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Tolkien's Middle-earth doesn't look like Medieval Europe - Page 6

© Michael Martinez

Tolkien himself was very clear about the Rohirrim. In Appendix F to The Lord of the Rings he described the linguistic device he employed for representing their language with Anglo-Saxon. In a footnote Tolkien cautioned his readers, "this linguistic procedure does not imply that the Rohirrim closely resembled the ancient English...." When asked about the clothing used in Middle-earth, Tolkien wrote (in Letter 211): "I do not know the detail of clothing." He went on to say "males, especially in northern parts such as the Shire, would wear breeches, whether hidden by a cloak or long matle, or merely accompanied by a tunic." Further on he mentions the applicability of the designs in the Bayeux Tapestry: "The Rohirrim were not 'mediaeval', in our sense. The styles of the Bayeux Tapestry (made in England) fit them well enough, if one remembers that the kind of tennis-nets [the] soldiers seem to have are only a clumsy conventional sign for chain-mail of small rings." Tolkien's specific reference to the Rohirrim comes on the heels of a cautious admonition about clothing in Middle-earth: "I have no doubt that in the area envisioned by my story...the 'dress' of various peoples, Men and others, was much diversified in the Third Age, according to cliimate, and inherited custom. As was our world, even if we only consider Europe and the Mediterranean and the very near 'East' (or South)...." The breeches-tunic-and-cloak style Tolkien suggested is quite ancient, worn by northern Europeans and steppe peoples in the 1st millenium BC or earlier. Clothing thus is no indication of period influences. Tolkien was being very vague and generic, even when pressed for detail, but he clearly denied any medieval connections with respect to the Rohirrim. Chain-mail, for instance, originated with the Roman empire, and it replaced earlier types of mail which had been in use for several centuries BC. Roman soldiers first widely used chain in the 1st century BC. Roman Cibinarii, heavily armored horsemen who used lances, were covered in mail. They did not use stirrups but their high saddles gave them the stability they required for their charges. Concerning Gondor, in Letter 211 Tolkien wrote "the Numenoreans of Gondor were proud, peculiar, and archaic, and I think are best pictured in (say) Egyptian terms." It is significant that the author uses an Egyptian rather than medieval model for the Gondorians. However, we should not be looking for heiroglyphics on the walls of Minas Tirith. The Dunedain used the Tengwar, the Elvish alphabet, or the Cirth, the Runes devised by the Elves and enhanced by the Dwarves.

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