Middle Earth geology: a masterpost
I did say I would do it once and I did it, a masterpost of all the works I found online pertaining to geology in Tolkienâs works. This isnât to say that itâs a complete list of everything that has been written about the subjects - thereâs multiple works that Iâve seen cited in some of these articles that I could not find anywhere, and likely other works I just didnât dig deep enough to find. If anyone has links to additional works, feel free to share them, and Iâll add them to the post. Many of these works are somewhat old, but for the most part theyâre still good in the points they make.
General Middle Earth works
A New Synthesis on the Geology of Middle-earth: Genesis, Orogeny and Tectonics by Chris Ingles and Lindy A. Orthia (2016) - an overview of all the mountain ranges in Middle Earth and how they might have come to be, as well as a discussion on what may have happened to Beleriand. Differs from many other articles in this list, as this one includes also the magical aspects of Ardaâs formation rather than attempting to only use strictly realistic geological concepts. One of the longer articles here with 14 pages in total, but the language used makes it easy to read.
The Geology of Middle-earth by William A. S. Sarjeant (1995) - a general overview of tectonical processes involving Middle Earth, in particular relating to tectonic plates and faults. Literally the first results I got when I googled âgeology tolkienâ. Not too long and not too complicated a read, many of the technical terms used receive an in-text explanation. Includes various maps. The most difficult parts to understand are probably towards the end, with citations from âThe Geomorphology of Middle-earthâ by Robert Reynolds (the whole article wants to present a more recent take on the previous work by Reynolds, an article that gets cited a lot but I havenât been able to find anywhere).
Glaciation in Middle-earth by Samuel Cook (2016) - part of a copy of the journal âAnorâ. Article is four pages long and fairly easy to understand. The topic straddles the line between a geological and a more geographical/climatological narrative, but geologists love glaciers so weâre gonna put glaciers here too.
Middle Earth Geology, a thread (2019) - not an article, but a thread on TheOneRing.net forum were various users discuss possible explanations for various features of Middle Earth and Beleriand. Because itâs a forum thread it doesnât have definite conclusions, simply puts forwards multiple theories. A few mentions of things that get overall overlooked in other works, like some of the mountain ranges present in Beleriand.
The Geologic History of Middle Earth by Benjamin D. Hilton (2009) - this is a rather technical paper in language, and extremely speculative. Essentially, this paper talks about an hypothetical history of Middle Earth on a real world geological timescale, starting 1.7 billion years ago. The way the article is written as if the author was able to gain actual field data, and while much of what is said makes sense as far as theories go a lot of it is based on fake evidence peppered in through the paper. Doubtful in conclusions, but a fun read for sure
The Elder Ages and the Later Glaciations of the Pleistocene Epoch by Margaret M. Howes (1967) - this work is often cited as the first article investigating Middle Earthâs geology so I couldnât not add it here. I should however mention that the contents are, well, theyâre kind of a wild ride. The article essentially strives to explain how Middle Earth could have hypothetically been turned into modern day Europe and tries to give an explanation to real glaciations through the eyes of Tolkienâs works. I wouldnât really call this article scientifically or historically sound, itâs more definitely a curiosity if anyone is interested. A bit longer than some other articles. Scan of a typewriter document, which might make it a little harder to read.
The Shire
The Geology of the Shire by Mike Percival (1984) - second article in this PDF. The document is a scan of an old copy of âAnorâ, which may make it harder to read than some other files. Short article and without a lot of technical terms. Very little tectonics, mostly makes guesses as to what kind of rocks you might find in various areas of the Shire. Also features a geologic profile and map.
Khazad-dum/Moria
The Draining of Moria by Mike Percival (1987) - part of a scanned copy of âAnorâ. Explores theories on how the Dwarves of Moria would have gotten rid of the water that might have flooded the mines, and before that makes hypothesis on the kind of bedrock Moria might have been built into. It also answers a question as to why the Sirannon formed a lake outside of the Doors of Moria. Fairly easy when it comes to language.
The Mines of Moria - a comment by Ted Crawford (1988) - a comment on the previous article, again on an âAnorâ journal. Focused more on the engineering side than the geological one, Iâm mostly adding this one for completeness, but it doesnât really contradict the purely geological conclusions. Lots of numbers going on there.
The Mines of Moria - Further Thoughts by Mike Percival (1988) - a comment on the previous comment. Same journal, same discussion. Once again, more engineering focused, but might be interesting.
Numenor
Geographical Observations on Numenor by Duncan McLaren (1985) - once again, scanned âAnorâ copy, and not the best scan Iâve seen. Short article, not exclusive to geology. The part dealing with what kind of rocks you might find on Numenor, which is also probably what may interest a fic writer more, seems overall rather reasonable. Also gives a theory on plate tectonics and attempts a geological explanation of the Akallabeth.
On Numenor by Mike Percival (1985) - a comment and response to the previous article. Scanned âAnorâ copy again. Focuses on the plate tectonics, and has a somewhat more technical language than the previous article, going more in depth. Alternate view for an Akallabeth event than the previous article. Also features maps.
Paleontology
Paleontology in the Silmarillion by Mike Sutton (1991) - very short and very easy in language. Doesnât really go particularly in depth on any matter, essentially explores how there could be certain similarities between what is considered (or was considered, paleontological ideas change a lot in thirty years) the order in which various life forms appeared and certain language used in the Silmarillion. If you thought that this was an âAnorâ copy, you guessed it right.
Misc
âBeneath the Earthâs dark keelâ Tolkien and Geology by Gerard Hynes (2012) - this article doesnât deal with the geology of Arda, but rather speculates the way Tolkien himself might have tried to work geology within the text by considering the state of geological knowledge and how it evolved during Tolkienâs life. Also covers a little the history of the theory of plate tectonics, if anyone is interested about learning about it.
Re-reading the Map of Middle-earth: Fan Cartographyâs Engagement with Tolkienâs Legendarium by Stentor Danielson (2013) - this is not a geological article, but a cartography article. The reason I added it is because a lot of the geological studies on Middle Earth, especially of the tectonics kind, are based on how maps look like and what deductions can be made from the shapes you see on them. As this author points out, maps are not necessarily accurate with their information, especially older ones, and might do things like, for example, make mountain ranges be excessively straight in line. A bit long, but worth reading.
