The Atlas of Middle-Earth

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 Introduction The First Age. Introduction Valinor Beleriand and the lands of the north The great march The flight of the Noldor Realms : before the great defeat Menegroth, the thousand caves Nargothrond Gondolin Thangorodrim and Angband Coming of men Travels of Beren and Luthien Travels of Turin and Nienor The battles of Beleriand The First Battle The Second Battle The Third Battle The Fourth Battle The Fifth Battle The Great Battle The Second Age. Introduction Refugee relocation Advent of the dark years Numenor Voyages of the Numenoreans The Realms in Exile The last alliance Kingdoms of the Dunedain (1050) Battles (1200-1634) The Great Plague (1636-37) Wainriders and Angmar (1851-1975) Deepening difficulties (2000-2940) Migrations of Hobbits Migrations of Dwarves Regional maps. Introduction The Shire Eriador Wilderland The Misty Mountains The Brown Lands, the Wold, the Downs, and the Emyn Muil The White Mountains Mordor (and adjacent lands) The Hobbit. Introduction Over Hill and Under Hill : Goblin-town Out of the frying pan Beorn's wide wooden halls Attercop, Attercop Thranduil's Caverns Lake-town Lonely Mountain The Battle of Five Armies The Lord of the Rings. Introduction Hobbiton and Bag End Along the Brandywine On the Barrow-downs At the Prancing Pony Weathertop Rivendell Moria Lothlorien Helm's Deep Isengard Edoras Dunharrow Minas Tirith The Morannon Henneth Annun The path to Cirith Ungol The Tower of Cirith Ungol Mount Doom The Battle of the Hornburg (March 3-4, 3019) Battles in the north (March 11-30, 3019) The Battle of the Pelennor Fields (March 15, 3019) The Battle of the Morannon (March 25, 3019) The Battle of Bywater (November 3, 3019) Pathways Bag End to Rivendell Rivendell to Rauros Rauros to Dunharrow Dunharrow to the Morannon The journey of Frodo and Sam The road home The Fourth Age Thematic maps. Introduction Landforms Climate Vegetation Population Languages Appendix : Tables. Mountain chains Inland water bodies Rivers Political decisions Notes 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. ILUVATAR SENT THE VALAR to order the world, preparing Arda for the coming of his Children - Elves and Men.