I just stumbled upon this map , which is truly amazing. If you click on The Hero's Journey, you can see the paths taken by various characters throughout the books, as well as clips from the movies that correspond to different areas and characters. It's an incredible visualization that helps me visua...

boy, no one can agree on scale, can they? Scale or projection--some of the conic projections used for the real world maps above are awfully hard to reconcile with those that aren't mathematically projected. I think that actually helps the cause of those who want to reconcile Middle Earth with Europ...

Oh, those cities are under water now. Could be. It occurs to me that there would be some serious issues with Middle Earth being in the Americas--for example, no horses. Though of course, "horse" could be a poor transliteration. I kind of dig the idea of Olmec Gandalf galloping across the ...

I've actually speculated about this a lot--probably too much. I've always come at it from sort of the other direction, envisioning a naturalistic origin story for the races of Middle Earth. First, we have the mortal men, doomed to die. Homo sapiens mortalus is a bit grim, so perhaps Homo sapiens pro...

A koozie of this sort, especially one as insulative as that one looks, can do more than just protect your hands--it can be very good for cooking. Oats brought to a boil can immediately be put into the koozie and will finish cooking as you hike. I've used this trick on a number of occasions when I wa...

Interesting. I have a large-ish tinderbox which is fairly watertight and a smaller tin with a perforated lid I keep inside for charring. I get the fact that you can char materials and then extinguish them in your tinderbox, eliminating weight and complexity, but it seems like it would be less effici...

Good to know that we have something viable out here in CA. I seem to remember seeing turkey tails in my field guide to the Sierra as well, so that might be an option. I've certainly seen a fair few toadstools of various species around, so maybe tossing those in the char tin would work. I've tried ch...

That list looks similar, but lacks a handful of assets I have notes on from my previous research. Similar prices, though.

that would make each penny worth at least half a pound of silver Not quite so much, I think, but still a fair bit. I don't have the original source, but I went back and looked at some notes I took from what were effectively late medieval repo records from England in the 1300s. Though a war horse wa...

A slightly easier-to-parse translation: And he was clothed in coat and hood of green. A sheaf of peacock arrows bright and keen Under his belt he bore very carefully (Well could he keep his gear yeomanly: His arrows had no drooped feathers low), And in his hand he bore a mighty bow. A cropped head h...

Let's not forget how important language was to Tolkien. "Beorn" shows pretty obvious Scandinavian roots. In addition to the Norse origins of the drawing of Beorn's hall, I'd say the Beornings' cultural inspirations would definitely be Norse in character.

Elleth: Funny you mention poison ivy tea...I've known someone who did that--more or less. She put what was purported to be urushiol in her orange juice every morning to desensitize herself. The mechanism is scientifically plausible, but needless to say it's not recommended. A reaction to urushiol in...

I think it very much depends on the type of arrow. Eledhwen mentioned hunting as a relevant topic regarding the lethality of arrows, and modern hunting arrows have broad, bladed heads that will make wounds that aren't plugged by the shaft. This also pertains to an archaeological paradox: why stone a...

Seems like a good philosophy, Greg. I'm sure Harper would agree with me that overprescription is a genuine problem in the medical industry, and that most people take drugs they don't need. I'm a big fan of listening to your body and trying to treat the root causes when you're feeling poorly rather t...

I like the pads, Elleth. It strikes me as similar to a modern hemostatic dressing. And while it may be a bit farby, any situation where a small linen bandage wouldn't suffice is a situation where authenticity should take a hard backsteat to pragmatism. Any wound that would require a pad like this to...