The Atlas of Middle-earth

by K.W. Fonstad

Hardcover, 1983

Status

Available

Call number

823.912

Collection

Publication

Houghton Mifflin (Trade) (1983), Hardcover

Description

Find your way through every part of Tolkien's great creation from Middle-Earth to the undying lands of the west. Completely revised, Karen Wynn Fonstad's The Atlas of Middle-Earth is an indispensable volume that will enchant all Tolkien fans. Here is the essential guide to the geography of Middle-Earth from its founding in the Elder Days through the Third Age, re-creating the journeys of Bilbo, Frodo, and the Fellowship of the Ring. Authentic and updated -- nearly one third of the maps are new with a fully revised text -- it illuminates the enchanted world created in The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings. Hundreds of two-color maps and diagrams survey the journeys day by day -- battles, castles, forests, far lands, distinctive landforms, climate, vegetation, and population. - Back cover.… (more)

Media reviews

The hundreds of maps and diagrams Fonstad has created or expanded upon make it much easier to enjoy the narrative in Tolkien's older lays and legends. They make it less of a struggle to keep the geography straight in your head and are a godsend to those of us who have a hard time following the
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action in battle scenes.
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User reviews

LibraryThing member JoClare
An authentic guide to the geography of Middle-earth, with maps, charts and illustrations. Great resource for Tolkien Fans.
LibraryThing member ksmyth
Written by a cartographer, profusely illustrated with incredibly useful maps, there is no more useful resource with which to follow the Lord of the Rings. This book covers the geography of the Silmarillion, and LOTR. Fabulous stuff.
LibraryThing member elenchus
I recall fondly the hardbound edition I owned in High School, but the content remains as satisfying and edifying as I hoped, and I expect the revisions and expansion of material in this revised edition will prove worthwhile. Apparently only some of Christopher Tolkien's History of Middle-earth was
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made available for the revision, and near to deadline, so the decision was made to restrict emendations and new material to existing entries, rather than attempt to add entirely new placenames, battles, or locations. That said, new maps apparently were prepared for some of those existing entries.

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I enjoy reviewing relevant maps with my daughter as we read through LOTR together, though she has not entirely resisted the temptation to read entries we've not yet reached in the story. It would have been great to have at our elbows as we read The Hobbit.
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LibraryThing member medda
Whle the illustrations aren't beautiful, they are accurate and very useful for placing the characters and events as you read. It helps a lot when reading the Silmarillion for the first time. Or the second time.
LibraryThing member Magus_Manders
This is a fantastic reference for fans of Tolkien's works. The scholarship is amazing, and it really helps to visualize the land of Middle-Earth, if the movies don't quite suite you.
LibraryThing member middleearthtraveller
Extremely handy when discussing LOTR geography. Love it.
LibraryThing member nocturnewytche
A must have for any LOTR fan. The maps and information are so detailed. It makes ME seem like a real place! I reference this book so often and cannot imagine any other atlas comparing to this one. A great book to have in a LOTR collection. Very cool!
LibraryThing member spfitzinger
Just what the title says. A collection of maps of most locations mentioned in Tolkien's works (and not just the main trilogy). Even includes day-by-day routes that Frodo and the Fellowship took on their journey(s).
LibraryThing member MrsLee
I love seeing obsession which expresses itself in creativity. That a cartographer could spend the time and effort needed to study Tolkien's works in such detail, and then translate them for us into easy to understand charts, maps and descriptions, pleases me immensely. It confirms my belief that
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Middle-Earth is a real place/dimension which we could step into if only we knew the way. If we had this book along, we could find our way around quite handily, too. Reading about geology and what events had what effect on the land, how and why the people spread out and lived where they did, how the climate was changed and the world, by major conflicts between good and evil, makes the tale come alive. As interesting as the details are regarding Middle-Earth, I was just as interested in the conclusions the author was able to draw from the material she had to work with. That Tolkien thought and wrote in such detail amazes me. This atlas adds new depths of appreciation for his work and Middle-Earth, and I know I will use it as a reference whenever I reread his works.
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LibraryThing member gundulabaehre
One of my favourite reference books, Atlas of Middle-Earth is not only wonderful in and of itself, it is also an informative and enchanting companion and guide to and for J.R.R. Tolkien's substantial oeuvre, a detailed and fascinating array of both general and specific maps, helping readers trace
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and visualise the paths taken by elves, dwarves, men and others during the three ages of Middle Earth. And most importantly (at least for me), Atlas of Middle-Earth also shows how Middle Earth as a whole has changed in shape, size and features since the First Age (The Elder Days). Recommended for anyone who is a fan of Tolkien's Middle Earth, to anyone who would love to be able to visit Tolkien's Middle Earth.
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LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
An adequate set of maps, but not artistically up to the Iron Crown publications in this area. It has the advantage of being the real publisher's version of Middle Earth.
LibraryThing member ex_ottoyuhr
The book feels cartoonish, written for an audience with no more than highly superficial knowledge and a generally television-ish appetites. But I should have seen that coming; Tolkien's is not a particularly strongly cartographic world, although it certainly beats the chivalric romances (which
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didn't even have maps).
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LibraryThing member JKWood
Always at hand whilst re-reading Lord of the Rings for the nth time. (n=?) An essential and most useful companion companion.

Language

Original publication date

1981
1991 (revised edition)

Physical description

208 p.; 11.2 inches

ISBN

0395286654 / 9780395286654

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