TOLKIEN’S MIDDLE EARTH REALLY MIDDLE EAST?

TOLKIEN’S MIDDLE EARTH REALLY MIDDLE EAST?

SAN DIEGO (Wireless Flash) – Book worms theorize that J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings was a metaphor for Europe during World War II, but Tolkien may have really been predicting today’s current events. For instance, there are some striking similarities between the characters of Lord of the Rings – who live in Middle Earth – and the characters in the current war against terrorism, who live in the Mid-East. In Lord of the Rings, the evil characters like Gollum and Saruman live in caves, a place familiar to evil-doer Osama bin Laden. In addition, Tolkien’s characters live on something called “waybread,” while many middle easterners enjoy pita bread. That’s not all: The second Lord of the Rings book is titled The Two Towers where a great battle takes place. In real life, bin Laden destroyed two towers, and started a great battle himself. Finally, Hobbits of distinction have very hairy feet while top Taliban officials usually have hairy faces.

Wed 12-19-01