wellinghall: (Orkney)
wellinghall ([personal profile] wellinghall) wrote2011-06-19 10:37 am
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Tolkien slept here

"Our guide ... told us that JRR Tolkien had based his descriptions of the Shire on this village [Skare Brae] - which explains why it all felt so homely and hobbitty."
The Sunday Times, 19 June 2011, Travel section, page 10.

"There is a legend that after about 20 years of the Romans leaving [Lydney Park], the local people forgot the Romans had settled there and began to believe the ruins were the home to dwarves, hobgoblins and little people. The site was excavated by Sir Mortimer Wheeler in the 1920s. The author of The Lord of the Rings novel, JRR Tolkien, was part of the excavation team and he is said to have been influenced by such folk tales which he used to develop his stories of Middle-earth. He wrote a report, The Name 'Nodens', following the excavation."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydney_Park
The canard is repeated in the official guidebook to Lydney.

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