lotr and the scottishborder

	The Lord of the Rings, 'Longshanks' and the Anglo - Scottish Border
		www.lotrandthescottishborder.net


Home Page Tolkien in Newcastle Longshanks and LOTR Trotter and LOTR Border Reivers Archbishop's Curse Countess Isabelle Newcastle Black Gate Men of the North The House of Stuart (new) Edward 1st Chillingham Wild Cattle Hadrian's Wall Towers and Beacons Explosive Powder Tolkien's Border Links		Home Page J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' and the Scottish Border This website introduces the Anglo-Scottish border as a border which inspired Tolkien's world of fantasy. He visited the region 3 times and stayed with an uncle who was Vice-President of the local Mining Institute, an institute with particular concern for safety in the mines. Historically, there is a cluster of previously un-noticed connections to the region with what 'Longshanks' did in the Scottish Border and northern England. 'Longshanks',the nickname of Edward 1st, is the only real person Tolkien mentioned in his book ‘The Lord of the Rings’ . When the Rohan army was preparing to aid Gondor, knowing the mission was doomed to fail, Eowyn, the niece of the King of Rohan, said she feared "a cage". This resonates with Countess Isabelle of Buchan who was publicly encaged by Longshanks at Berwick Castle after Robert the Bruce was defeated at the Battle of Methven. Tolkien’s ‘Oath-breakers’ was an army that betrayed their king Isildur, but fulfilled their oath when summoned by his descendent Aragorn. Longshanks' Scottish Wars resulted in the culture of the Border Reivers who were perceived to have betrayed the Scottish King James 4^th at the Battle of Flodden. They were famously cursed and they also served his descendents. Sauron assembled his army at the Black Gate. The town where Longshanks mustered his army to attack Scotland - Newcastle upon Tyne - is the only town in Britain that has a fortified Black Gate. When Longshanks attacked Scotland from Newcastle in 1304, he was the first person to use explosive powder in these islands as Saruman was the first person in Middle Earth to use it at Helm's Deep. When Tolkien came to Newcastle in 1910, 1911 and 1912, he stayed with his uncle, who lived in 8 Sydenham Terrace, Jesmond. The street was pulled down for the inner-city motorway and the Civil Engineering Department of Newcastle University.
Contact: c_usherahmed@yahoo.co.uk		This website has received much support from Dr. Lynn Forest-Hill, The Education Officer of The Tolkien Society