Why Georgia Is Middle Earth, Part II

Elvish music compared to Georgian Orthodox hymns.

Seriously.

Georgia Is Actually Middle Earth

I'm not going to lie. The very first thing I noticed when I did my preliminary Google search on this country was that the alphabet looked outstandingly similar to J.R.R. Tolkien's Elvish. Naturally, I got ridiculously excited about this, and it sort of sealed the deal on my decision to come here. Forget the free ticket, the healthcare, and the promise of adventure and new things. No. It was that the alphabet resembled a fake language that I once knew and wrote a lot in. Oh high school...

The more time I've spent here, the more I've noticed that there are actually a lot of parallels between the fictional world of Middle Earth and the real country of Georgia. These range from the physical to the cultural, and there are so many that I'm convinced J.R.R. Tolkien had to have come here at some point in his life.

First of all, the most obvious - orthographic similarity between Tengwar (a form of Elvish) and Georgian script. While grammatically they are completely different (as Elvish is based upon Welsh and Finnish and Georgian is...well, Georgian), there are many similar shapes found in both of them, mainly of the curly variety. I messed up the drawing a bit, and used the hand written form of letters in Georgian. The formal versions of d, l and r (დ, ლ and რ) are way more Elvish looking when not being written by a spazzily excited American who's got chicken scratch handwriting in whatever language she's trying to communicate in. But you can see for yourself that they share many qualities.

Images courtesy of a Google image search.

Secondly, the landscapes are almost identical. Rolling green hills, wide plains, sharp snow capped mountains, and lush green forests are everywhere in both worlds. Even geographic parallels exist. Georgia has a dividing range of mountains - on the East are fertile green lands and forests where Samegrelo, Adjara, Imereti, and Guria lay, while the West side boasts the high plains and continental climes of Kakheti.  Middle Earth has this same type of mountain range down the middle of it, with the same biomes found in Georgia 1 - Easterly there are fertile green hills where the Shire is, while on the other side of the Misty Mountains are high plains and deep forests. Since Kakheti is on this Easterly side, there isn't a day that goes by when I look out over the Alazani plain and think, "Where am I? Rohan?"

Edoras or Sighnaghi?

Speaking of Rohan,  Georgia has it's own horse oriented group of people. Much like the skilled horsemen of the story, Georgian men from the small area of Racha have had a strong bond with equines for centuries. In fact, their horsemanship was so well known that in the 1800s several Rachan riders were brought to America by Buffalo Bill and were the stars in his show. Clearly, their popularity has declined over the decades, as now the fictional Riders are far more famous.

No, Google. I wanted the Riders that actually exist, thanks!

Next, we come to the Mines. Prominent in both worlds, the Mines of Moria and the Mines of Guria feature rare, precious metals that are highly sought after (mithril and gold, respectively). While I don't think the Georgians will be waking any evils in the depths of their excavations, I would hazard a guess that the overall safety of both mines is the same, as I doubt orcs and their ramshackle ways are concerned about danger for their workers, much like Georgians. Additionally, both of these lodes are reminiscent from days of older sovereignties - Durin and his clan of dwarves, and the former USSR.

Both lands have an ominous presence over the mountains (Mordor and Russia), as well as suffer from groups of people moving Westward (Elves and younger generations of Georgians). Both also have tenuous relations and long histories of invasions from their South Eastern boundaries (the Haradrim and the old Arab kingdoms). Both are very, very old, and sprinkled everywhere are relics of past dynasties in the forms of ruins, paintings, and even the currently inhabited cities. But perhaps the most interesting parallels between the two countries lie within the people themselves.

Georgians, as a whole, are a healthy mix of the four main races who dwell in Middle Earth - Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, and, of course, Humans. Naming conventions are even similar. Gimli Son of Gloin, Aragorn son of Arathorn, Faramir of Gondor . Lineage, both genetic and locative, is constantly being used in the place of surnames in Middle Earth, and many Georgian surnames translate to roughly the same thing. For example, Makhashvili means literally "son of Makha." That's why there are so many "-shvili"'s in this country - they're tracing back their lineage with the grammatical conventions of their language. 

Humans in the Lord of the Rings universe are known for being proud, stubborn, good hearted, honorable, and have a knack for holding on to the past unflinchingly. These are not unique qualities to Georgia at all, as many groups of people from all over the world could fall under this category, but I wanted to make sure they were pointed out before I start comparing this culture to a short race with hairy feet who likes to drink.

Realistically, Georgians are Hobbits. Not physically, but in mannerisms and habits? Absolutely.  We're talking about two cultures whose main hobbies include drinking copiously, eating almost constantly, being social to the point where solitude is considered strange, and smoking. Georgians and Hobbits throw huge parties frequently, and both give very long winded toasts to prescribed appropriate subjects (family, friends, love, the wine, etc). Both cultures tend to stick close to their own borders, and the desire to go abroad isn't that common unless it's to send a young Hobbit to relatives in a different part of the Shire, or to send college bound Georgians off to Russia for school. Both groups are incredibly friendly and welcoming once they get over the sheer mystification of someone being a solo traveller, since their sociality is a given part of their daily life. 

Older men hanging out and judging the world as it passes - the popular mode of recreation for Georgians and Hobbits!

Georgians and Dwarves share a few key features, also - notably drinking (are you seeing a pattern here?), and singing. Dwarven music is usually a capella, much like Georgian traditional songs, and sung by men in several polyphonic harmonies. What I mean by polyphonic harmonies is that there is one tone, usually very basso and sung by one person who has really good lung capacity, that is sustained. Think of the drone on a bagpipe. The rest of the singers are trapped in whatever mode this one basso note dictates, and while they have a lot of variance in pitches within these scales, songs usually only have a few modal changes. 

Aside from having similar alphabets, Elves and Georgians are akin in a few surprising ways - I promise that drinking is not one of them! Rather, both cultures try to remain fairly aloof, preferring to take care of their own kind instead of interfering with their neighbors. Both are very traditional and stalwart in their ways. Their songs are long stories, almost sung poems, about heroes in ancient days and long lost loves. And while both are capable of great happiness, within every person there's a hint of a very deep sadness. It's a hard thing to describe, but it's something that I've noticed in many Georgians, and it's also mentioned in writings about the Elves.

Last, but certainly not least, and perhaps the most convincing evidence that Georgia is, in fact, Middle Earth, is the presence of red eye graffiti spray painted on a wall in Batumi. Now, whether I would rather have Sauron and his legions of evil, or the Russians and...well, more Russians, the jury is still out. Either one would be annoying to have invade, but I might be able to get some cool presents off of Elves if it's Sauron, so at this moment I'm kind of hoping for the Dark Lord. 

I have to say, having spent a large part of my childhood wishing I lived in one of the fantasy worlds that I always was reading about, it's cool to finally live in one. Because really, I bet Rivendell is right up this valley. 

Footnotes:

1. While this may seem kind of like a "duh, Jo" moment pointing out the similarity of climates which border mountains, I want to say that I doubt Tolkien did this intentionally. World building was not really a big thing back in the 1950s, and since he clearly placed mountain ranges incorrectly in accordance with any kind of tectonic plate movement which would result in mountains, as there is no way for mountains to grow at complete 90 degree angles, I find it hard to believe that he would really have given so much thought into making sure that the leeward side of the mountains was drier than that of the windward. Instead, I think he came to Georgia, said "holy shit, this is beautiful!" and based the structure of his world around the existing landscape. 

I've a problem

I stupidly grin a lot.

Like a lot, a lot.

I've found it's most prominent while riding in cars, because there's just something absurd to me about listening to ridiculously bad club music while careening down ill kept roads, passing at the most inopportune times, and dodging some kind of livestock herd that will inevitably be in the middle of a twisty mountain highway. Someone pointed out that Georgia is where the one hit wonders of the world come to die. This is probably one of the truest statements on the planet. I'm fairly certain that the radio waves here are the audible equivalent of the red headed stepchild - the amount of stuck-in-the-90s techno is comparable only to the bad remixed dance music and typical [bad] "American" rock classics. With a dash of local traditional music thrown in, too, just for good measure. It's a safe bet, however, that if you're in a public place, and there is some kind of music playing, you will hear Pink Floyd's "Brick in the Wall" and at least one Radiohead song.

It's funny to me how big rap is here. Tonight, for instance, I'm going to the concert of our prime minister's son, who is an albino, and also a rapper. Because...Georgia? But every other person here loves the shit out of Tupac, so I've heard a lot of N-bombs dropped. I'm sure they have no idea the connotations that word actually has, or the years of racism and hatred tied to it, and if they ever do go to America I sure as hell hope they drop that word from their lexicon. But, and I'm probably a horrible person for this, hearing an 8 year old Georgian boy say "mah n-gga" is one of the funniest things ever.

Also, in sort of the same vein, my host mom has sweat pants that say "GOLDDIGGA" in gold fake jewels. So that's awesome.

 The rest of the ridiculous things that have made me stupidly grin lately will be in picture form. Cause sometimes you really need to just see things.

Street vendor in Tbilisi. She sits outside what I assume to be her house every day with a bunch of adorable kittens. I'm not sure what all she sells, but she has a donation jar out, so I'm guessing she plays panduri (that string instrument next to her) while kittens play and that's entertainment enough to merit you throwing some tetri her way. Seen here, she is positioning the dog that she picked up from the alley next to that pile of newborn kittens. Also, please note the kitten in the box. And no, that bird cage is not, as you would think, for birds. It had a kitten laying inside it.

We were asked numerous times in Tbilisi for cigarettes by kids who were 10 years old or younger. So seeing this was not all that surprising.

Star Wars graffiti?? Tbilisi! I love you!

MORE Star Wars graffiti?? Tbilisi is just toying with my heart now!

Frigid morning walks aren't half so bad when the Caucasus mountains poke their head out of the clouds they've been hiding in for the last week. I'm really, really upset that they look like thirty times less impressive and pretty in pictures than they do standing on the street looking at them. One day I'll get a good majestic shot of them for you, my diligent reader. 

A guy that works at my school (I don't think he's a teacher, but maybe?) asked me today if I had ever had "new wine," which my English teacher explained to me was wine from September or October harvests. I said no, and he told me he would bring me some to try. I figured this would be in a few days or weeks. No. I come back to the teachers room less than an hour later and this 1.5 L of homemade wine was waiting for me.

When I left for school there was no construction on the road. Three hours later, a backhoe was tearing it up. No signs. No warnings. A brave Lada still tried driving on this, bless his soul, until a guy who was literally just moving gravel around with a shovel yelled at him.

And last but not least. Mary, this one is for you.

Blurbs

These are just random things in my brain at the moment. In no particular order. Because it's a Wednesday. And why not?



Dear Cleaning Crew at work,
2:30 pm on a Wednesday seems like a weird time to clean the bathroom. But what do I know?
Sincerely,
Confused.



Unsure why, because it seems like a HUGE contradiction, but I'm sitting here, listening to Meshuggah, and all I want to do is watch some Bob Ross and paint. Does that make any sense? No.



Why is it, that no matter what kind of mood I'm in, when I hear "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen I have to sing obnoxiously loud and flail my arms around and dance? Like today, I've just felt...off...is the best word for this emotion. Most of the day has been spent just kind of "meh" until "Don't Stop Me Now" came on Spotify and all of the sudden I'm the fucking dancing queen (no pun intended). It's dumb how happy that song makes me. Also, I feel super bad for the office neighbors, cause I'm pretty sure I'm the most annoying person to be in this building in a long ass time. But I'm not 100% we actually have office neighbors? I never see anyone? So I guess until someone complains I'll keep doing my thing. Which is blast music, sing, and edit an unending stream of old photos. I'm going to have to write up a post in which I discuss my complete nerd love of old pictures. Well, photography in general, really. Cause it's the coolest.