Azeroth, Middle Earth, Japan, and Rome. The Architectural Origins of the Original Alliance Capitols

Michelle Skuba Gray

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The creators of World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment, had a daunting

task to create a vast and fantastical world of humans, orcs, and the like. The original

races of the virtual world were humans, gnomes, dwarves, night elves, orcs, trolls,

undead, and tauren. These races, in one form or another, came from our world’s

mythology, or fantasy novels (Krzwinska, 2006, p. 384). The creators of Azeroth and

the conceptual artists, most notably, had to synthesize the works of many to create a

world that would not only please the players, but also leave them in awe.

The original capital cities of the Alliance are Ironforge, for the dwarves and

gnomes, Darnassus, for the night elves, and Stormwind for the humans. The major

cities stand as a result of the molding of classic archetypes by the conceptual artists

and the graphic designers. However, how these archetypes virtualized has had little

attention in serious scholarship.

Blogs and forum posts have spoken about the gameplay pitfalls and

interesting aspects of these towns, but very little of it has systematically covered its

origins beyond connections to other fantasy works. For example, John Trimble

wrote about the shortcomings of dwarven architecture and drew parallels between

the mines of Moria in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and World of Warcraft’s

Ironforge. There are interesting aspects of his assertions that show that the creators

of Ironforge did not think like dwarves who were more practical, but instead

created the place to be horribly dangerous.

Others have written about fantasy architecture such as LochNESS on the

Ulthuan forums. His analysis ties French avant-garde styles to the elven city of

Rivendell in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. His research covers many

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commonalities between elves and the real world’s architecture, but fails to touch on

World of Warcraft or Darnassus.

The aim of this research is to draw analytical comparisons between the main

Alliance capital cities of Azeroth and real and fictional outside sources. The creators

of the virtual world must have drawn on prior knowledge and other sources to

create cities that were accurate to past depictions of these races’ styles and that

were also mythical and grandiose. The World of Warcraft appears in many ways to

borrow the natural, detailed, and airy architecture that is described in Tolkien’s

novels.

Darnassus

To understand the elven architecture, their philosophies and lifestyles must

first be examined. The night elves—and all other Tolkien elves for that matter—

place a great deal of importance in nature. The night elves worship Elune, the moon

goddess, and with her find harmony in the forests of Kalimdor. The quest of most

night elves is to protect nature, and this is quickly understood as a new night elf in

Teldrassil. Most of the beginning quests have to do with protecting and

understanding nature such as “The Balance of Nature” quests. After doing the

bidding of an evil foe, who requested the deaths of creatures in the area, one must

kill him to be redeemed in the eyes of the night elves.

Now, with a simple understanding of their beliefs and lore, Darnassus begins

to take shape as not an uncalculated city of ascetic pleasantries, but a place of

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substance and history. As a new night elf, entering the city shows a place with green

and purple grass, and earth toned buildings.

The Entrance to Darnassus from Teldrassil Forest

Figure 1. Darnassus entrance with strong Japanese influences in the archway

and a very nature centered tone. The buildings of Darnassus are open and integrated with nature. Some shops

are even part of trees, as the bank is at the center of the town. This strong

connection with nature is also seen in the elves of Lothlorien in Tolkien’s Middle

Earth. The wood elves of Lorien were described as having their houses in the trees

with elegant and beautiful details (Tolkien 345). They have spiral stairs up the trees,

which can also be seen in the starting area of the elves.

The Tolkien inspired elves share a lot in common from their strong roots in

nature to their architecture. Blizzard takes advantage of these connections and

formed a new race, the night elves, that are a synthesis of these two worlds. The

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night elves are a clear example of Tolkien elves and take some of their architectural

features such as living in the trees with staircases that wrap around the outside of

the trunk—like those elves that lived in Lothlorien, see figures 2 and 3.

Tree Houses of Lothlorien and Darnassus.

Figures 2 & 3. Note the external spiral ramps that ascend these tree homes in both locations. Since the Fellowship of the Ring came before the World of Warcraft it can be stated that this is the original inspiration for these architectural features (umdlotrfan).

There are key elements in the city that point towards Japanese architecture

as another essential inspiration for the layout, styling, and tone of the city. Locher,

author of Traditional Japanese Architecture stated, “nature is at the heart of

traditional life in Japan, just as it is the foundation for the architectural forms and

construction materials of traditional Japanese buildings” (47). These common ties in

backgrounds of both cultures allows for a smooth transference of Japanese

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architecture to the night elves. Upon entering Daranassus it is difficult to overlook

the massive flowering trees with pink leaves and petals. They seem to resemble

massive cherry blossom trees that go hand-in-hand with Japanese gardening and

their affinity for nature.

The Cherry Blossom Trees of Darnassus and Japan

Figure 4 & 5. Darnassus bank in the tree. Note the pink tones of the tree and overall purple/pink hue of the city itself. For right image note the same pink blossons and water features (Proteon). Among the classically Japanese features of Darnassus are the archways. The

Torii arches—Torii meaning, “where the birds are” in Japanese—are incredibly

similar in both worlds. Though in Darnassus they are earth toned and in Japan they

are more classically red and green. These arches usually denote the entrance of a

sacred place; however, in Darnassus the arches are somewhat over used. As one

arrives to Teldrassil via the ships there are two arches on the dock, which could be

used to symbolize the entrance to their sacred city.

The focus on water elements and bridges are important in Japanese gardens

and styling and the designers of Darnassus incorporated that into the layout of the

city. Much of the city is surrounded by water, which is similar to Rivendell with the

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massive water features in the valley. The actual features are very different, but the

incorporation of the water plays off of the elven love of nature.

The Arches of Darnassus and Japan

Figures 6, 7, & 8. Figure 6 shows the over use of the arches as the arch leads to no where in particular. Figure 7 shows the arches upon entering Darnssus from the boat from Stormwind. Figure 8 shows a Torii archway in Japan. Note the similarities in the shaping of all three archways (G).

The true buildings of Darnassus are also mirror images of those found in

early Japan. The architecture of Japanese buildings, as described by Cram is “in one

respect [it is] unique: it is a style developed from the exigencies of wooden

construction, and here it stands alone as the most perfect mode in wood the world

as known,” (24). What better inspiration for another race that has been so closely

bound to nature throughout its existence? The true standing buildings of Darnassus

are made of all wood and have the same roofing styles as Japanese buildings. Locher

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wrote saying “In a traditional Japanese building, the roof is the most visually

dominant architectural element. Often tall and large with long over-hanging eaves

that have a gentle upward curve,” (93). This almost exactly describes the roofs of the

buildings found in Darnassus.

The Buildings of Darnassus.

Figure 9. Note the roofing and strong presence of wood throughout the two visible buildings.

The city of Darnassus uses features of Tolkien elf lore and its connection with

Japanese architecture to create a well-formatted and well-developed capital. The

city transcends its needs and has become a well-blended mixture of nature-focused

cultures, which works perfectly for the night elves.

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Stormwind

The entire city of Stormwind uses white stone for the buildings and their

entrance is no exception. The white stone strongly resembles Gondor a city of “grey

weathered stone” from Middle Earth (Tolkien 751). The cities of Gondor share a

strong connection to medieval architecture of the Roman Empire (Ford, 53).

Stormwind creates a connection between both of these two. This synthesis is quite

successful in making an overall impression on the player as a strong city of men. The

white stone signifies purity and gives off an air of royalty and distinction.

Stormwind’s entrance is regal and fitting for a city of men. Aptly named the Valley of

Heroes, massive statues adorn the walkway into the capital of the original Alliance

races, save the gnomes.

The Entrance to Stormwind

Figure 10. The entrance to Stormwind, note the white stone buildings and classic castle style features of the watchtowers.

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Human lore is quite similar to human history. The humans are an ignorant

race who are not always bent on destruction, but happen to run across it often. They

have developed themselves and are quite a dominant race, much like the men of

Middle Earth during the end of the third age. The entrance resembles that of the

entrance to Gondor, “The Great Gate of Men of Gondor” that was “tall and fair and

shapely” (735). Their expansive city mirrors their success and pride.

Stormwind looks similar to Osgiliath of Gondor before it turns to ruins as

seen in Peter Jackson’s 2003 movie adaptation of The Return of the King. The

location of both cities are next to large bodies of water, which may seem logical as

important feature for trade and swift movement in and out of the city in the case of

an emergency. Stormwind was most likely not fashioned exactly after Osgiliath or

any precise town, but after the same styling that has been established by movies like

The Lord of the Rings, and after real life architecture. The buildings have the white

stone appearance as discussed earlier, and resemble very strongly the old

architecture of men on earth in the past.

Osgiliath in The Return of the King.

Figure 11. Osgiliath has the same classic medieval look about it with tall white stone buildings and the regal look of human’s archetypal styling (Jackson).

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The medieval styles of men, such as the “white mantle of churches associated

with the reformed monastic life,” as described by the History of Architecture

website by Columbia University, are seen in Stormwind. This styling of buildings

symbolizes the might of men as they emerged from the dark ages and into successful

times of growth and prosperity. Seen in the cathedral of Cathedral Square, are the

classic features of a medieval church. The pointed arêtes of the exterior, the tall and

thin windows, and massive scale of the building relative to its surroundings are

clear examples of Gothic Romanesque cathedrals.

The Cathedral of Cathedral Square, in Stormwind.

Figure 12. Note the long, tall, exaggerated features of the building that is an archetypal modeling of the medieval catherdals of Europe during the 13th century.

Though the building is significantly less detailed than its medieval

counterparts, this can mostly be attributed to the coding and desire to have a

smoothly running world. With too much detail in a game, it can slow down the rate

at which players interact with the environment, so in an attempt to keep the game

running well, detail in the cathedral most likely was sacrificed. This can be seen in

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many video game trailers of the likes of Call of Duty and Halo, where the trailer and

the clips that are not part of active game play are significantly more detailed than

the actual game. William W. Clark suggested in his book that around the Gothic era

of the medieval age, artists and architects became very interested in the overall

interior and exterior size of the cathedrals they were building (67). When looking at

the interior of the cathedral in Stormwind, this is evident as it is massive, and almost

disproportionately so, with respect to the exterior.

The Regensburg Cathedral

Figure 13. Erected in the medieval ages, this cathedral exemplifies many of the same details as the Stormwind cathedral, and then some. The tall towers are seem in both as well as the long and thin windows (Thackerson).

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In works done by artists attempting to recreate the world of Middle Earth,

their recreations of the cities of men were shockingly similar to Stormwind. The

round watch towers with pointed tops and blue roofs with the classic white stone

look emerging again all point towards the continuing theme of the city of Stormwind

being built off an archetypal world of men.

The layout of Stormwind is organized by the splitting of sections by The

Canals that run through the city. Each section of the city has a name that doesn’t

relate much to the others. The entrance and layout of Stormwind Keep—a section of

Stormwind where the ruler resides—has a very dominant castle tone. There is a

regal entrance with large steps and a broad opening with a hall that leads to the

main room of the building. As in The Return of the King the hall is “lit by deep

windows in the wide aisles at either side, beyond the rows of tall pillars that upheld

the roof” (737). The entrance is adorned with the images of the Alliance and

Stormwind (the blue background and gold head of a lion). This strongly resembles

the entrance to the hall atop Minas Tirith.

The Entrance to Minas Tirith’s Hall

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Figure 14. The Halls of both Stormwind Keep and Minas Tirith have grand architecture features of a rounded door entrance and large steps that come up to the doors (Jackson). Stormwind is a synthesis of medieval architecture and Tolkien styling. The

formatting of the city is successful as it draws on many key features that are

classically human as well as awe inspiring. The white stone is key in both

architecture types and is well used inside of the city. Krzwinska suggests a fantasy

origin for aspects of the game, and Stormwind is no exception.

Ironforge

Ironforge was certainly derived from the previously established lore and

“ficto-historical background” (as Krzwinska called it) that shaped dwarves into

miners (387). Dwarves are known as classic miners who have an obsession with

gold and ore of value. Their ignorance and lust is seen in The Fellowship of the Ring

as their excessive deep digging led them to awake the Balrog of Morgoth, a terrifying

demon, in the mines of Moria. The entrance to the capital city, Ironforge, is broad

and excessive, showing off the wealth and success of the dwarves and their love of

magnificence. There are finer details noticeable in figure 16 of the work done on the

entrance to give a rich, thickness to the first impression of the city.

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The View of the Entrance and the Close Up View

Figures 15 & 16. The left image is the view of Ironforge from Dun Morogh and the image on the right is the view after entering through the gate.

The dwarven statue shows the might of the dwarves and their slight

delusions of grandeur. Though the lore of dwarves shows that they have a passion

for mining, it also shows a lot of ignorance and obsession with gold, as with those

dwarves in The Hobbit, who horded their treasure to such an extent that the dragon

Smaug saw fit to steal all of their riches.

Ironforge seems to lack any roots in architecture from the real world.

Dwarves have been miners since their inception in Germanic mythology. This idea is

played off of as the city of Ironforge seems to in-fact be one large forge. The outer

ring of the city has massive halls with great detailing in the entranceways and lots of

emphasis on gold and precious metals. It could be said that this city is made to

resemble the Mines of Moria before they came to be ruins and were over run by the

orcs and goblins of Middle Earth. Tolkien described Moria as, “LOTR quote,” (page).

The coloring of the area upon entering is red and much like iron. Both mines find

their entrances on the mountainside and have huge open spaces in the actual

structures that make the accomplishments of the dwarves seem massive as they

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hollowed out this whole area and added so much detail into their pillars and

archways.

The Mines of Moria and Ironforge.

Figures 17 & 18. Both underground locations have tall halls and fine details (The Thain’s Book). The actual forge center of Ironforge, The Great Forge, stands out as

something quite unique. There are forges of the like in Erebor of Middle Earth, but

not on such a large scale. The massive lava flowing from the ceiling seems a

hazardous feature. On a whole, the city of Ironforge plays off of novels and Germanic

mythology of archetypal settings. They are classically found underground, are proud

of their mining abilities and live in the constant reminder of how successful they

seem themselves.

There are no slums or muddy, filthy dirty towns of men in Azeroth, and with

great reason. The world was created to be fantastical and full of wonderment and

everything classically amazing about the original Alliance races. Each city represents

an archetypal architecture styling of each race.

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The elves are in touch with nature, and have been since their revamp by

Tolkien. So, the architecture of their main city should be an extension of this belief.

To borrow ideas from another culture that has the same beliefs and affinity for

nature seems logical and allowed for a template for the buildings of Darnassus.

Much of the city is based off of Japanese architecture and as Locher stated, it has a

strong emphasis on nature (47).

The men have a city that strongly resembles Romanesque and Gothic

architecture of the 12th and 13th centuries. These architectural styles were near the

peak of grandiose over-the-top buildings in the history of men and have been used

in movies and novels and other video games depicting fantasy worlds because they

are so overwhelming and detailed.

Ironforge was difficult to analyze and find the origins of its architectural

features because most of them are not found in the real world. The city is based off

of the mythology and characteristics of dwarves that have been used in most novels

and movies since they were brought into modern fantasy.

Krzwinska suggested that there are many origins for the underpinnings of

the virtual world and this research agrees with her statement somewhat. The

architecture has come from two areas: the real world and fantasy worlds. The towns

are accumulations of common trends for each race. These trends stem from classic

fantasy novels such as J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings for all three of the

capital cities.

There are many other examples of where architecture in the real world or

other virtual worlds matches up with those found in Azeroth. However, my

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knowledge of these fantasy worlds is not as extensive as it could be and I am limited

by my own experiences with these other worlds. There are so many other details in

each of the three cities, but to go in-depth into each part would result in a fifty plus

page paper. For the purpose of this paper, focusing on only a few details of each has

helped keep it short and succinct. There are also possible issues with this research

as it is a personal interpretation of the cities features and how they are common

with other sources.

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Works Cited

Clark, William W. Medieval Cathedrals. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2006. Print.

Cram, Ralph Adams. Impressions of Japanese Architecture. Tokyo: Tuttle, 2010. Print.

Ford, Judy Ann. "The White City: The Lord of the Rings as an Early Medieval Myth of

the Restoration of the Roman Empire." Tolkien Studies 2.1 (2005): 53-73.

Print.

Krzwinska, Tanya. "Blood Scythes, Festivals, Quests, and Backstories." Games and

Culture 1.4 (2006): 383-96

Locher, Mira. Traditional Japanese Architecture: An Exploration of Elements and

Forms. Tokyo: Tuttle, 2010. Print.

LochNESS. "Ulthuan | On Elven Architecture." Ulthuan | On Elven Architecture. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 27 May 2013.

"Medieval Architecture | Real Virtual | Columbia University in the City of New

York."Real Virtual: Representing Architectural Time and Space. N.p., n.d. Web.

27 May 2013.

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the

Rings. Boston: BMariner /Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. Print.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Return of the King: The Lord of the Rings Part Three. Boston:

BMariner/ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. Print.

Trimble, John. "The Shortcomings of Dwarven Architecture." JohnTrimble.com. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 23 May 2013.