If you really want to know what Middle-earth is based on, it's my wonder and delight in the earth as it is, particularly the natural earth.

Grey as a mouse,Big as a house,Nose like a snake,I make the earth shake,As I tramp through the grass;Trees crack as I pass.With horns in my mouthI walk in the South,Flapping big ears.Beyond count of yearsI stump round and round,Never lie on the ground,Not even to die.Oliphaunt am I,Biggest of all,Huge, old, and tall.If ever you’d met meYou wouldn’t forget me.If you never do,You won’t think I’m true;But Oliphaunt am I,And I never lie.

Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars.

Et Eärello Endorenna utúlien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn’ Ambar-metta!

I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

No taste of food, no feel of water, no sound of wind, no memory of tree or grass or flower, no image of moon or star are left to me. I am naked in the dark, Sam, and there is no veil between me and the wheel of fire. I begin to see it even with my waking eyes, and all else fades.