A Middle-earth Map Tour - Ruins

[@DarthGandalfYT]

There's some minor audio issues around the 11:00 mark. Apologies about that.

[@ShahjahanMasood]

No worries

[@BelegaerTheGreat]

I would rather not have you make such generalized videos. I prefer when you deep-dive into a single topic, like a single ruin, you are the best Tolkien KZbinr at that!

[@thomasalvarez6456]

One thing I always loved about reading LOTR many years ago was that our protagonists walk through lands that have thousands of years of history. Middle Earth was extensive and lived in world building. It always reminds me of my home, England. Walking in an ancient woodland or a ruined castle or costal tower, reminds you of how extensive our history is.

[@MerkhVision]

That was an aspect that was very important to Tolkien! The veiled glimpses of a distant past give off a special feeling.

[@tathemrelag3123]

Ah, cartography - my second favorite subject after linguistics!

[@corvid...]

You should check out his author, Tolkien, I think he would be right up your alley 😀 So happy I recently found this channel

[@calebowen2006]

I love the idea of this series. Id say my only suggestion would have been to maybe include Himling as not all Tolkien fans are aware of that cool reloc from a bygone era. I am not sure it is 100% stated to be ruins but im fairly certain that a fortiefied and well lived in fortress would leave ruins even if the walls themselves did not survive

[@baystated]

The theme of all these ruins summed but by Balin's fate "ran into some minor problems. And everyone died."

[@backwashjoe7864]

The Plainly Difficult channel would have a field day with the history of Middle Earth!

[@gagaplex]

"Lost Places" of Middle-earth is a pretty awesome concept for a video, well done.

[@bleekskaduwee6762]

A new DarthGandolf video to watch while at work in the snow and cold winds but for 20 minutes i was warm in middle earth

[@carltuckerson7718]

It's probably the maps that kept me hooked on Tolkien. As a geo in real life, maps a major part of my life still.

[@andreasderycke42]

I indeed love maps. Just as Tolkien started his world because of languages, I started mine to give context to the maps I drew. I have drawn maps since I was 8, I am really looking forward to other videos in this series.

[@MerkhVision]

Hey, me too! A fellow map-maker turned worldbuilder!

[@Callisto_Arcas]

I hope we get another Map Tour video soon. This is among my favorite on this channel, and I look forward to the next one in the series!

[@vSaPinto]

Me too 🙏

[@tiltskillet7085]

Great video. You made me realize there are odd parallels between the fates of Annuminas/Osgiliath and Fornost/Minas Tirith. I know you weren't actually trying to catch every broken down garden-shed in Middle-earth or you'd still be working on this video. Lots of ruins everywhere: it's one of the distinctive characteristics of the the Hobbit and LotR. But other ruins that come to mind offhand are those on and around Weathertop, the Barrow-Downs, the original site of Lake-town, and Amon Hen. Also the evil looking towers of what I'd assume was once Rhudaur mentioned in both The Hobbit and Fellowship. And getting into the more hypothetical, perhaps there were still substantial remnants of the fortress of Maedhros on Himling.

[@muenchhausenmusic]

Dale as well! Also, question: Why did you call Maedhros' fortress Himling? Another commenter also called it that. I know it as Himring. Might be the german translation? But that would be weird....

[@tiltskillet7085]

@@muenchhausenmusic Dale was rebuilt though, presumably on exactly same site, whereas the Esgaroth ruins seemed to have remained even when that town was rebuilt at a slightly different location. RE: Himling/Himring. Himring is probably more correct. You'll see Himling a lot though, because that form appeared on the Unfinished Tales map and (I think) in later editions of the LotR map. But Chris Tolkien said that was the conceptually (not linguistically) earlier form of the later Himring. And so, perhaps, should have been revised.

[@bristleconepine4120]

Speculation topic: what about the Men of the Vales of the Anduin? Might they have settled Framsburg / been left behind? Also, do you imagine there were any Elven ruins where Cuivienen used to be? You might have covered them, if so.

[@romandacil3984]

Excellent video. You could also have added the Barrow Downs while not technically a ruin had been abandoned. Surprised you did not mention Amon Sul. It's too bad Tolkien never spent a little more time towards fleshing out the history of Arnor and it's successor states Arthedain, CArdolan & Rhudaur. Iron Crown's MERP series does a credible job in fleshing those regions out.

[@pwmiles56]

My favourite piece of Middle-earth archaeology is the dike and wall south of the East Road, which evidently marked the border between Arthedain and Cardolan. The dike i.e. ditch is on the south side, showing that the structure was made to defend Arthedain -- presumably after Cardolan had become depopulated.

[@crainun87]

Loved this, looking forward to next one

[@cleansingnight7332]

A very promising start to the new series. Please keep it up.

[@phoule76]

Where Beleriand broke off is interesting to me, like the Grey Havens.

[@jonystyles9473]

Love your series bro best in youtube for sure, keep it up cheers!

[@joshthomasmoorenew]

Here a Middle Earth Mystary, "Where did Elfhelm go?" seriously he just pops out the story till he's foound by Gandalf

[@patriarch7237]

Thanks DG, I really enjoyed this. Lots of things I hadn't heard before. I seems to remember that in their encounter with the Barrow-Wights, the hobbits are overcome with visions from the Wights of attacks by "men of Carn Dum", the undead spirits being former kings of Arnor.

[@MerkhVision]

Almost but not exactly. The wights are evil spirits from Angmar inhabiting the tombs of former kings of Arnor, but the visions the hobbits saw were of the last princes of Cardolan. Hope u can forgive my slight nitpick for accuracy lol

[@patriarch7237]

@@MerkhVision Nitpicking is what we are here for! :)

[@titanscerw]

Awesome presentatiin Gandalf, as I just got as gift a huge wall map from my beloved. Cartography is very much one of my favourite subjects. +][+

[@SunnyLovetts]

Epic content 🎉

[@istari0]

Excellent video! The maps in LOTR were one of the many things that drew me in to the story, helping give it a real sense of history.

[@lotsofspots]

There are probably ruins at Amon Lanc, too. It was Oropher's capital for a long time.

[@Nekroleinchen]

i thought sauron used the former elven capital as his new fortress of dol guldur?

[@paulwillis-farrell]

Yeah dol guldor was built on the ruins of amon lanc and then oropher relocated to the mountains of mirkwood until the influence of sauron pushed them north so there is definitely ruins in the mountains of mirkwood, around the narrows and just north into what became eryn lasgalen

[@BelegaerTheGreat]

Dwarven ruins may have one more reason for not becoming reoccupied - the ores have ran dry.

[@corvid...]

Happy to have found this channel... Now i know what will keep me up way too late tonight

[@PeculiarNotions]

Great video. I'm looking forward to the rest of this series.

[@alcuinmagus]

If you update this video, be sure to include Weathertop & Amon Lanc. You do good work, Darth Gandalf.

[@paulwillis-farrell]

Yes perfect series I would use some lotro stuff just to add to content tho

[@thunderstryken]

Yes, I love your map videos!

[@RaimoKangasniemi]

Have to ask how Aragorn actually populated Annuminas and Fornost? Settlers from Gondor?

[@tacticalmanatee]

I'd love to see you do a video about the feasibility of someone besides Sauron using the One Ring and turning it against its maker. Several characters seem to think it is possible to use it as a weapon against Sauron, and you've mentioned in past videos that Sauron may have feared it could be used against him somehow. I'd love to see this idea elaborated on, since I can't think of how anyone but Sauron could get any use from the Ring aside from the invisibility and life extension we see in Gollum, Bilbo, and Frodo.

[@hrperformance]

Super video!

[@arhexirthesnake]

This was great!

[@billyhomeyer7414]

Can’t wait for #2

[@novitrix9671]

Great video, honestly no critic . . . And then you made that outro remark WHY ahhhhhhhhHhhhhhHh!

[@youhtgs]

Absolutely brilliant. You did not put in Laketown (both of them)

[@ryancarter1080]

You missed Thranduils old capital and I'm not talking about Amon Lanc/Dol Guldur but the one he had in the mountains of Mirkwood. Its probably an abandoned ruin by now or perhaps an orc base

[@BanjoSick]

Love the MERP version of Fornost (Deadmen's Dike).

[@sitara2783]

In case anyone is wondering about Boromir's horse: it survived and managed to get back to Rohan alright. Probably lived longer than he did tbh.

[@Anton_Io66]

More! More!

[@Adam22178]

What about places lole Dale? Once in ruins but rebuilt.

[@raptor4916]

How did elves in ethellond deal with the Sea-Longing?

[@Funkopotomis]

In what way are big macs better though?

[@murqouttt8188]

itd be cool if you did a map video on beleriand

[@makkeiura8354]

"And remember: Big Macs are better than Quarter Pounders." Three out of four Hobbits disagree. ;)

[@HeliophobicRiverman]

Maybe the Shire McDonalds makes their Big Macs actually big to fit the appetite of a Hobbit. Assuming that a pound in the Shire is roughly in the ballpark of a pound in modern imperial measurements.

[@Purpura_Committatus_27_18]

I am Historian and i love old Ruins, fortresses, cities. Even if they are not from our world.

[@magako_v.3]

Pretty cool

[@lucimicle5657]

Will you explore attempts of fans to expand the map and lore in the east and south? I play CK3 LOTR mod and playing in the south is really fun, but I don't know any of the lore. It would be fun to explore how well it matches with the original vision and all that.

[@Human-zx4rb]

He has made a vid touching this kind of. It is called smth like "what is beyond the map"

[@lucimicle5657]

@@Human-zx4rb yeah, but from what I understand, some fan comunities have made somewhat extensive lore for some of these places, that's what I was interested in, exploring some of it and seing how much fidelity it has to the spirit of Tolkiens world.

[@lucimicle5657]

@@Human-zx4rb yeah, but from what I understand, some fan comunities have made somewhat extensive lore for some of these places, that's what I was interested in, exploring some of it and seing how much fidelity it has to the spirit of Tolkiens world.

[@DarthHoosier3038]

@@lucimicle5657It’s mostly quality fanfiction, as all we really know is that it’s near to Far Harad, and the Numenoreans may have had some colonies there, so there are likely some old black numenorean holdouts, but beyond that little is known.

[@Crafty_Spirit]

The Tolkien detective is back++

[@w.randyhoffman1204]

Why no mention of Weathertop (Amon Sul)?

[@MerkhVision]

Probably because everyone knows about it already

[@w.randyhoffman1204]

@@MerkhVision Well, everyone knows about Fornost and Annuminas too, but they're in this video.

[@williamwolfe2359]

There is so much on the maps. Just point, and you want to know who lives there or who did

[@cavetroll666]

Annumuinas i always wondered if Aragorn rebuuilt it to its former glory it looks amazing in Lord Of The Rings Online.

[@markstott6689]

You would think that it would be rebuilt. There's no enemies for hundreds if not thousands of miles. I can imagine Arwen wanting to live there. It has an elvish feel about it. It has great architecture with lakeside views. Norbury is more of a fortress. 😊❤😊

[@cavetroll666]

totally good place to raise the kids :)@@markstott6689

[@christiansenator]

Do you think Annuminas ever reached the grandeur of Minas Tirith?

[@frggdeckkkydexhhgg]

Do you think you’ll ever run out of topics for lotr videos?

[@pavelslama5543]

TBH if Aragorn repaired Anuminas, I really doubt that there would be enough people for settling of Fornost.

[@ciaranirvine]

Not in Eriador itself for sure, but I assumed Aragorn set up some sort of resettlement incentive program and not just from Gondor but also open to friendly peoples - the likes of the Rohirrim, Beornings, Dale etc. There'd be no way to recreate any sort of viable Arnor without large amounts of settlers from outside Eriador.

[@istari0]

He was king for over 100 years. Plenty of time for the population to grow in now peaceful areas.

[@talesoftheeldar8688]

Amon-sul?

[@TheLyricalCleric]

Cheers! I don’t eat Macdonalds, I only eat McDowells. Big Mc all the way for me! 😉 I love ruins, and it’s interesting to think about the inheritor civilizations that build atop those ruins. The Shire is part of an ancient kingdom, perhaps even a vestige of that elder nobility as the last unspoiled place from the ruins of the victory of the Witch King of Angmar.

[@Edward-nf4nc]

Moria was not tecnally a ruin. It was inhabited, but not by it's original people

[@victorfinberg8595]

hmm ... using a map with typos on it. 9:00 that's DIMRILL dale (there's one or two more typos on that map) none of this reduces the excellent quality of your video

[@00martoneniris86]

What if the elves send the 19 Rings of power away and destroyed them after the war of the last alliance If isildur stil keeps the one ring

[@istari0]

The only Rings of Power the Elves still possessed by early in the War of the Elves and Sauron were the 3 Elven Rings. All that happened over 1500 years before the War of the Last Alliance.

[@OldBrensBarn]

As if! Just casually going after quarter pounders with baseless slander lol

[@00martoneniris86]

What if the one ring was destroyed in the end of the second age by elrond cirdan and isildur What if Sauron killed isildur

[@istari0]

They could not have destroyed the One Ring; no one could intentionally cast it into Orodruin.

[@MerkhVision]

Simple: Then there would be no story to tell! If that happened then there would be no Hobbit or Lord of the Rings stories, so it would be very boring. Those are bad questions lol

[@chopshop94]

Whoa whoa whoa wait a minute excellent video but what was that last part? Big Macs are BETTER than quarter pounders? Sir I think you’ve either never had a quarter pounder or you’ve had a terrible one. Educate yourself. (All in jest seriously love your content❤)

[@marthvader14]

Are your videos monetized?

[@Hero_Of_Old]

Why?

[@ryanratchford2530]

The diminishing populations of the elves & duniedain is the weakest part of Tolkien’s worldbuilding. Doesn’t ruin anything, and gives a strong identity to those lingering peoples and adds to the theme of magic entropy fading from the world. But Arnor really shouldn’t have been so depopulated. Oh well

[@istari0]

Elves do not have a lot of children and they were migrating from Middle-Earth to Valinor anyway so their populations were bound to dwindle. Between its own civil wars that split the kingdom and the Angmar Wars, Arnor was the location of lots of warring for a very long time.

[@sayagarapan1686]

Your tale is all of woe and ruin, destruction and decay, blight, loss, and disaster! 😂

[@neilscotter5191]

I've always found it funny that another name Tolkien called Fornost was Norbury which is also a suburb in South London. I wonder if he ever thought about calling a place Croydon? 😂

[@MossW268]

Forodwaith and Haradwaith translate to Norfolk and Suffolk

[@skatemetrix]

You have just ruined Middle Earth for me.

[@Lucy-yc4bc]

Algorithm

[@thekingofinfinity]

Dislike for using RoP footage

[@sayagarapan1686]

That’s racist calling the Angmarim “Terrible People”.

[@MerkhVision]

No it’s not lol, they were genuinely terrible people! Next you’ll be telling us the Witch King was just a nice guy, just misunderstood lmao