Distant mountain: naming faraway places or events without explaining them in your story makes a world feel real because it invites imagination to extend beyond the story.
Book: The Art of Game Design
What is the right amount of detail for concept art or world-building?
Artists often wrestle with how much detail to add, but J. R. R. Tolkien believed that a world gains depth not from endless detail but from what is left unsaid. He called this the "distant mountain".
Just as real landscapes include peaks on the horizon you may never reach, he filled Middle-earth with names of faraway lands, forgotten battles, and unexplored stories. Readers sensed there was more beyond the map, and their imaginations did the rest.
This method avoids over-explaining. Tolkien himself admitted that if he fully described one "distant mountain," he would need to invent more beyond it. The point was not to finish the world but to leave it open, mysterious, and alive.
Writers and artists can learn from this. You don't have to detail every corner to make a setting feel grander. You can just name faraway places or events without explaining them and invite the audience's imagination to extend beyond the story.