Not really. Imladris was not particularly beautiful or anything. Aragorn and Arwen cared nothing about that. That was simply a byproduct of using Mithril. And Gimli was a great friend.
Well Tolkien did intend to be like a ancient history of our world the internal logic of middle earth follows our own from just with magical elements showing how in the old days the world was fantastical
@gideonhorwitz9434 Only a few people works can even come close to Tolkien world and have the right to stand along side it, one such I can think of is One piece, it might seem silly and goody on the surface but it is far more with its own lost history, people with their own cultures and various creatures of course has compiling characters with their own stories for example Brook, originally a normal human but thanks to the Devil fruit he ate, he got a second life as a living skeleton yet his crew all died, though they died happily singing and playing music, and after his soul returned to his body he was trapped upon the ship with a broken rudder and he spent close to 50 years stuck upon the boat in the most dangerous waters of the world!! Like the stories of Middle Earth, One piece comes from the mind of one person and he has spent at least 25 years working on this series, such level of dedication is rare and to achieve everything the series has done is to be celebrated and respected!!
Am I the only one who never skips the intro because of Robert's great manner of talking? I especially like the variant with "the subscribe-button around here somewhere" 😊
I think JRRT would have loved that so many people love delving into the world he created, years after it was all written. I wish he'd gotten to see the movies.
Tolkien wanted others to add to what he had been the sub-creator of. " The [myth's] cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, welding paint and music and drama...."
@@RadicalCaveman This is something I have thought about. I think, if it were presented not as a "definitive movie version of his works" but rather as a "work of fan art, at a very high level" that he could see it's merits. After all, he was scared that the movies would drop the magic and the deeper meaning. But the movies, while not capturing much of the magic, still bare some. And! They've made his books more popular and appreciated then ever before. Even Pope Francis quotes them now!
I like to think that in addition to making Minas Tirith into more than a mighty citadel, into a true city of beauty, eventually Osgiliath was restored to being the "Citadel of the Stars" and that even Minas Ithil was someday rebuilt so that the three cities formed a shining belt across that part of the Anduin river valley.
I'm sure that eventually, it all came to be. It's the heart of Gondor, so having three fully fortified cities across the Anduin valley makes total sense. I'd also want Faramir to build a fortress town on Cair Andros, and once the population had fully recovered from war, I would rebuild the forts on the Undeeps. 😊😊❤😊😊
@spacemissing Indeed. However, in later times, it is likely a new city was built. Guarding the route to Cirith Ungol would still be necessary. There's also the possibility that Shelob still lurks up there.
It's simply awesome how deep and intricate JRR carved the middle earth universe. It's so complete im beginning to think Mr Tolkien and CS Lewis actually managed to step into these alternate realities.
That's part of why the online game is still so popular. It's one thing to watch the world in the movies or dream about it with the books, but it's a deeper experience to _live_ it, even via an in-game avatar. And not only can you visit the big names like Bag End, Rivendell, Moria, and Minas Tirith, but you can even go north and south of Bree, visit old Elven settlements around Fornost, explore the ruins of Arnor, and even go northwest of the Misty Mountains, north of Bilbo's route to the Lonely Mountain. Of course, it only works because the developers have kept it running for 16 years, which is absurdly long for a FTP game.
Question is where did they get all the material from? Frodos chainmail made of mithril supposedly was worth a small kingdom! My guess is only a few elements of the gate could have been mithril, maybe just coated. Otherwise Aragorn would have bancrupted his kingdom, especially with the rebuilding effort after the war :p
@@Daniel-rd6st Good question, but I think there is an answer. First, even before the victory Gondor still uses mithril for some elements of the uniform of the guards of the citadel, so, it's got some of its own resources, possibly some reserves in some vault or so. Second, it will be on best terms with the Dwarves now. But most importantly, with the Balrog out of the way thanks to Gandalf, and the Orcs scattered by the fall of their lord, the Dwarves will make *yet again* an attempt to resettle Moria. (Gimli won't be part of the expedition; he will be fond of visiting Moria every now and then once it's resettled, but *he* will settle Aglarond.) And this time, the attempt will have a lasting success. There is mithril in the mines of Moria still, Balin's company found it too; so with the mines reopened, mithril becomes once again affordable. Very expensive still of course, but no longer out of relation to everything; perhaps going into the direction of its old price (10x its weight in gold).
@@Daniel-rd6stEspecially as Durin VII would only reclaim Kazad-dûm sometime after FA 171. Maybe there were smaller expeditions before that that might have been able to retrive some of its riches?
How amazingly cool is it that we have actually drawings by JRRT to show us his thoughts about certain topics? I mean, even if he later said those sketches were not to scale or whatever. It is just a wonderful thing.
I think it's part of the reason characters and locations in the various adaptations are instantly recognizable. Usually, something with many adaptations looks very different in each adaptation, but the Lord of the Rings has always had a certain look to it. But whether games, films, animations, etc, LOTR is just so iconic
I'm rereading LotR and happened to watch this video just before reading the scene where the eagle announces the defeat of Sauron to the people of Minas Tirith. I'd never fully appreciated that scene, but knowing the history in this video makes the eagle's words incredibly moving: Sing now, ye people of the Tower of Anor, for the Realm of Sauron is ended for ever, and the Dark Tower is thrown down. Sing and rejoice, ye people of the Tower of Guard, for your watch hath not been in vain, and the Black Gate is broken, and your King hath passed through, and he is victorious. Sing and be glad, all ye children of the West, for your King shall come again, and he shall dwell among you all the days of your life. And the Tree that was withered shall be renewed, and he shall plant it in the high places, and the City shall be blessed. Sing all ye people!
Thank you for another in depth analysis. 😊 I knew about Minas Anor/Minas Ithil, but I hadn't really appreciated how the 'Tower of Guard' was built up from basically a watch tower to a walled city. They may have been twins initially, but by the time of LOTR, Minas Morgul and Minas Tirith were very different!
if elves were visiting i feel like elisar took a lot from how they did things in their own places of living to make it look as beautiful as he did after the war.
I just now realised that Minas Anor and Minas Ithil were named after Anarion and Isildur, instead of "just" the sun and moon And with that realisation comes the appreciation that Minas Ithil was corrupted by the craft of Sauron, just like Isildur was. Tolkien was one smart cookie.
Except that Isildur was never really corrupted. Even on his final journey north, he was headed to Imadris to consult with Elrond about what to do about the Ring. With enough time, he would have been corrupted but he had not fallen that far yet.
@@allthatishere Isildur was incapable of taking any action that would or even held the possibility of causing harm to the Ring, even placing the Ring in fire to reveal the fire-writing. That was something even Frodo couldn't bring himself to do. But Isildur *was* journeying north partly with the intention of taking the Ring to Elrond on his way to Arnor. Whether he would have had the willpower to actually hand it over when it came to it is unknown, because he never arrived. But it was potentially this decision that prompted the Ring to abandon him to die.
@@allthatishere That would not have changed the outcome. Even if Isildur had listened to Elrond and tried to destroy the Ring, he would have failed in the end, just as Frodo did. Elrond would have not been able to throw it into Orodruin either. Tolkien wrote in one of his letters that no one could have willingly destroyed the One Ring.
Considering my favorite series of yours is the traveler's guide to game of thrones; I absolutely love this video and any location/world building content.
When the Ring was cast back into the fire, and the forces of Sauron were broken at the Morannon, a great eagle flew to Minas Tirith and sang the following: Sing now, ye people of the Tower of Anor, for the Realm of Sauron is ended for ever, and the Dark Tower is thrown down. Sing and rejoice, ye people of the Tower of Guard, for your watch hath not been in vain, and the Black Gate is broken, and your King hath passed through, and he is victorious. Sing and be glad, all ye children of the West, for your King shall come again, and he shall dwell among you all the days of your life. And the Tree that was withered shall be renewed, and he shall plant it in the high places, and the City shall be blessed. Sing all ye people!
I think there's a video on that by our host, but the short answer I think is "having made friends". When both Gimli and Legolas talk about offering him the service of a company each from their peoples, led by themselves, they would have taken it as an insult if you had assumed they were asking for payment. Gimli may want, or at least Aragorn will insist on giving him, reimbursement for the material he uses (the kind of service the Elves will render is less materialintensive). All of them may want the occasional feast with food and drink. But there's that. After all, if you're helping a family you're friends with move houses, you don't expect any payment beyond pizza and beer, do you?
The image at 10.02 is for me the perfect depiction, you can see the distant walls surrounding the fields, doom in background, beautiful. Any idea who painter is?
It's strange that Minas means tower because I'm fairly certain in Portuguese it means "mine", like a coal mine, or an excavation. Kind of the opposite of a tower.
I would have LOVED to walk in Minas Tirith when all the efforts to beautify it were, in a way, matured. The tree lined streets, that glorious Naugrim-wrought gate. And if the Lords of the City allowed it, to stand in the shade of the new White Tree. She might not have become Gondolin, but the Telcontarian Minas Tirith probably remained a showcase of earlier, more... magical days, especially after the last Ship sailed, and King Elessar died.
I've always surmised that Tolkien modeled Minas Tirith after Mnt St. Michelle, a real location in France where Tolkien had fought in WW1. And it does bare a striking resemblance to the city as described in the books, and in subsequent artworks by various artists, depicting Minas Tirith.
Please please please, could you do a video together with some illustrations of them working to rebuild Minas Tirith and results. I'd love to see Gimli and his companions fortifying the gate. I'd love to see the dynamic between elves and men in Minas. What I wouldn't do for a 9 hour film depicting life after the war of the rings.
How much I wish I could visit Mina’s tirith. Ever since the first time I saw the return of the king in cinema (I was 13) I have been absolutely obsessed with it (and any mountain-embedded man-made structure, honestly). Sadly, I had to come to terms with the fact that nothing irl will ever compare to Mina’s Tirith.
You know what I really dislike about most depictions of Minas Tirith? That the main tower is this cathedral like thin spire. Not the actual great tower of a medieval fortification I am pretty sure JRRT imagined it as.
I would love a deep dive into Numenorian craftsmanship, particularly with stone. I've always been fascinated with it in the books but I don't know a lot about it. How does it compare to dwarven crafts? Where did they learn it from?
I liked more when the videos were a little longer like 20 to 40 min, but I probably watch more now on release cuz they are shorter, either way u like the content
I find it interesting how you translated it as "watchtower", but in the books it is called the Tower of Guard. Thuh Watchtower, basically. (I hate when folks read, "the" as "thee".)
I always wondered why the Minas Tirith did not have water ditch or ditch with spikes and why the gate was not at least double (or triple) gate built under one or two strong towers, which was pretty common since very old times, as the gate was usually the weakest part of any fortification.
I love the "drone's eye view" of Minas Tirith... but I'm trying to decide if the buildings on each tier, as represented, are "single family dwellings" or huge "apartment buildings" holding a dozen or hundred families/soldiers/workers each? In short: what is the scale? Do we know a normal population for such an epic city?... On a lighter note: Mrs "Sage Level Housewife" shoos her Sage husband out the door of an early morn, saying: "Come'on, Sage, you best get moving now! You know how congested the ramp gets by 0730! You don't want to be late again." 😂😂😂❤
I doubt. There is also the question if they built into the mountain, which i find likely. For all we know, a lot of the population, especially the poorer folk, might have lived in the mountain.
What interests me the most is the walls of the city. We see this unnamed material a couple of times in the story, and clearly, it is a supremely strong construction material; the Ents pounding the material in Orthanc did basically no damage at all, which is very impressive. I think this material gives a lot of insight into the other technological marvels Numenor could produce at its zenith. I can't help but wonder if this material is some sort of magical material or if it is more scientific in nature.
Minas Anor and Minas Ithil were originally satellite forts meant to guard Osgiliath. We see this in real life, with garrisons encircling capital cities. What I really like is that founders of Gondor designed the inner kingdom around their "religion": the Two Trees and the Silmaril in the center.
Here's an interesting question How different do you think the silmarillion would have been if feanor had survived And do you think he could have made his own rings of power
@@dandiehm8414 Agree. One elf vs. the mightiest of the Valar? That's only going to end one way. Even adding in Feanor's kin is offset by the maiar rallied to Melkor (in the form of balrogs) plus dragons and so on.
I have always been worried about the mountains behind the city. Couldn't an enemy army just conquer those mountains and just endlessly drop stuff, burning stuff, heavy stuff, onto the city? I have the same question about Helm's Deep. It should have been either at the front of the narrow or on top of the mountains.
Both Minas Tirith and the Hornburg were further out from the mountainside than is portrayed in the films. The Hornburg for instance had a complete circle of walls around it, and Minas Tirith was on a long 'arm' stretching out from the mountainside.
Ok I got a question here How many troops Minas Morgul have after the battle of Pelennor Fields? For the sake of argument let’s assume every single one under Wich King’s command was dead. Minas Morgul still a large city, must have least few thousands left. And Sauron must know there are only handful troop left in Minas Tirith and even less when they march to the black gate. He could just order one of the remaining Nazgul take command of these troops attack them
Battle of the Pelennor Fields ends in 3-15. 3-18 set off to the Black Gate By time or by geography he can use whatever troop left in Minas Morgul attack the rear of army
If the long black outer wall, that later encircled the entire city, was built early. And to defend a wall in mediaeval times took four men for a pole length [5.03m] according to the Tribal Hildage. Where did the manpower come from, from a glorified watchtower or the vicus that grew around it? Why build a huge wall you can't man and defend? Just saying...
Did Aragorn get any children by Arwen and if so, were they immortal beings as half-elven? If that’s the case, the human race would look to a future after Aragorn by one king with absolute power for eternity. That hardly seems healthy
Considering how Minas Tirith was built over the years I kind of like the design of it in the films. All those buildings crammed into every free square inch, extending over and sometimes being part of the defensive works themselves. Makes it look like they've just kept adding things to it over generations. Though I do wish you could see some evolution in the architecture.
Thanks to you i have finally rewatched all the lotr films and started to get more into the lore. It's much easier and more entertaining with your super engaging and informative videos. Thanks again for all you do!
