Do Middle-earth and Westeros make sense? Climate scientists modelled them to find out

By John Cook, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne
Alex Farnsworth, Senior Research Associate in Meteorology, University of Bristol
Dan Lunt, Professor of Climate Science, University of Bristol
Dann Mitchell, Professor of Climate Science, University of Bristol

When English author J.R.R. Tolkien crafted his fantasy world Middle-earth, he argued storytellers are essentially “sub-creators” – they build fictional realms with internally consistent laws.

For a world to be truly immersive and believable, readers apply what is known as the “principle of minimal departure”. This assumes anything not explicitly magical, such as a planet’s weather or gravity, must adhere to the laws of the real world.

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