#after writing this i doubt rohan would anwnser my call for aid

[art-of-a-diffrent-color]

Pink Castles and Lord of the Rings: A Look at the Color of Fantasy Castles From a an Archaeological Perspective

(alternatively titled I Though Way Too Much About This and I Need Sleep)

Because exterior castle walls faces the elements of all seasons they had to be weatherproofed with some regularity. Traditionally this would have been done with a lime-based sort of paint which worked well to protect the stone of the building. It also had the fun side effect of being a salmon pink color as seen in the photo of the 17th century Craigievar Castle in Scotland, which underwent restoration in 2007.

As it was not uncommon for castles to be built on high points in the local geography both to bee seen and to have good visibility of the land around them, the pink color had the added benefit of making the castle easier to see. The lime base also allows the castle to breathe more then the modern concrete that many restoration projects use.

Now what does this mean for Tolkiens iconic landscape, gleaming White castles and massive stone wall fortresses?

Anyone who has read The Lord of the Rings trilogy knows that Tolkien was heavily inspired by his native landscape: Ring Forts, Barrows, Passage Tombs, Castles and Bogs all show up in the novels. And anyone who has ever lived in England, Scotland and Ireland can tell you that these features positively litter the landscape. One of the favorite games of my Archaeological Group (which is studying a Castile in Co. Roscommon Ireland) is "Mound or Monument?". Pre Norman invasion, most buildings would have been made from wood and earth, the exception being passage tombs where the dead would have been burried. But even after the Norman's came, purely stone buildings were rare and the construction was both time consuming and costly. Which makes Tolkiens stone castles and fortresses both impressive and a little impractical. I will give Tolkien the credit of simply having his castles such as Minas Tirith being built from the mountain itself instead of having stone brought to the site. One could imagine that Gondor would have exported the scrap stone to build places such as Ithilian and perhaps have sold it to other places as a form of trade. Which is one possible explanation as to how the White Tower was built and funded.

There is a question of the geology of the region. When I mentioned to a friend that I was writing this post, they expressed the idea that perhaps Minas Tirith was carved from marble and that this was possible due to it's close proximity to a volcano. Marble is formed when limestone is exposed to tremendous heat and pressure and it's color is determined by the amount of certain impurities in the mix. Now looking at the geology just a little further away from Gondor at Helm's Deep, we know that there are great Caverns in the mountain. These would either be calcium or limestone based. While it is not nessicary for a mountain to have a consistent geological makeup, it does tend to happen. While I do not know the odds of an entire mountain having consistently colored marble through its entire structure, I do know that the impuritys in the rock would vary which means that there would be portions of the mountain that might be naturally pink or dark grey. As Minas Tirith is called "The White Tower" I therefor find it unlikely that the entire mountain was mad of marble. But then again, this is a fantasy building and the rules of the real world no not need to apply.

But I find it much more likely that Gondor has a limestone base and that the architects of Minas Tirith did the same thing that the Romans did and simply lined the outside of the building with Marble. So it is conceivable that Minas Tirith would be white, and not subject to the pink lime wash that medieval castles used. The marble would need to be protected somehow or constantly maintained as it is not immune to the effects of weather. What color this would have turned the tower, I cannot say. Now this all assumes that there is a little bit of hand waving in regards to geology going on.

This is not to say that Tolkien purposely threw out historical findings. Archaeologists have only recently made this discovery through a combination of chemical analysis and trial and error. I believe that Tolkien did what many great authors have done: write what they want and pull insperation from what they know. He probably was inspired by the great stone building that he could see around him. The painted record of medieval castles show grey stone, and not the pink lime wash. Why? Because many of these castles had been left unattended and without maintenance for hundreds of years. In fact it was quite fashionable for a time to have a delapidated castle on ones property , and many of the stone building were neglected on purpose. None of the pink facade would have been left for painters to capture.

Helm's Deep however would not have been so lucky as to escape being a pink fortress. While not the main living place for the people of Rohan, (meduseld and it's surrounding building being a wonderful example of an absolutely MASSIVE Ring Fort) it is an important location to the kingdom. And a leaky fortresses that is crumbling does not match the description of the stronghold. Because the lime wash would do more then keep weather out, it would also keep water and ice from coming into the mortar of the walls and cracking it apart. Cracked walls are easier to destroy, and we know that Helm's Deep is said to be nigh impenetrable. Well what if, because it is not the primary place of habitation, it has fallen into a bit of neglect? It is true that Helms Deep would be a last resort location, a place where people would evacuate to when they have no other options, basically and emergency bunker by today's standards. Such bunkers are maintained, as they serve little purpose if they are damaged.

So I put forth to you: a Pink Helm's Deep.

(I am in no way an expert, I am still a student, and everything I have written above is speculation with a bit of science thrown in at best. This has been fuled by sleep deprivation and way too many energy drinks and in no way should reflect the archaeology community as a whole)