Product Description

The classic guide to the geography and history of Middle-earth by a professional cartographer and Tolkien expert. Find your way through every part of Tolkien's great creation, from Middle-earth to the undying lands of the west! This completely revised edition of Karen Wynn Fonstad's The Atlas of Middle-earth is an indispensable volume that will enchant all Tolkien fans. This is an essential guide to the geography of Middle-earth, from its founding in the Elder Days -- as recounted in The Silmarillion -- to the Third Age, re-creating the journeys of Bilbo, Frodo, and the Fellowship of the Ring. Hundreds of two-colour maps and diagrams survey the journeys, battles, castles, forests, far lands, distinctive landforms, climate, vegetation and population, all illuminating the enchanted world created in The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #126952 in Books
• Published on: 1999-05-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The publishing world is full of Tolkien spin-off 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 time-scale 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: a fine present for enthusiastic Tolkien fans, except that they'll have bought it already. --David Langford

Review
'Absolutely indispensable! in its scope and coverage it is a masterful work, a fitting monument to the talents and imagination of the cartographer and of the man who invented these lands' -- Mythprint

About the Author
Karen Wynn Fonstad is a noted cartographer who has a master's degree in geography from the University of Oklahoma and has taught geography at the University of Wisconsin. She is the author of The Atlas of Pern, The Atlas of the Dragonlance World, The Atlas of the Land and The Forgotten Realms Atlas. She lives in Wisconsin, USA.

Customer Reviews

The best companion to have open while you read the books
This atlas is simply the best working of Middle Earth maps I have ever seen. If you want to follow the course of events in any of the books, or like me, just like browsing the fantastically detailed world that Tolkien created, this is for you. It is a must if you intend reading the Silmarilion, with its multitudinous locations and people, as it simply records the territories of the different Elf clans, and presents extremely detailed plans of every location mentioned. I have also used it for role playing in Middle Earth, as it is phenominally consistent with distances and provides plans of most of the important buildings and cities visited, such as Bag End, Minas Tirith, Beorn's House, Thranduil's Halls, Lothlorien, Cirith Ungol, etc, etc. If it's mentioned in the books, it's in here!

The best Tolkien reference book I have come accross
Absolutly Brilliant! Maps of everywhere you could possibly want. From population distributions and maps of the whole of arda, to a plan of The Prancing Pony. It is fascinating and appears accurate to all the texts including the HOME and yet does not shy away from filling in the gaps. All I can say is if you want a Tolkien Reference book this is the best, along with Robert Foster's Comlete Guide to ME, I have come accross. Buy it!

Invaluable - a brilliant work
This is a superb, high-quality, well-produced resource for all dedicated fans of Middle Earth. The author has dedicated a lot of time to producing these painstakingly detailed, comprehensive maps and drawings of every aspect of the imaginary world, from the creation myth, the coming of elves in the 1st Age to the events of the 3rd Age detailed in Lord of the Rings. Simply a must have item for any true fan - and a snip at the price for the many years of enjoyment that this book will bring to you. The maps are produced in a very serious, professional fashion. No hobbit-type sketches here - if that's what you ant, try early editions of 'Unfinished Tales' - this takes itself very seriously, discussing the such detail as the land shifts, population growth and humidity (!) Just buy it folks! It's fantastic!