E-Book Overview
The publishing world is full of Tolkien spinoff products, some trivial and ephemeral--but some, like this thoroughly researched atlas, are genuinely classy. Karen Wynn Fonstad is a qualified geographer and cartographer who first mapped Middle-Earth in 1981 and has since added much new detail based on those endless volumes of drafts, abandoned passages, alternative versions, and laundry lists published since Tolkien's death. She fills in gaps and details in the familiar Third Age maps from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, goes back in time to map Middle-Earth's First and Second Ages, and reconstructs the route and timescale of every important journey in the stories. There are local maps of key places like the Mines of Moria, Lothlorien, Isengard, Minas Tirth, the Tower of Cirith Ungol, and the volcanic Mount Doom. War maps cover the saga's notable battles, up to the hopeless last stand at Mordor gate and the tiny later skirmish known in Shire records as the Battle of Bywater. Thematic maps show Middle-Earth's distribution of climate, geological features, vegetation, people, and (most importantly to Tolkien) languages.... It's all done tremendously seriously and would make a fine gift for enthusiastic Tolkien fans, except that they'll have bought it already. --David Langford, Amazon.co.uk
E-Book Content
The Atlas of Middle-earth KAREN WYNN FONSTAD Revised Edition HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON To Todd, Mark, and Kristi — (still pieless) — who have shared ten years of trials and triumphs from Middle-earth, and to Kit Keefe, my cheery and courageous friend who first lent me The Lord of the Rings Also by Karen Wynn Fonstad The The The The Atlas of Pern Atlas of the Land Atlas of the Dragonlance™ World Forgotten Realms® Atlas The compass rose on the cover was modified from the heraldic device of Eärendil the Mariner, a design by J. R. R. Tolkien. © George Alien & Unwin (Publishers) Ltd., 1973, 1977, 1979 The runes shown were those used on all maps in Middleearth, regardless of language. Note that the chief compass point was west, toward Valinor. númen (west) formen (north) hyarmen (south) rómen (east) Copyright © 1991 by Karen Wynn Fonstad ALL RIGHTS RESERVED For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2 Park Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02108. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Fonstad, Karen Wynn. The atlas of Middle-earth / Karen Wynn Fonstad. — Rev. ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-395-53516-6 1. Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), 1892-1973 — Settings. 2. Middle Earth (Imaginary place) — Maps. I. Title. G3122.M5F6 1991 (G&M) 823'.912—dc20 91-25932 CIP MAP Printed in the United States of America CRW 10 9 8 7 6 Contents Foreword vii Introduction ix THE FIRST AGE Introduction 1 Valinor 6 Beleriand and the Lands to the North 9 The Great March 16 The Flight of the Noldor 18 Realms — Before the Great Defeat 19 Menegroth, the Thousand Caves 20 Nargothrond 21 Gondolin 22 Thangorodrim and Angband 22 Coming of Men 24 Travels of Beren and Lúthien 25 Travels of Turin and Nienor 26 The Battles of Beleriand 28 The First Battle 28 The Second Battle 28 The Third Battle 30 The Fourth Battle 30 The Fifth Battle 32 The Great Battle 32 THE SECOND AGE Introduction 37 Refugee Relocation 40 Advent of the Dark Years 42 Númenor 43 Voyages of the Númenóreans 44 The Realms in Exile 46 The Last Alliance 47 THE THIRD AGE Introduction 51 Kingdoms of the Dúnedain (1050) 54 Battles (1200-1634) 56 The Great Plague (1636-37) 56 Wainriders and Angmar (1851-1975) 58 Deepening Difficulties (2000-2940) 60 Migrations of Hobbits 64 Migrations of Dwarves 65