This Middle Earth created by him is so well detailed and so well documented that it's obvious it could have very well existed at one time. The ocean region North of Scotland used to be land several thousand years ago during the ice age and it's only reasonable that that's where Middle Earth used to be.
The existence of Middle Earth as well as all traces of it's existence eventually disappeared under the flooding waves. It was totally lost to history until Elrond and the Lady Galadriel, over in the "Undying Lands" used their Elvish power to transmit stories about it into Tolkien's dreams while he slept.
It would be interesting finding archaeological evidence of Middle Earth. The ruins of the ancient city of Minas Tirith must still be laying there at the bottom of the ocean floor.
Tolkien used Norse and similar mythologies to create a new world. He was part of the same writing group as C. S. Lewis, hence the similarities in their stories. There is no historical precedent here, but a look at Troy might be fruitful. – orenhammerquist10 years ago
I seriously doubt that Middle Earth actually existed, but maybe you could look at ancient cities that might have been inspirations for the locations in the books? Might be too hypothetical though. – Arlinka Larissa10 years ago
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