[vacri]

I only really had a problem with the convenient 'box' of mountains around Mordor.

Well, that and the fact that everything was so far apart that the main trilogy spent more pages talking about walking than talking about events :D

[jessaustin]

They didn't have automobiles, you know. b^) As I understand it, one of Tolkien's primary concerns was to resist the easy shortcuts of modernity, both in transportation and in thought.

[Null-Set]

He also just really liked writing about landscapes.