> The Drakensberg in South Africa ... are sometimes cited as an inspiration to Tolkien. Tolkien returned to England with his mother aged 3 and never went back.

> The Drakensberg in South Africa ... are sometimes cited as an inspiration to Tolkien. Tolkien returned to England with his mother aged 3 and never went back. Tolkien himself claimed "to have few memories of South Africa, except for a vivid encounter with a large spider, an experience he put to good use later in his writing. The grave of his father, Arthur Tolkien, is still identifiable in Bloemfontein’s President Brand Cemetery" [0] So probably not a big influence, if any. [0] https://www.southafrica.net/gl/en/travel/article/jrr-tolkien-and-bloemfontein-the-famed-fantasy-author-spent-his-earliest-years-in-free-state-province https://www.southafrica.net/gl/en/travel/article/jrr-tolkien...