The Atlas of Middle-earth
Template:Good article Template:Short description Template:Infobox book The Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad is an atlas of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional realm of Middle-earth.<ref name="Beahm 2004">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Fonstad 2006">Template:Cite journal</ref> It was published in 1981, following Tolkien's major works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. It provides many maps at different levels of detail, from whole lands to cities and individual buildings, and of major events like the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. The maps are grouped by period, namely the First, Second, and Third Ages of Middle-earth, with chapters on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. A final chapter looks at geographic themes such as climate, vegetation, population, and languages around Middle-earth.
The atlas has been warmly received by Tolkien scholars, who have called it both authorized and magisterial, providing in particular a comprehensive set of thematic maps of Middle-earth.
Context
Karen Wynn Fonstad earned a master's degree in Geography, specializing in cartography, from the University of Oklahoma, and worked as Director of Cartographic Services at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh before she focused on raising children and writing atlases of fictional worlds.<ref>"About the Author", The Atlas of Pern, New York: Del Rey Books, 1984. Back endpapers.</ref><ref name="Fonstad 2006"/>
Middle-earth is the fictional world created by the philologist and fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien and presented in his bestselling books The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955).<ref name="Bratman 2013">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> Tolkien provided overview maps for each book.<ref name="Campbell 2013">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
Book
Publication history
The Atlas of Middle-earth was first published in hardback by Houghton Mifflin in the United States in 1981. A revised and updated second edition was published in 1991, after Christopher Tolkien had edited and published eight volumes of The History of Middle-earth following his father's death. HarperCollins republished the revised edition in London in 1994, reprinting it in 1999, 2016, and 2017.<ref name="WorldCat">Template:Cite web</ref>
Approach
The Atlas of Middle-earth provides many detailed maps of the lands described in Tolkien's books. The maps are treated as if they are of real landscapes, drawn according to the rules of a real atlas. For each area the history of the land is taken into account, as well as geography on a larger scale; from there maps are drawn.<ref name="Danielson 2018">Template:Cite journal</ref> Fonstad's discussion includes suggestions as to the geology that could explain various formations, and points that are contradictory between multiple accounts. Fonstad explains in the atlas, and in her article about it, how she came to decide on such matters. For example, she compares the western Emyn Muil with its two ridges to the Weald with its pair of inward-facing downs (an anticline).<ref name="Fonstad 2006"/>
City maps and floor plans for important buildings are included. For example, the city of Minas Tirith is mapped on a single page, the main map giving a perspective view of the whole city, while three insets show the nearly-circular plan of the city, a plan of the citadel in the innermost circle, and a labelled cutaway drawing of the White Tower at the centre of the citadel. A page of text describes the city's geography.Template:Sfn Further maps are given of significant events, such as the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in front of Minas Tirith.Template:Sfn
Content
The maps are organised first by period, with chapters on the First, Second, and Third Ages of Middle-earth.Template:Sfn A chapter covers regional maps, and a short chapter focuses on The Hobbit.Template:Sfn A major chapter follows the action in The Lord of the Rings.Template:Sfn The book ends with a chapter of thematic maps, illustrating the landforms, climate, vegetation, population, and languages of Middle-earth.Template:Sfn
Reception
The Tolkien scholar Verlyn Flieger recorded that she persuaded Fonstad to write an account for Tolkien Studies of how she researched and created the maps for her Atlas of Middle-earth. Fonstad, while seriously ill, accordingly prepared her last article, "Writing 'TO' the Map" in her final months. Flieger stated "We mourn her passing and we honor her work".<ref name="Fonstad 2006"/> The editor of Tolkien Studies, David Bratman, said that the atlas provides historical, geological, and battle maps, with a detailed commentary and explanation of how Fonstad approached the mapping task from the available evidence.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Michael Brisbois, also in Tolkien Studies, described the atlas as "authorized",<ref name="Brisbois 2005">Template:Cite journal</ref> while the cartographers Ina Habermann and Nikolaus Kuhn take Fonstad's maps as defining Middle-earth's geography.<ref name="Habermann Kuhn 2011">Template:Cite journal</ref> The Tolkien scholar Luke Shelton called the book the more popular of the two atlases of Middle-earth, the other being Barbara Strachey's more specific Journeys of Frodo. He said the book, while not perfect, "is certainly helpful", not least as it covers the First and Second Ages.<ref name="Shelton 2021">Template:Cite web</ref>
Stentor Danielson, a Tolkien scholar, said that Tolkien did not provide the same "detailed textual history" to contextualise his maps as he did for his writings. Danielson suggests that this has assisted the tendency among Tolkien's fans to treat his maps as "geographical fact".<ref name="Danielson 2018"/> He called Fonstad's atlas "magisterial",<ref name="Danielson 2018"/> and said that like Tolkien, Fonstad worked from the assumption that the maps, like the texts, "are objective facts" which the cartographer must fully reconcile. He gives as an instance the work that she did to make the journey of Thorin's company in The Hobbit consistent with the map, something that Tolkien found himself unable to do. Danielson wrote that in addition, Fonstad created "the most comprehensive set" of thematic maps of Middle-earth, presenting geographic data including political boundaries, climate, population density, and the routes of characters or armies.<ref name="Danielson 2018"/>
See also
References
Sources
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