tolkien in nepal

[ionian]

i have heard that tolkein spent time in nepal where he got much of the inspiration for the places he wrote about in his literature. can anyone tell me more about this or tell me where i could find out? thanks!!

[gdl96]

I'm don't really know much about that...but then again, I don't know much about Tolkien. :p

Anyway, this is my first action as a mod! I moved it from Gen Messages.

[HOBBIT]

good job greg....although is this the right forum for it? Middle Earth perhaps.

[HOBBIT]

oh i thought you moved it to general messages, you moved it from. nevermind.

[easterlinge]

I didn't know Tolkien ever went to Nepal......... that's news to me.

But I did notice similarities between Rivendell and stories about Shangri-La. Both are places where Time and aging "slows", and there is healing, and where knowledge is gathered, studied and preserved. The activities in Shangri-La are pretty much the same as in Rivendell, ie intellectual pursuits, music, literature and other things.

And both valleys are supposed to be hidden. I wonder if Rivendell was partly inspired by Shangri-La?

And if Middle-Earth eventually became the Earth today, maybe Shangri-La is Rivendell.

[Selwythe]

No question. He must have certainly got his inspiration for the Misty/Blue/Black/White Mountains in Nepal.