More you might like
[slams fists on table] There is MINIMAL evidence that the whole world of Middle Earth appears flat to Elves. There is MUCH MORE evidence that Elves live on a globe with everyone else (after the Fall of Númenor); they just have access—via ocean sailing, maybe only in a westward direction—to a tangential line leading off the globe to a bonus continent + local seas, which may or may not exist on a flat plane. (Note: not on the moon; the moon is a piece of glowing flower set in a small flying ship, steered by a guy who keeps getting distracted by his crush.) It’s called the “STRAIGHT ROAD”, not the “flat world”!!
It’s like this:
* There’s actually almost 0 evidence of anything really, because Tolkien’s worldbuilding is like the dril budget tweet and he spent $3,600 on linguistics. But that’s why we should pay attention to word choice like “Straight ROAD”, ie a single path!
Someday I'd like to write a post about all the 'canon' details that circle around this fandom in an eternal game of telephone that, if you read the source, has next to them a note from Christopher Tolkien that says like "this passage is struck through with DOES NOT WORK written next to it."
Listen, I know everyone and their mother has drawn this screengrab, but the thing I love most about it is the flash of fear on Boromir's face. It's so quick but so potent--he KNOWS he can't protect Merry and Pippin on his own.
I have a pile of lovely asks and messages that I'm working on responding to---if you've sent me something, I swear I've seen it and appreciate all the kind words!