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See the Sketches J.R.R. Tolkien Used To Build Middle-Earth (wired.com)
Esther Schindler writes: In addition to writing the story of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien drew it. The maps and sketches he made while drafting it "informed his storytelling, allowing him to test narrative ideas and illustrate scenes he needed to capture in words," reports Ethan Gilsdorf at Wired. "For Tolkien, the art of writing and the art of drawing were inextricably intertwined."
It's all coming out in a new book, but here we get a sneak preview, along with several cool observations, such as: "If Tolkien's nerdy use of graph paper feels like a secret message to future Dungeons & Dragons players, then so does his 'Plan of Shelob's lair.' Tolkien's map of tunnels stocked with nasties—here, a spider named Shelob—would be right at home in any Dungeon Master's campaign notes. He even marks the place for a classic dungeon crawl feature: 'trap.'"
It's all coming out in a new book, but here we get a sneak preview, along with several cool observations, such as: "If Tolkien's nerdy use of graph paper feels like a secret message to future Dungeons & Dragons players, then so does his 'Plan of Shelob's lair.' Tolkien's map of tunnels stocked with nasties—here, a spider named Shelob—would be right at home in any Dungeon Master's campaign notes. He even marks the place for a classic dungeon crawl feature: 'trap.'"
Why are these articles being posted? This is not tech news. Nerds/Geeks - let's move on. I like Star Trek too - I don't want to see articles about that either. Go ahead, I'm sure folks agree - maybe you're reading this now, agreeing, yet you will take the counter argument if/when you choose to reply to this. I won't be checking for replies on this, I am not attempting to introduce flame bait here. While I'm at it, I really can't get over how lame some of the tech is on here lately too. I need to break the habit of coming here as I do a couple of times a day. Maybe I'm ranting - maybe it's that time of the month for me.... I don't know. Perhaps I'm outgrowing most of the content on here these days. Maybe I'm just let down by /. these days. Apologies for my outburst.
Oh lighten up. LoTR has always been on-topic here. It's part of your nerd or geek card membership. After all, you conveniently left out the most important part of the tagline: "news for nerds." Though maybe the nature of the nerd is changing. Hard to believe I've been wasting time on slashdot for nearly 20 years now.
Other nerdy non-tech subjects come up from time to time, that slashdotters seem to love talking about:
- star trek
- star wars
- science fiction in general
- The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy
to name but a few.