In The Lord of the Rings books, the fallen angel Sauron, bent on world domination, is corporealized as a flaming, all-piercing Eye, able to see even the farthest reaches of Middle-Earth from “the cruel pinnacles and iron crown of the topmost tower” of his terrifying dark metal stronghold, Barad-dûr.
Built, on the other hand, with sandy granite dressed in sculpture, Yale’s Harkness Tower doesn’t aesthetically (or, you know, morally) match the description. Yet it does possess a pointed crown and gargantuan heft, as well as a gothic personality appropriate to the genre. Which is why, when I look at it, a little thrill of Lord of the Rings fantasy sometimes fills my mind’s eye.
Perhaps, like me, you’ve imagined Sauron’s searching Eye perched atop the tower. But thanks to the below photos—taken from the highest Harkness perches to which mere mortals can ascend (the shallow balconies beneath the clocks, during a carillon tour), using telephoto power to mimic the Eye’s supernatural zoom (and, okay, to minimize visual interference from the tightly webbed safety grates)—you don’t have to imagine the views.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims.
