A gamer shares images of a famous mountain from Lord of the Rings on Reddit. These look extremely realistic, but they are not from the movies or the real world – they come from Minecraft.
Who made these images? Uploaded by a Reddit user under the name Fornad. Since the screenshots were shared directly on r/Minecraft, one can naturally assume that they were also made in the game. However, if you don’t pay close attention, you might mistake them for real photos at first glance.
This is how many Reddit users wrote in the comments under the post:
- “For a second I thought these were just photos from real life or a realistic 3D game. Then I saw the grass and realized that THIS is Minecraft.” (TheDelftenaar)
- “WAIT THIS IS MINECRAFT” (PlimphTheProtogen)
- “So either you’re incredibly talented or you used a Minecraft filter over real photos. That’s impressive” (Then-Scholar2786)
A small part of a larger project
With a video on YouTube, Fornad proves that this is also not a fake. For the right look, he used the ArdaCraft modpack, the Conquest Reforged mod, and Bliss shaders.
The screenshots shown are just a fraction of what Fornad intends: He aims to depict all of Middle-earth (at least the known part). He has been working on this for over 11 years, he replied to inquiries from TheDelftenaar.
Which mountain is depicted here? This is a recreation of the Misty Mountains. This is the location of numerous events in the canon of Middle-earth. Additionally, many famous places such as Rivendell, Moria, and Isengard lie at the foot or near this mountain.
Here, Sméagol hid with the ring for over 500 years and eventually became Gollum. The Fellowship of the Ring also attempted to pass over the Misty Mountains via Caradhras. When that did not work, they took the path beneath the mountain – and through the ancient dwarf city of Moria.
The mountain also played a role in The Hobbit. The dwarves (and Bilbo) under Thorin passed through the Misty Mountains on their way from the Blue Mountains (with a stop in the Shire) to the Lonely Mountain, where they encountered stone trolls and goblins.
The Misty Mountains are also known to appear in the films of The Lord of the Rings. For the associated scenes, the actors were flown to the filming location by helicopter. Only one refused: One of the companions from The Lord of the Rings was anything but brave on set and had to climb a mountain for hours as a result
