[dogscoff]

Yeah, Tolkien's intention with the LOTR (+ Silmarillion etc) was to create some kind of fake mythology for Britain, since much of our Celtic heritage was lost with the various invasion of the first millenium. He drew on all kinds of other mythologies and blended them, just as real mythtologies borrowed ideas from one another. So it makes sense that his geography would have some kind of parallel with out own.

There's also been a lot of debate about where the "real" Middle Earth is, since Tolkien lived in quite a few different places in his life. There is a certain rivalry for the crown of "real middle earth" between Dorset (Where I live, and where Tolkien spent a lot of his life- there's a pub down the hill from me called the Tapp and Hobbit) and somewhere up in the Midlands. I also think he may have spent some time in NZ (I could be wrong about this) and that is one of the reason PJ shot the film there- apart from the varied spectaular scenry, of course.