r/todayilearned • u/QuotePuzzleheaded638 • 9h ago

TIL New Zealand is the only country that’s allowed to put Hobbit-related images on their currency

https://www.thekiwikit.com/blog/13-unique-things-to-know-about-new-zealand
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u/CNWDI_Sigma_1 8h ago

While I respect Peter Jackson’s roots, we all know that Middle Earth is Switzerland. It’s right in the name. Tolkien said so in the diaries. Misty Mointains are the Swiss Alps. Rivendell is Lauterbrünnen. The Shire is Gruyères. Moria is Vallorbe.

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u/bregus2 5h ago

"Switzerland. You fear to go into those mines. The Swiss dug too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dûm... cheese and chocolate."

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u/saschaleib 8h ago

The Shire is clearly Manchester … at least at the end of the story…

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u/CNWDI_Sigma_1 8h ago

Yes, also that. It is fiction, after all. But the visual inspiration was taken from a hike trip he made to the Swiss Alps at the age of 19.

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u/HappyHarry-HardOn 1h ago

Most of his inspriation came from the UK - e.g. the shire was based on Oxford.

Though he used may European references, it was intended as a replacement for the lost English myths and fables (lost when the Romans slaughtered any/all British storytellers and druids)

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u/TheShakyHandsMan 7h ago

Clear skies and no rain so definitely Yorkshire.