45 minutes in Middle-Earth

Yesterday I spent forty-five minutes in Middle-Earth, at the Lord of the Rings exhibit in Boston's Museum of Science. (No link -- the Museum of Science guards the exhibit's precious secrets from the prying eyes of agents of Mordor who don't enable Flash.)

Many props and costumes from the movie were on display. Two of the first items I saw were the shards of Narsil and the sword Anduril. The attention to detail was amazing; though it wasn't evident in the movies, the sword was meticulously engraved with runes, and even the scabbard had runes on it.

Armor of many kinds was on display. It gave a strong sense of having been worn; this wasn't just something to take out on parade. As with Tolkien's books, the attention to detail beyond the edge of direct notice contributed to a strong sense of reality in the portrayal of a fantasy world. There were models -- big models. The hobbit slave mill -- which appeared for only a few seconds as a vision in Galadriel's mirror -- was huge. The Isengard must have been twelve feet high.

Costumes for the major characters were on display. Impressive as they were, verisimilitude got in the way of realism; the display costumes were proportioned to the characters, not the actors. I'm sure Elijah Wood couldn't have fit into the hobbit costume on display.

At the Museum of Science, naturally, you can do things as well as just looking at things. There was a photo stage in which two people could get their picture taken with false-perspective furniture, making one look bigger than the other. I got to hold a sword -- not just touching one on a table, but holding it free and upright in my hand.

The Nazgûl exhibit was appropriately creepy. Their swords clearly had seen many years of use and battles, being dull-colored and heavily notched on the edges. The Nazgûl crowns looked corroded and ancient. I'm more sure than ever I wouldn't want to meet them on a dark road.

After the Nazgûl, I came face to face -- or rather, face to foot -- with Sauron. Then I entered a darkened room where the One Ring was displayed, floating in a cylinder of neutrally buoyant fluid as a moving projector cast flaming ring runes on the wall.

The display was definitely about the movies, not the books. This didn't bother me with regard to the props, models and costumes, but some of the textual displays were annoying. The explanatory text stressed the characterization of Aragorn as self-doubting and Elrond as distrustful of humans -- Peter Jackson's characterization, definitely not Tolkien's. An annoyance, but a minor one.

The experience was a wonderful one. I'd have stayed longer if I hadn't had other commitments. Time goes by very quickly when you're with elves.

In two weeks, thousands of science fiction fans will be descending on Boston for Noreascon Four. The Museum of Science will have a busy time of it.