Synopses & Reviews
Karen Wynn Fonstad's
The Atlas of Middle-Earth is an essential volume that will enchant all Tolkien fans. Here is the definitive guide to the geography of Middle-Earth, from its founding in the Elder Days through the Third Age, including the journeys of Bilbo, Frodo, and the Fellowship of the Ring. Authentic and updated nearly one third of the maps are new, and the text is fully revised the atlas 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 of the principal characters day by day including all the battles and key locations of the First, Second, and Third Ages. Plans and descriptions of castles, buildings, and distinctive landforms are given, along with thematic maps describing the climate, vegetation, languages, and population distribution of Middle-earth throughout its history. An extensive appendix and an index help readers correlate the maps with Tolkien's novels.
Review
"Her maps are quite faithful to the spirt of those drawn by the master himself." Booknews
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 (Mythopoeic Society)
About the Author
Karen Wynn Fonstad, the author of
The Atlas of Pern,
The Forgotten Realms Atlas and other guides to fantasy worlds, is a noted cartographer. She lives in Wisconsin.
Christopher Tolkien, who formerly taught at Oxford University, is J.R.R. Tolkien's son and literary executor. The editor of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales as well as the twelve-part series The History of Middle-earth, he lives in France.
J.R.R. Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892. After serving in the First World War, he embarked upon a distinguished career as a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University. He is the renowned creator of Middle-earth and author of the great modern classic, The Hobbit, the prelude to his epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. Other works by J.R.R. Tolkien include The Silmarillion. J.R.R. Tolkien died in 1973 at the age of 81.
Table of 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 Luthien 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
Numenor 43
Voyages of the Numenoreans 44
The Realms in Exile 46
The Last Alliance 47
The Third Age
Introduction 51
Kingdoms of the Dunedain (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
Regional Maps
Introduction 69
The Shire 69
Eriador 72
Wilderland 78
The Misty Mountains 79
The Brown Lands, the Wold, the Downs, and the Emyn Muil 83
The White Mountains 86
Mordor (and Adjacent Lands) 90
The Hobbit
Introduction 97
Over Hill and Under Hill: Goblin-town 102
Out of the Frying Pan 104
Beorn's Wide Wooden Halls 105
Attercop, Attercop 106
Thranduil's Caverns 107
Lake-town 108
Lonely Mountain 110
The Battle of Five Armies 112
The Lord of the Rings
Introduction 117
Hobbiton and Bag End 118
Along the Brandywine 120
On the Barrow-downs 122
At the Prancing Pony 124
Weathertop 126
Rivendell 127
Moria 128
Lothlorien 130
Helm's Deep 132
Isengard 134
Edoras 136
Dunharrow 136
Minas Tirith 138
The Morannon 140
Henneth Annun 141
The Path to Cirith Ungol 143
The Tower of Cirith Ungol 144
Mount Doom 146
The Battle of the Hornburg (March 3-4, 3019) 148
Battles in the North (March 11-30, 3019) 150
The Battle of the Pelennor Fields (March 15, 3019) 151
The Battle of the Morannon (March 25, 3019) 154
The Battle of Bywater (November 3, 3019) 155
Pathways 156
Bag End to Rivendell 162
Rivendell to Lorien 164
Rauros to Dunharrow 166
Dunharrow to the Morannon 168
The Journey of Frodo and Sam 170
The Road Home 174
The Fourth Age 176
Thematic Maps
Introduction 179
Landforms 180
Climate 182
Vegetation 184
Population 186
Languages 188
Appendix 191
Notes 191
Selected References 200
Index of Place Names 202
Index of Selected Place Names for The History of Middle-earth 209