Sound and vision

A key appeal of Middle-earth is the superbly evoked sense of places unvisited that nonetheless seem real. Amon Lhaw is one of the most tantalising, because the Fellowship pass it so close by and Frodo actually glimpses it from its twin peak, Amon Hen. But instead of these separate hills of supernatural hearing and sight, Tolkien contemplated creating just one that combined their sensory powers.