Deep Time: Histories, Ages, and Mythic Backstory

1. What Is “Deep Time” in Fantasy?

When we talk about deep time in fantasy, we mean the very long history of a world: the ancient Ages, half-remembered legends, and world-shaping events that happened thousands of years before the main story.

In this module, we’ll focus on three worlds you’ve already met:

• Middle-earth (J.R.R. Tolkien)
• The Wheel of Time world (Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson)
• Roshar in The Stormlight Archive (Brandon Sanderson)

You will learn to:

• Summarize the broad historical structure (Ages/epochs) in each world.
• Explain how legendary past events shape politics, prophecy, and character choices in the present.
• Compare linear vs. cyclical ideas of history across the three series.

> Visualize it like three timelines drawn on a board:

> - Middle-earth: a long line with labeled Ages, each moving forward.

> - Wheel of Time: a circle (the Wheel) turning, repeating Ages.

> - Roshar: a line broken by spikes of catastrophe (Desolations) and long, foggy gaps of missing memory.

We’ll move step-by-step and keep each piece bite-sized so you can connect them at the end.

2. Middle-earth: Linear Ages and the Long Defeat

Middle-earth uses a linear, one-directional history divided into Ages. The key ones for our purposes:

• Years of the Trees / First Age (mainly in The Silmarillion):
• Elves awaken, great kingdoms rise.
• Wars against Morgoth, the first Dark Lord.
• Ends with a world-shaping war and the drowning of Beleriand.

• Second Age (touched on in The Lord of the Rings and more fully in The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales):
• The rise of Númenor (the great island kingdom of Men).
• Sauron forges the One Ring.
• Númenor falls; survivors found Gondor and Arnor.

• Third Age (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings):
• The Ring is lost, then found.
• Decline of the Elves and the old kingdoms.
• Ends with the War of the Ring and Sauron’s defeat.

• Fourth Age (mostly off-page):
• Time of Men; Elves depart.

Tolkien frames history as a slow decline from a brighter past. Elves call this the “Long Defeat”:

• Every victory against evil is temporary.
• Beauty and power of earlier Ages fade over time.

How it shapes the present:

• Aragorn’s claim to the throne depends on ancient Númenórean bloodlines.
• Gondor’s politics (Stewards vs. King) only make sense if you know the lost kings of the past.
• The One Ring is a Second Age artifact that drives the entire Third Age story.

Think of Middle-earth’s history like an old photograph that’s been copied too many times: each Age is a weaker echo of the last.

3. Example: A Ruin in Middle-earth

Imagine you’re traveling with Aragorn and the hobbits and you arrive at Weathertop (Amon Sûl).

What you see now:

• A lonely, broken watchtower.
• Crumbling stones, overgrown paths.

What it used to be:

• A key fortress of Arnor, a powerful northern kingdom of Men.
• A center of communication and defense.

Deep time effect:

• The broken tower silently tells you: “There was once a great kingdom here, and it fell.”
• The current weakness of the North (few Rangers, scattered villages) is directly caused by this long-ago collapse.

> Application tip: When you see ruins in Middle-earth, ask: “Which Age is this from, and what did its fall change about the world we see now?”

4. The Wheel of Time: Ages Turning in a Cycle

The Wheel of Time world uses a cyclical model of history.

Key idea:

• Time is a Wheel with seven spokes (Ages).
• The Pattern is the fabric of reality, woven from people’s lives.
• Ages repeat: “Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend, then myth, and are long forgotten when that Age comes again.”

Important concepts:

• The Wheel: turns endlessly, weaving and reweaving the same Ages.
• The Pattern: the grand design made of everyone’s choices.
• Taveren (like Rand, Mat, Perrin): people whose choices tug the Pattern strongly.

The Age of Legends (far in the past):

• Extremely advanced civilization (technology + One Power).
• Drilling into the Dark One’s prison causes the Breaking of the World.

The Third Age (where the main story happens):

• Set long after the Breaking.
• Prophecies say the Dragon Reborn must face the Dark One again.
• This confrontation happens in every cycle when this Age returns.

How it shapes the present:

• Prophecies (like the Karaethon Cycle) are based on recurring patterns from previous turnings of the Wheel.
• Characters struggle with the idea that they’re replaying an old story, but with their own choices.
• Nations’ myths about the Age of Legends (often distorted) shape their politics and religion.

Visually, you could draw the Wheel of Time’s history as a circle with seven segments, each labeled as an Age. The Third Age shows up again and again, but details change each time.

5. Thought Exercise: Linear vs. Cyclical History

Use this short reflection to test your understanding.

Task A: Sort the statements

Decide whether each statement fits Middle-earth (M) or The Wheel of Time (W) better. Write your answers on paper or in a notes app.

1. “History is a long decline from a brighter past.”
2. “The same kinds of Ages return again and again.”
3. “Artifacts from past Ages are powerful but unique; once lost, they’re gone forever.”
4. “Prophecies exist because similar events happen every time this Age comes around.”

Suggested answers (check yourself):

• 1 → M
• 2 → W
• 3 → M (think of the One Ring, palantíri, Númenórean swords)
• 4 → W (the Dragon Reborn, Tarmon Gai’don)

Task B: One-sentence summary

Write one sentence for each world:

• Middle-earth: “History in Middle-earth is…”
• Wheel of Time: “History in the Wheel of Time world is…”

Focus on whether time is linear or cyclical, and whether the past is gone or returns in new forms.

6. Roshar: Desolations, Broken Records, and Mythic Forgetting

Roshar (from The Stormlight Archive) mixes cycles of catastrophe with massive gaps in memory.

Key terms:

• Desolations: repeated, world-shaking wars where the Voidbringers (and later, the Fused) return to devastate humanity.
• Heralds: champions of Honor who fought in Desolations and were meant to guard the world.
• The Recreance: a mysterious event when the Knights Radiant abandoned their oaths and left their Shardblades behind.

Historical structure (simplified):

1. Ancient past: Humans arrive on Roshar under complex circumstances involving other worlds and gods (revealed gradually across the series).
2. Cycle of Desolations:

• Heralds lead humanity against the enemy.
• Between Desolations are long, fragile periods of peace.

1. A long gap: The Heralds break, abandoning the Oathpact.
2. The False peace: People forget the true nature of the Desolations.
3. The True Desolation returns: The main books take place as this happens.

What makes Roshar unique:

• The past is intentionally hidden, distorted, or forgotten.
• Ancient events are recorded in spren bonds, Shardblades, and ancient cities more than in clear written history.

How it shapes the present:

• Modern kingdoms like Alethkar base their identity on half-understood “ancient” codes of war and honor.
• Characters like Dalinar reinterpret old visions and texts, changing alliances and wars.
• The return of the Knights Radiant is both a political crisis and a religious shock because it challenges accepted history.

You can picture Roshar’s history as a jagged line:

• Long flat stretches (peace).
• Sudden spikes (Desolations).
• Big blank spaces where no one really knows what happened.

7. Example: Artifacts and Ruins Across the Three Worlds

Artifacts and ruins are where deep time touches the present most clearly.

Middle-earth

• The One Ring: Forged in the Second Age, drives the entire Third Age plot.
• Mines of Moria (Khazad-dûm): Once a rich Dwarven city; now a deadly ruin with a Balrog from the First Age.

Impact:

• Old artifacts bring ancient evil and ancient hope back into the story.
• Characters must respond to promises and curses from the past.

---

The Wheel of Time

• Angreal, sa’angreal, ter’angreal: Artifacts from the Age of Legends that enhance or shape the One Power.
• Shadar Logoth: A ruined city destroyed by its own attempt to fight the Shadow with a different kind of evil.

Impact:

• Nations fight over these items, shaping military power and alliances.
• Ancient mistakes (like Shadar Logoth) create new threats in the Third Age.

---

Roshar

• Shardblades and Shardplate: Left behind after the Recreance; seen as holy weapons.
• Urithiru: A legendary city that becomes a central base once rediscovered.

Impact:

• Who controls Shards determines political dominance.
• Rediscovering old cities and magic forces characters to rethink history and religion.

> Application tip: When you encounter an artifact or ruin in any of these worlds, ask:

> 1. Which Age or past event is this from?

> 2. How does it change power, belief, or choices in the present?

8. Quick Check: Matching World and Concept

Test your ability to connect each world with its deep-time pattern.

9. Compare: Cyclical vs. Linear – Impact on Characters

Now connect historical structure to character motivations.

Task A: Fill in the table (mentally or on paper)

| World | History Type | One way this shapes a main character |

|-----------------|-------------|---------------------------------------|

| Middle-earth | ? | ? |

| Wheel of Time | ? | ? |

| Roshar | ? | ? |

Possible answers (check yourself):

• Middle-earth: Linear decline.
• Frodo and Sam feel they are part of a long, sad struggle where victory is never permanent. Their courage is about doing the right thing even if evil always returns in new forms.
• Wheel of Time: Cyclical.
• Rand al’Thor feels trapped by prophecy and past Dragons. He wrestles with the fear that he’s just repeating someone else’s fate, not choosing his own.
• Roshar: Cycles of Desolations + broken memory.
• Dalinar must rebuild his understanding of the past (through visions and research) to make decisions about war and peace. His choices depend on correcting false history.

Task B: Reflection (2–3 sentences)

In your own words, answer:

> Which kind of history—linear decline, cyclical repetition, or broken/forgotten cycles—do you find most dramatic, and why?

Use at least one example from any of the three worlds.

10. Review Key Terms

Flip the cards (mentally) to review the most important concepts before you wrap up.

11. Wrap-Up: From Mythic Past to Present Conflict

To finish, connect everything back to the learning goals.

You should now be able to:

1. Summarize broad historical structures

• Middle-earth: Mostly linear Ages (First–Fourth), with a theme of decline and the Long Defeat.
• Wheel of Time: Cyclical Ages woven by the Wheel, with repeating but not identical patterns.
• Roshar: Cycles of Desolations + major gaps in memory, where forgotten truths are as dangerous as enemies.

1. Explain how mythic past events shape the present

• Ancient wars, prophecies, and artifacts drive current politics, religion, and character choices.
• Ruins and relics are not just scenery; they are proof that the past is still active in the story.

1. Compare cyclical vs. linear conceptions of history

• Linear (Middle-earth): Past is gone but still influential, with a sense of loss.
• Cyclical (Wheel of Time): Past returns in new forms, creating tension between fate and free will.
• Fragmented cycles (Roshar): Past is partly erased or lied about, so the struggle is also about finding the truth.

If you have time, extend your learning by:

• Sketching three timelines (line, circle, jagged line) for each world.
• Picking one artifact (Ring, ter’angreal, Shardblade) and writing a short paragraph on how it connects its world’s deep time to its current conflicts.