Middle-Earth's Last Remnant of Doggerland
The Lost History of Middle-Earth, Part 5
In this series of essays I have examined how J.R.R. Tolkien used the backdrop of prehistoric Europe as the setting of his lengendarium. While it is widely accepted that he intended his works to take place in the “real world” in European pre-history, I argue that this was much more serious side to his work, the full extent of which he largely kept private.
If this is the first entry in this series that you’ve come across I highly recommended you read the others first. Part 1 examines how the map of Middle-Earth aligns to a map of ancient Europe before the rising sea levels drastically changed the landscape.
How Tolkien Disguised Ice-Age Europe as Middle-Earth
Maps of Middle-Earth have been laid over maps of Europe before. They’re never very interesting, because they seem to prove that Tolkien’s world was nothing close to a one-to-one representation of an ancient Europe. They usually place the Shire (per Tolkien’s instruction) at Oxford, but make no attempt to fit in anything else in a way that makes sense.
Part 2 examines Tolkien’s incorporation of lost lands like Atlantis and the sunken landmass “Doggerland” in what is now the North Sea.
Lost Lands of Arda
My first entry in this series detailed how Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, when correctly scaled, perfectly matches the landscape of Ice-Age Europe. Tolkien’s placement of mythic locations such as Mirkwood also matches their attested locations in ancient Europe.
In Part 3 I lay out my theory that the legend of Turin Turambar and specifically the site of his grave is based around the minuscule island of Rockall.
Rockall: The Ruin of Beleriand, Hy Brasil, and the Grave of Turin Turambar
"And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth."
In Part 4 I explore the far northern reaches of Tolkien’s legends, and the connection between the Dark Lord Morgoth and the island of Jan Mayen.
Morgoth's Realms
Last time in this series we explored the ruin of Beleriand and the lonely island of Rockall in the Mid-Atlantic. Now, we’ll turn our attention further North, to the icy-wastes of the Arctic.
Now in Part 5 I am going to examine a possible connection between the lost kingdom of Arnor, Nazi Germany, and the last vestiges of Doggerland.
This story begins in the aftermath of WW2.
On the 18th of April 1947, the British Royal Navy detonated 6,700 metric tons of explosives all at once on the North Sea island of Heligoland. This was (allegedly) done to destroy what remained of German military bases that were used there during WW2. At the time it was the largest single non-nuclear explosion ever recorded. It was named “Operation Big Bang”.
If this seems strange and excessive to you, especially considering that the war had ended two years prior, that’s because it is indeed a very strange event, and little talked about.
I have a hunch that J.R.R. Tolkien may have had an interest in the island and in what the Nazis’ were really doing on it.
So far in this series we have seen how the islands of Rockall, Jan Mayen, Iceland, and Faroe all have locations connected with them in Tolkien’s legendarium. We have also examined how central the lost land of Doggerland is to the history of Middle-Earth, specifically as the location of the lost kingdom of Arnor.
It appears that Tolkien wanted to write a legend for all of the notable lost lands and islands in northwestern Europe. Because of what I have found already in this series, I have to conclude that would be very strange indeed if Tolkien ignored Heligoland, as it is a historically important island and also one of the last remnants of Doggerland. My intuition is that he must have included it somewhere.
But which of Tolkien’s legends could be connected with Heligoland?
I thought about this for a while before an obvious answer jumped out at me. Heligoland, in my opinion, must be the location of the watchtower of Amon Sûl, or Weathertop. I’m not sure why this did not occur to me years ago in Part 1 or Part 2 of this series, but upon examining the evidence I think there is a very strong case for this being one of Tolkien’s most intentional connections to a real location in modern Europe, and perhaps his most direct incorporation of the events of WW2 into his legends.
To begin with we should look at the geography. I’ve already shown in earlier entries in this series that Arnor corresponds to Doggerland and the modern North Sea. With this in mind one can also see that Weathertop and Heligoland both fall in the southeast of those regions. Tolkien’s map are not particularly detailed, so any correlation like this is I think probably his intention. I should note right away that I am aware of the discrepancy between the shapes of Heligoland and Weathertop, but I’ll get to that later on.
The function of Weathertop in the history of Arnor also has many similarities to the real history of Heligoland.
Weathertop was primarily used as a lookout and a meeting place, notable for being where the King Elendil stood atop the hill to wait for the hosts of Gil-Galad out of the West. During the civil wars of Arnor all three kingdoms clashed over ownership of the hill as it lay directly where the borders of the three kingdoms met. It is of course also where both Gandalf and Aragorn choose to stop to rest and watch along their journeys in the Fellowship of the Ring. It is the location in Arnor that appears the most often in the legendarium and seems to hold the greatest importance.
Heliogoland is a small island but one that has, like Weathertop, been historically valuable for its strategic location. It has been fought over by the surrounding powers in the North Sea for centuries and during the 19th century it became a major German naval base. Its etymology is connected to the Frisian king Helgi and means something like “Holy Land”. During WW2 naval battles were fought at the island, and the British conducted air raids on it throughout the war, eventually to the extent that the entire population of the island was evacuated. After the war of course came the famous Operation Big Bang.
Heligoland is also notable for being the largest piece of Doggerland left within the North Sea. I think it makes perfect sense that Tolkien would give this island just as much important in pre-history as it had in his own time. It would also be in keeping with a recurring pattern in his myths that certain important locations remain above the waves when a land is lost to the sea.
This is already enough to make a strong case for an intentional connection, but I think we can go further.
The connection to Nazi esotericism is where this entry is going to get a bit speculative. My intuition is that the story of the kingdoms of Arnor fighting over Weathertop and specifically over the palantir stored in the tower is inspired by the events of WW2 and has something to do with Nazi occultism and the British army’s massive explosion on the island.
The palantiri are magical relics from Númenor (Atlantis). This sort of esoteric artifact is exactly the kind of thing that Nazi Germany occultists were obsessed with. In Tolkien’s history, the final clash at Weathertop is between King Arveleg and the Witch-King of Angmar, a demonic spirit from the time of Númenor. The Witch-King destroys the tower at Weathertop, but notably he fails to win the palantir which is taken away and hidden.
Now, I do not know of any evidence that there was anything esoteric going on with the Nazi’s on Heligoland. However, Operation Big Bang is a very strange event. Why did the Allies want to destory the island so completely? Was it really just to keep the Germans from using the island as a base again in the future? What was really happening on this “Holy Land”. I think one could view the legend through the lens of the kingdom of Arthedain representing the Allies and the forces of the Witch-King representing the Nazis. The Witch-King’s failure to attain the palantir could be inspired by the Allies victory over Germany and perhaps their foiling of some occult operation that was taking place on Heligoland. This is speculative I know, but I can’t help but wonder if Tolkien also wondered about the truth behind Operation Big Bang. He certainly viewed Nazi occultism as sorcerous.
As an interesting side point, the only building that survived Operation Big Bang was the Heligoland Lighthouse. A lighthouse serves a similar function to a watchtower, and I can’t help but think this may have been in Tolkien’s mind when he created Weathertop.
It is also interesting that Weathertop is the focal point of these ancient civil wars in Tolkien’s myths, because WW2 was also a brother war. A recurring theme I have found with Tolkien is that similar stories will play out at a location throughout the ages I think he may have envisioned Heligoland as a place where the Germanic peoples fight one another when they are divided. The pattern is of an ancient holy hill that is eventually fought over when the people splinter. I wonder if the Frisian King Helgi had any connection to Elendil or a king of Arthedain in Tolkien’s mind.
Some may remark that Weathertop is described as conical in shape, and Heligoland is not. But I would point out that Weathertop is also described as being flat at the top, and Heligoland is a very flat island. Is does not take much imagination to imagine Weathertop as a very large hill in prehistory, that has since mostly crumbled into the North Sea, leaving a remnant that is no longer spherical. I think in light of the other connections I have made, this details is small in comparison.
If I am right in this connection, then with this entry we have connected almost every notable island around Northwestern Europe with a legend in Tolkien’s legendarium. It raises questions about what exactly Tolkien thought about the nature of Heligoland and the Nazi’s interest in it. Perhaps a quest to the island to discover the truth is in order.
I think there is a great case to be made for this indeed! It is also interesting to note, on the connection between the fight for Weathertop and the fight for Heligoland, that the British used to own the island technically, when the British monarchs were still electors of Hanover and until 1890, when they were turned over to Germany, only for the British to seemingly regret that decision 20 or so years later, with the outbreak of WWI. It is an interesting connection that only strengthens your parallel I feel.
What a wonderful essay. Thank you.