But what Tolkien went on to explain was how he composed his own legends and mythologies. After outlining what we now know as The Book of Lost Tales and the first two Silmarillion mythologies, he discussed the basic elements of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but suddenly shifted course. "Another ingredient [of these legends], not before mentioned, also came into operation in my need to provide a great function for Strider-Aragorn," he said. "What I might call my Atlantis-haunting. This legend or myth or dim memory of some ancient history has always troubled me. In sleep I had the dreadful dream of the ineluctable Wave, either coming out of the quiet sea, or coming in towering over the green inlands. It still occurs occasionally, though now exorcised by writing about it. It always ends by surrender, and I awake gasping out of deep water. I used to draw it or write bad poems about it. When C.S. Lewis and I tossed up, and he was to write on space-travel and I on time-travel, I began an abortive book of time-travel of which the end was to be the presence of my hero in the drowning of Atlantis. This was to be called Numenor, the Land in the West...."

The time-travel story was called "The Fall of Numenor", and Christopher Tolkien published the earliest version of the tale in The Lost Road and Other Writings, the fifth volume of The History of Middle-earth. The story is rich with a curious blend of names and events from both earlier Tolkienic legends (from The Book of Lost Tales) and the as-yet unrealized Middle-earth mythology of The Lord of the Rings. The name of a great Eldarin king, for example, is given as "Amroth", and he with Elrond and descendants of Earendel (sic) passes inland from Beleriand and storms the citadel of Thu, who had been instrumental and seducing the Numenoreans (Atlanteans) to fall into evil.

Incorporating the Atlantis legend itself into his evolving mythological traditions allowed Tolkien to draw upon the rich Greek literary and mythological traditions which had fascinated him in his youth. Although Tolkien's goal by this period (the mid- to late 1920s) had shifted from creating a mythology for England (that is, a mythological history to explain Old English words and names) to creating a self-contained mythology, he never fully abandoned the idea of incorporating English mythological needs into his work. Those needs included the inexplicable, or the controversial, words of lost or forgotten meaning which intrigued Tolkien.

His name for the monstrous foot-soldiers of the dark lords, orc, comes from the poem "Beowulf" (in Letter 144, he wrote: "the word is as far as I am concerned actually derived from Old English orc demon, but only because of its phonetic suitability"). Beowulf's orcs (O.E. orcneas) are supposed to be giant, demonic corpse creatures. The Latin word orco (ogre) is said to be related to orcneas, and both are supposed (by some) to have been derived from the name of the Latin god Orcus (the Roman counterpart to the Greek Thanatos, death).

Greek mythology provided a template for Tolkien's work on his own mythologies, in which he associated a story or group of stories with a word or expression (in one of his contrived languages) in order to explain its history and meaning(s). But Plato's Atlantis story gave Tolkien a legend in very raw and incomplete form to work with as he would. Tolkien's interest in Atlantis was not even conceded to be philological. He was, rather, haunted by "the dreadful dream of the ineluctable Wave". The Wave was not really even a part of Plato's own version of the story. He never finished writing about Atlantis, and it remained for later commentators and speculators to add the Wave.

Plato (who lived from 427 to 347 BCE) briefly alluded to a war between a mythical ancient Athens (said to exist Circa 9300 BCE) and the equally mythical Atlantis. Because Athens and Greece in general had been subjected to wars, invasions, and natural disasters which had wiped out all memory of the ancient civilization, the only surviving records from the time were supposed to be found in Egypt

long recognized by western civilization as one of the most ancient and relatively stable literate civilizations. Egypt's literary tradition, however, is only historically attested to about 3,000 years before Plato's time. Still, Egypt was a convenient repository for lost knowledge in what many experts consider to be Plato's attempt at historical fiction. His use of Egyptian priests is equivalent to a modern writer's use of secret government agencies which retain records of, say, alien spaceships.

Plato's Atlantis story survives in two sources: his dialogues The Critias and Timaeus (written around the year 360 BCE). Greek philosophers of Plato's era used dialogues between real or imagined people to propose and expound upon their ideas. They dispense with direct narrative story-telling and place the reader in the position of following along with a group of great thinkers who freely share their knowledge and ideas with one another. Whole debates thus unfold without annoying intervention from the audience. Tolkien adapted this technique to his "Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth", where the Elven king Finrod debates with the Wise-woman Andreth of the House of Beor concerning the natures of (and differences between) Men and Elves, as well as how they perceive their respective fates and places within the world.

In Timaeus, the philosopher Critias offers a brief anecdote to his companions (Socrates, Timaeus, and Hermocrates) concerning the war between Athens and Atlantis. He relates how his own great-grandfather (also called Dropides) had heard the story from the Greek philosopher Solon, who supposedly traveled to Egypt and heard the tale from priests living in the city of Sais (of which virtually nothing remains, although Plato's references seem accurate). These priests were remarkably complimentary to the Athenians' ancient ancestors, holding them to have been the fairest and most valiant of ancient men. Atlantis, bent upon conquest, is said to have extended its sway over nearly all the Mediterranean world, conquering even Egypt. Only Athens remained free, and the ancient Athenians defeated the Atlanteans after all other peoples had been conquered.

At some point thereafter, a great calamity befell the world in which Atlantis was drowned and Athens and many other cities destroyed. The Athenian people survived only through a few hardy mountaineers and shepherds who lived in highlands well above the reach of the waters. All that is said to have remained of Atlantis is a shoal of mud beyond the Pillars of Hercules (presumed to be the western end of the Mediterranean, where Gibraltar stands today).

Well, there is very little in that account to remind one of Tolkien's Numenor legend. The real meat comes in The Critias, which is unfortunately incomplete. In fact, The Critias ends just as things start to get interesting. Plato gives a brief introduction to the history and arrangements of Atlantis (explaining that all the names have been converted to Greek equivalents for convenience' sake). Since he was incorporating Atlantis into his own myths, Tolkien borrowed many ideas directly from Plato.

For example, both Atlantis and Numenor rise out of the sea with almost sheer cliffs on nearly every side. The centers of both islands rise up in great mountains. But whereas the central Atlantean mountain is a plateau upon which their most ancient (and chief) city is built, the central Numenorean mountain is the Meneltarma (which has a level top). Armenelos, the chief city of Numenor, lies at the feet of the Meneltarma. The central regions of both islands are treeless plains where flocks and herds of sheep and cattle are pastured. Both islands have abundant natural resources, including mines, farms, vinyards, forests, etc. Both islands have large populations which enjoy long life and are very spiritual.

The royal families of Plato's Atlanteans are descended from Poseidon, and they build an immense temple in his honor in their capital. There all the descendants of the original ten sons of Poseidon place golden statues of themselves and their wives and each generation bestows an immense treasure of votive offerings upon the temple. Tolkien's Numenoreans, being monotheists, build no such temple until they are seduced into full rebellion by Sauron. But the Meneltarma serves as the temple for Iluvatar, and it is revered and visited by nearly every generation of Numenoreans. In a valley at the base of the Meneltarma, the Numenorean kings build their tombs (much like many Egyptian leaders were buried in the Valley of the Kings). So, both temples are used by the Atlantean/Numenorean rulers to preserve their legacies.

All variety of fragrant plants, succulent fruits, and animals were also to be found in Plato's Atlantis. The Atlanteans enjoyed two harvests per year, and they mined a reddish mineral Plato calls orichalcum (not necessarily to be identified with the Romans' yellow brass alloy of the same name). Tolkien's Numenor was home to many trees and plants, gifts from the Valar and Eldar, which were found nowhere else. Although "A description of the Island of Numenor" (Unfinished Tales) says that the Numenoreans did not find gold or silver in their land, there is one brief, tantalizing suggestion that they may have found mithril there (Author's Note 31 in "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields", Unfinished Tales, though Christopher Tolkien points out that Gandalf tells the Fellowship in The Lord of the Rings that mithril was found in Moria "alone in all the world"). While mithril should not be equated with Plato's orichalcum, Plato does say that only gold was more valuable than the Atlanteans' orichalcum.

One final natural feature common to both Atlantis and Numenor was the arising of natural springs from within the hearts of the two islands. Plato says that Poseidon created two springs for the Atlanteans, one of hot water and one of cold water. The Atlanteans built fountains, gardens, baths, and cisterns which drew water from the two springs. Numenor's greatest river, the Siril, rose from springs at the base of the Meneltarma and flowed south to the sea.

Numenor and Atlantis had different political arrangements, though Tolkien retained some similarities. The ten royal families of the Atlanteans were said to be descended from five pairs of twin sons born to Poseidon and a mortal woman named Cleito (daughter of Evenor and Leucippe). Although the eldest line (whose founder Plato called Atlas, and thus the island and the ocean are said to have been named for him) of kings held the most power, they were all bound by law to govern the island together. Each king ruled his own city, and though they held the power of life and death over their subjects, the kings were forbidden to act against each other, and indeed were required to support each other if any of their cities rebelled.

In Numenor, there was only one king, but there were many noble families. The king was advised by a council of nobles and chieftains, some of them descended from Elros Tar-Minyatur. By the time of Ar-Pharazon, the last king of Numenor, members of the council were apparently almost untouchable. Amandil, last Lord of Andunie (and once a close friend to Pharazon), was the secret leader of the Faithful Numenoreans (effectively rebels whom Ar-Pharazon persecuted, especially after Sauron rose to power in Numenor). Sauron was unable to compel Ar-Pharazon to harm Amandil.

Plato's Atlanteans were great builders. When Poseidon first colonized the island, he built a series of concentric canals around the high plateau where Cleito and their children lived in order to protect them. As the Atlanteans built their civilization and learned the art of ship-building, they opened pathways through the canals for ships to pass through to the sea. But they also built huge bridges complete with towers, great houses, and which were guarded by gates at both ends (an idea Tolkien borrowed for the Great Bridge of Osgiliath in Gondor). The Atlanteans constructed immense walls around the canals: one of black stone, one of white stone, and one of red stone. The Numenoreans who settled in Gondor built fortresses out of black stone and white stone. And, finally, the Atlanteans eventually roofed over the canals so that their ships sailed to sea underground. The Numenoreans built huge monuments and walls around their citadels in Middle-earth, as well as the Great Bridge of Osgiliath, which spanned the Anduin.

Plato's Atlanteans were at first a virtuous people. They honored their laws and were gentle and unwarlike for many generations. But as they intermarried with mortal women, their kings became corrupt, and the people became increasingly dissatisfied with both their lot in life. But Plato tells us that the Atlanteans became debased (visibly so to those who could perceive the true nature of the Atlanteans' spirits). Outwardly, and to most mortal men, the Atlanteans remained a beautiful and powerful race, but they apparently became consumed with greed and a lust for power. Plato's story ends abruptly just as Zeus becoming aware of the change in the Atlanteans, and he decides to take action against them.

Tolkien thus adopted Plato's theme of a gradual spiritual collapse of the island nation. But whereas Plato attributes the diminishment of the Atlanteans' virtuous nature to a dilution of their divine bloodline (that is, intermarriage with mortal women), Tolkien attributes the decline to a growing fear of death accompanied by envy (among the descendants of Elros) of Elven immortality. The Numenorean philosophy shifted from "I am blessed and therefore content with my life" to "There but for the choice of Elros go I with my fellow Eldar to the Blessed Realm".

However, Tolkien did not ignore Plato's rationale for the decline of the Atlanteans. Instead, he transmuted it into a conflict that diminished the descendants of the Numenoreans in Gondor: the Kin-Strife, in which "purists" clashed with "minglests" out of a growing concern that the dwindling of the Dunedain (and the gradual loss of their longevity) was due, at least in part, to intermarriage between Dunadan families and other peoples. Tolkien converted the theme into a commentary on the self-destructive nature of racism, but he preserved more than faint echoes of Plato's concept. The idea of a "divine" ancestry for men, common to many (if not all) mythologies, persisted in the story of Luthien Tinuviel (daughter of the angelic being Melian and the Elf king Thingol) and her descendants (among the Numenoreans, the descendants of Elros).

Plato's Atlantis, though putatively existing more than 11,000 years ago, resembles in some of its details the Greece of his day. The Atlanteans' ships are triremes, and their armies include charioteers, hoplites, slingers, stone-shooters, and javelin-throwers. With the exception of charioteers (primitive cavalry forces had replaced charioteers in Greek armies by then), these were the kinds of troops found in Athenian armies of Plato's time. Atlantis thus supposedly had a more sophisticated (and much larger) army than the Achaeans who fought Troy in the Cyclic Epic poems. The Epic armies relied upon well-armored heroic chieftains riding chariots at the head of primitive phalanxes, who often served as their own rowers on small ships (triremes were developed around 500 BCE

about 700 years after the Trojan War, and about 300 years after Homer is believed to have lived). The Atlanteans utilized a land-based conscription system which ensured they had sufficient rowers to man 1200 ships (more than 180,000 men in all) and a large army.

Tolkien's Numenor, stylized on Atlantis, is a Greek construction. And yet Tolkien stipulated (in Letter 211) that the Numenoreans resembled Egyptians in many ways

including their use of massive architecture, their love of genealogy, their construction of tombs and "cities of the dead", and the division of the Dunedain realms in Middle-earth into a Northern Kingdom (symbolized by a diadem) and a Southern Kingdom (symbolized by a war-helmet crown). However, Greek and Egyptian culture were historically brought together after many centuries of contact by Alexander, who lived only a couple of generations after Plato. Gondor, which provides the most examples of Egyptian-like Numenorean culture, serves as a repository of ancient lore much as Plato's Egyptian city of Sais serves as a repository of ancient lore. So, Tolkien's synthesis of Greek and Egyptian elements in his Numenorean cultures remains true to his ancient Greek sources.

Nonetheles, there are few clues concerning Gondor's society. "A description of the Island of Numenor" and "Aldarion and Erendis" imply there were three primary social groups in Numenor. The shepherds and ranchers dwelt in the open lands of the Mittalmar (the central lands). The farmers and foresters lived in the Orrostar (northeast) and Hyarostar (southeast) or in Andustar. And fisher-folk and mariners dwelt in the coastal towns and villages. There were, of course, miners, soldiers, shipwrights, and other professions in Numenor, but the professions were supported by these groups.

The geography of the five regions comprising early Gondor under the joint rule of Isildur and Anarion (Ithilien, Anorien, Lebennin, Belfalas, and Calenardhon) is very similar to the geography of Numenor. Lebennin probably supported the majority of farms. Ithilien and Anorien probably supported the majority of orchards and forest-related industries. Belfalas probably supported the majority of fisher-folk. And Calenardhon would have been ideal for shepherds and ranchers (just as the Rohirrim, 2600 years later, pastured their herds and flocks in the same region).

But at least two of Gondor's early cities (Minas Anor and Minas Ithil) were built in the mountains, and at least two other the cities (Osgiliath and Pelargir) were built on or near the Anduin. The geography of the lands around these cities resembles that of ancient Greece and Italy more than that of ancient Egypt. It stands to reason that, in seeking models for Gondor, Tolkien would have looked at all of the ancient Mediterranean world and not simply Egypt. In fact, the description of the Pelennor Fields, where Minas Tirith's (Minas Anor) farmlands and orchards are maintained at the end of the Third Age, resembles the description of Athens during the Peloponnesian War (431 to 404 BCE). Fearing attack by Sparta, the Athenian leader Pericles persuaded the majority of Athens' citizens to take refuge inside the city.

In antiquity, it was common for a majority of a city's population to actually live outside the city. In time of war, the people could either move around the countryside or take refuge inside the city. During the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians fortified their chief port, Piraeus, and built a double-walled corridor between the two cities in order to secure their supply lines by sea. Until that time, Athens had been most self-sufficient, living off the produce of its farms and flocks. But the threat of Spartan attacks forced Pericles to consider alternative means of sustaining Athens. In fact, the Spartans did invade Attica (the region governed by Athens) several years in a row with the intent of destroying as many farms as they could. The Athenian policy therefore succeeded (although an unforeseen consequence of bringing everyone inside the walls was the devastation of the population through plague).

As Gandalf and Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith, a Periclean relocation of people and resources is well under way. Denethor has sent nearly all non-combatants away from the city, but he has brought the local men from the surrounding farmlands inside Minas Tirith. The Pelennor Fields, however, have also been fortified. Denethor does not hope to secure his farmlands as Athens secured its route to Piraeus, but the intention of confounding an invading enemy force is clear. In any event, Denethor's people were confronting a powerful enemy who was much more formiddable than the Spartan army (meaning no disrespect to the ancient Spartans).

Tolkien provided a few glimpses of Gondor's country life in various texts. Ioreth, the wise-woman who spouts old nursery rhymes in Minas Tirith's Houses of Healing, mentions collecting flowers with her sisters in the woods. She grew up in Imloth Melui (a valley in Arnach, west of Minas Tirith). Aragorn told Faramir to settle in Emyn Arnen (the Hills of Arnen) when he made Faramir Prince of Ithilien. In The New Shadow, it is apparent that Faramir lives in a villa or estate overlooking the Anduin. The ancient Romans gradually built up a system of country estates and villas surrounding their cities, especially throughout Italy. Only the poorest people lived inside the cities all the time. Wealthier families, farmers, and other agriculturalists lived outside the cities and only spent part of their time inside the walls.

In medieval Europe, as cities declined in population and importance, people gradually settled in smaller communities. A typical city with a population of 50,000 or less might be surrounded by dozens or hundreds of smaller towns, villages, and estates. But the medieval feudal estates were often self-sufficient communities. Their lords might occasionally visit the towns, but the serfs were not permitted to leave the land. Gondor's people (and Numenor's) are free to move about as they please, insofar as their movements are mentioned in any of the stories. So, what little evidence we have suggests the country-folk were probably more closely associated with the towns and cities in Numenorean and Gondorian culture than in medieval European culture.

If that is the case, then the reason is simple: Tolkien was replicating the Greece-Atlantis model. Plato, having no real knowledge of what the world had been like 9,000 years before his time (barely a handful of town-like communities are known to have existed in that timeframe

certainly nothing resembling anything like a Hellenic city-state such as Plato's Athens and definitely nothing capable of supporting a 1200 ship navy), described Atlantis and the ancient Athens in terms familiar to his contemporaries. Tolkien's pictures of Numenor and Gondor, though incomplete, are articulated well enough to show that he had classical civilization in mind when describing their high points.

Of course, both Numenor and Gondor enter periods of decline. Numenor's decline is spiritual rather than cultural. But Gondor, suffering the depradations of time and losses through wars, becomes diminished in power, culture, and lore. It does not quite enter a Dark Age, such as followed the collapse of Mycenaean culture or the end of the western Roman empire. Gondor remains a powerful state, rich in lore and heritage, though only a shadow of its former glory. It feels Greek enough for many people to associate Denethor II's Minas Tirith with Byzantium of the 10th or 11th centuries. Classical yet medieval, Byzantium gradually lost its empire to the encroachment of enemies and rivals. But the politics of Gondor remained simpler, less Byzantine. Gondor was Tolkien's idealized successor to Plato's idealized Atlantis. Late Third Age Gondor existed "about 6,000 years ago", according to Tolkien (Cf. Letter 211, where Tolkien says: "I imagine the gap [between our time and the events of The Lord of the Rings] to be about 6000 years....").

Tolkien followed Plato's example by showing us Numenor as it was perceived by its successors. That is, Plato's Atlantis is described by an Egyptian priest in Sais, whose account is passed on by Solon to Dropides, and from Dropides to his son Critias, and then elder Critias' grandson Critias, and then (supposedly) to Plato's mentor Socrates. Numenor, like Atlantis, is forgotten, except for a few records which survive in Gondor. From Gondor the knowledge passes to Hobbits, who preserve it in their Red Book, and eventually the knowledge is passed on to J.R.R. Tolkien, who translates it.

Both Atlantis and Numenor therefore remain distant, mythical, magical. In Letter 247, Tolkien wrote, "Part of the attraction of The L.R. is, I think, due to the glimpses of a large history in the background: an attraction like that of viewing far off an unvisited island, or seeing the towers of a distant city gleaming in a sunlit mist. To go there is to destroy the magic, unless new unattainable vistas are again revealed...." Tolkien brought us to Middle-earth, but to preserve the magic he showed us Numenor in the distance and let it remain there, just as Plato had. For the magic thrives in our imagination, where it feeds upon an endless array of Inevitable Questions.

Michael Martinez is the author of Visualizing Middle-earth and Parma Endorion: Essays on Middle-earth, 3rd Edition. His next book is Understanding Middle-earth, to published by Vivisphere in 2003.