and beautiful yet I bet the Years of the Lamps was probably about 100x more crazy before Melkor could disperse his evil into Arda and become much much MUCH weaker as he was in the first age.
@annatar lord of gifts About the armies of balrogs it seems Tolkien himself varied on their number, whether there were literal armies or much less and were more just the generals of Morgoth's armies.
@@alejandromaldonado6159 used them damn well to give the opposing elves in their upper hand in every battle before Bragollach a surprise to give them: a tragic setback to mortally wound Feanor, to pounce upon Maedhros bearing laurels to negotiate, and to corner the fleeing fighting survivors of Gondolin throughout it's Ruin.
Ages before the First Age: the Years of the Sun or age of the awakening of Man, the Years of the Stars, the years of the Two Trees, and the years of the Great Lamps Ringil and Ormal. Altogether the days before the first rise of the Sun and the Moon were believed to have lasted about 154.812 years.
this was really great and so detailed but there are a few things you missed in the forth age. 1. The kingdom that Gimli founded in the glittering caves 2. The Dagor Dagorlach at the end of the world when Melkor returns from the void and is killed by Túrin there might be other stuff but overall this was the most detailed history i’ve seen
The Dagor Dagorath doesn't occur during the Fourth Age. It's merely the final battle which will bring about a new world at some point. The Fourth Age is when Men begin to rule Arda with the eventual departure of the Elves and isolation of the Dwarves. With Sauron destroyed, Melkor/Morgoth imprisoned, and the Orcs and other dark beings dwindling/going extinct, there is no evil left except that which lies in the hearts of Men. Who knows how many more ages could pass before Dagor Dagorath.
Blows my mind that not only did Tolkien create such a vast history and language of Middle Earth, but also The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings take place only near the end of the Third Age!
Great job! I'm a big fan of LOTR and this is exactly what I was thinking about a few days ago - "Wouldn't it be great if someone made map explaining the events?" - thanks a lot, you can tell a lot effort was put into this.
Beautiful representation of how Arda evolved overtime. Though there is something I found wrong, the background during the age of the lamps should be void of stars, completely pitch black as Varda didn’t fill the skies of Arda with stars at the time
In Christian belief of the future there will be a new heaven and new earth at the end of the book of Revelation. My wife and I have speculated on what would happen IF God asked his people what kind of a new earth he should make, and what Tolkien's reaction would be to a sizeable number of people saying, "Middle Earth!"
@@dorklymorkly3290 Nah he would be in awe by the lotr music alone, notwithstanding the amazing acting. What makes u think he's a closed minded grumpy old man?
@@Scrungge Tolkien was enraged by the BBC adaption of LOTR back in the 70s, and that one was mostly faithful. There are many ways in which the movies stray away from the books. For instance: -Biomes: the landscape around Minas Tirith is supposed to be fertile farmland, not tundra. -Denethor as a character. -The depiction of Sauron, though admittedly I still like it the way it's done in the movies. -The way Isildur is portrayed in the movies. -The Scouring of the Shire is missing in the movies. -Tom Bombadil is missing in the movies including the whole bit about getting lost in the magical forest. -The Council of Elrond is severely cut short in the movies. -Aragorns arc with the undead soldiers. In the book they help liberate Pelargir from the Corsairs, rather than alleviate Minas Tirith. -The depiction of the beacons, though again I personally prefer the movie way. and a lot of other things. I believe while Tolkien would have loved the soundtrack and some of the actors he'd generally have loathed PJ's trilogy. But this doesn't mean the movies are bad by any means since they can still very well stand on their own as a work, regardless of authorial intent.
Nice work! A bit of note, since the petty kingdoms are missing, the "Bard refounds Dale" is weird, since there is no mention of the Kingdom of Dale earlier.
This is awesome! I've got only one issue - Dunlendings. They're shown on the map in Dunland we know from the LOTR. But they've escaped Calendarhorn and moved there only after being slaughtered by the rohirrim, who burned down their villages while moving into the Calendarhorn
I was really expecting this to be a hit or miss kind of thing. Nope! It captured pretty much every world altering event throughout the Silmarillion and the published works. I'm extatic to see this so well mapped out. Anyone ever starts asking questions, I can come right back her and let them see for themselves. Well done!!
I'm a huge Tolkien nerd and absolutely loved watching this. Definitely puts the time frames into perspective that are lost as you become engulfed in the story.
Wonderful effort by you. Only two small corrections: the realm of Morgoth didn't have a name of its own, Dor Daedeloth refers only to the land north of Beleriand in which Angband is located, and the Noldor after Nirnaeth Arnoediad did not flee in Ossiriand, but on Amon Ereb, a hill and fortress on the opposite side of the Gelion river, where Amrod and Amras had their base.
Small correction: Dagor Dagorath refers to the last battle at the end of Times (Dagor Dagorath meaning „Battle of Battles“) Where Morgoth ultimately gets defeated by Turin and Evil ultimately ends. It’s kind of like Ragnarok. Morgoths realm however truly had no name.
@UCumE4N0oyXA8I3fTErE04Fw no no, i am talking about the one and only Turin, son of Hurin and everything. He is supposed to stay in the Halls of Mandos until the Dagor Dagorath, where he slays Morgoth. I am confused about this myself, since i thought humans would leave Arda after their Death, but apparently they also reside at the halls of Mandos, until they eventually leave the world. Turin at least stays until the Dagor Dagorath. He is also not the only „historical“ Human to fight in the Dagor Dagorath, Ar-Pharazon and his Host are fighting on Morgoths side. Since the Dagor Dagorath is the Tolkien equivalent of Ragnarok this all makes sense to me.
@@marcogubert i know, there was a now deleted comment asking how Turin could eventually slay Morgoth given that he committed suicide. I simply answered and don’t like to delete my comments which is why i let it stay
I admire the hard work in this video, but there is a couple of critical mistakes (that Karen Wynn Fonstad also made in her "Atlas of Middle-Earth") : Mordor and the Sea of Rhûn already existed in the Years of the Trees and the First Age, they were NOT submerged under the Inland Sea of Helcar. Mordor's early existence is something that is described in the posthumous "History of Middle-Earth" (HoME) volume XII, "The Peoples of Middle-Earth", by Christopher Tolkien published in 1992. Also, "Unfinished Tales" (UT) (1980) tells of how the Druedain travelled towards western Middle-Earth in the First Age by skirting the lands south of Mordor before arriving in Ithilien and then crossing the river Anduin. Similarly, the Sea of Rhûn already existed in the Years of the Trees as a singular body of water, as the "Nature of Middle-Earth" posthumous book published in 2021 describes that the journey of the Eldar towards the West saw them encounter, then traverse the Sea of Rhûn on ships. These are essential and defining elements of Middle-Earth's early geography, since the existence of Mordor and of the Sea of Rhûn pushes the Sea of Helcar further East, and essentially makes the landmass of the continent of Middle-Earth much wider than what is suggested in most maps (while also lengthening by quite a bit the westward journey of the Eldar and of the Atani).
CİRDAN = He become king 1000 years old and he ruled 10.749 years . Falas= 3973 Years (* 350 Valian years in Trees Age = 3500 Sun Years * 473 Sun years in First Age ) Balar Isle & Sirion Havens = 114 Years Grey Havens= 6662 Years (*Second Age 3441 *Third Age 3021 *Fourth Age 200 )
I remember watching Pax Christas's video about LOTR almost IMMEDIATELY before you released this. The fact that the events of LOTR took place in the Third Age, where civilization as a whole as on the decline, prosperous empires had collapsed, and every race was falling into the clutches of an evil force, it really shows Tolkien's unwillingness to let a world so radically different and fantastical compared to our own be without its constant parallels to the human condition, and the NEED for salvation.
I'm amazed at the amount of effort must have been given here! As a massive fan of this series this one is by far the best one i have seen to this day and it has all the little details that needs to be said. Fantastic job man thank you!
This is beautiful! It's evident that you put a ridiculous amount of time and effort into this - and the result is amazing. Thank you so much and congrats!
I did not expect to sit through this whole thing but all of a sudden it was over. Great work, extremely impressed with the detail and time put into this.
Amazing work. It is good to have a visual representation of these events, especially events from the First Age and before, where there are just so many names and locations to keep track of, it's easy to get lost when just reading the Silmarillion.
Imagine you are a Man in the 4th age, maybe Trading with Mirkwood or Lindon, seeing what the Elves are doing and capable of, Not knowing about the deeper fates of each Race. Then, one year, you travel to trade with them as you Always did, and they are Just gone. You steer into the harbor of Lindon and there is Just noone there, No ships, No people, Just a completely empty town thats so beautiful that you barely can comprehend it. Imagine how it must be to Walk the streets there and It's so eerily silent
Tbf Mirkwood would likely one of the first realm abandonned due to the sheer distance to travel to reach the Haven. But yea those trading with Lindon seeing less and less Elves until one day none welcomes you anymore would be quite the adventure
Huge props on you guys for doing the research and giving us such a detailed map. I am really suprised how well done it is and how much work is in this video. I always wanted to know what really happened before the books but never found a way to get onto that, without being thrown with one fact after the other, while having no way to realise what is happening. With your vudeo its really easy to follow due to the illustration on the map. Thank you guys for doing such a work with so much love and effort!
Reminds of me of a maps of Middle earth book when I was a kid. I remember just looking at the maps and the battles that took place. Thanks for thr nostalgia.
I was just searching for vids to go while I cook. Then I got hooked with details and need to read through the changing events though I know most of these already. Well Done! Namarie
Amazing as l could never quite grasp how the Sillmarillion starts and ends and how the world map of muddle earth is displayed throughout history. Thank you for this brilliant historical depiction of Tolkiens world!
The Fourth Age is not meaning all elves departed, mostly the Noldor and Sindar. Lothlorien, Rivendell and Lindon are abandoned. Mirkwoord (Woodland realm) and a part of East-Lorien remain intact for most during the Fourth Age. It was not specified whether the Nandor/Silvan/Avari elves had stayed longer or faded in obscurity.
thank you for this amount of work! I love the Silmarillion but this really puts it into perspective and gives an overall view of what is happening. I hope that maybe one of my stories will be complex and good enough that people get this inspired by it.
Stunning to watch! Thank you for this magnificent work! If only the show runners of the upcoming LotR series put this much research, work, respect, and dedication in their project. I guess only time will tell. Fingers crossed, but my hopes are low.
Yeah, time will tell indeed...just from this video, it's easy to see that the Second Age is the one most open to dramatic license. But I'm skeptical, given what I've seen so far.
wonderful work. i loved it. thank you for such a detailed video. especially the sink of Beleriand and its geographic connection to the remaining Middle Earth. ❤
What Tolkien did is trully beautiful, and this video captures the greatness of his work. Watching this video was as emotional as reading the books and watching the films......The idea that the once real beings of Middle Earth were slowly turning into our mithological beings...The idea of the last elves turning into wilderness spirits and the dwarfs loosing themselves in the depth of the Earth going back to the bedrock, that once gave them birth, until they were no more........... Cannot express it in words...But I can try by saying...overwhelmingly beautiful and epic.
When the trees were destroyed, Melkor's corruption also affected them as they were dying, so when the Sun and Moon were made from the last fruit and the last flower, the light they have is already corrupted - this is also the nature of Man, both good and evil.
One ring to rule them all One ring to find them One ring to bring them all And in the darkness bind them One video to show it all One video to teach it One video to explain it all And on RU-vid visualise it
Perfect video. One of the best videos about Tolkien world I have ever seen, just aweson work, you have done great job it really gives you some knowlage of history even if you didn't read Silmarillion.