J. R. R. Tolkien - Lord of The Rings Part I

The World Of LOTR - Middle Earth

   No writing about fiction is complete without mentioning Tolkien. Today we are going to explore maps of the Middle-Earth. Everyone heard of how creative Tolkien was, but thinking of a map at such a scale is quite a feat for one man. Indeed, open-minded! Middle-earth is the setting of much of J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. A true "fictional-universe".

•  Middle-earth, or Endor in Quenya or Ennor in Sindarin, and in The Book of Lost Tales known as the Great Lands,  is a large continent of Arda, situated between Aman to the West (across Belegaer), and the Land of the Sun to the East (across the East Sea). It is here that most of the story of Arda takes place, and it was where the Children of Ilúvatar; the Elves and Men, along with the Dwarves, came into being.
  

  

  Hand-drawn Middle Earth Map with hand-written notes by Tolkien

Middle Earth Map made by unknown

•  J.R.R. Tolkien never finalized the geography for the entire world associated with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In The Shaping of Middle-earth, volume IV of The History of Middle-earth, Christopher Tolkien published several remarkable maps, of both the original flat earth and round world, which his father had created in the latter part of the 1930s. Karen Wynn Fonstad drew from these maps to develop detailed, but non-canonical, "whole world maps" reflecting a world consistent with the historical ages depicted in The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings.

Map of The Middle Earth in video game

Middle Earth Map made by unknown

•  Maps prepared by Christopher Tolkien and/or J.R.R. Tolkien for the world encompassing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were published as foldouts or illustrations in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. Early conceptions of the maps provided in The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings were included in several volumes, including "The First Silmarillion Map" in The Shaping of Middle-earth, "The First Map of the Lord of the Rings" in The Treason of Isengard, "The Second Map (West)" and "The Second Map (East)" in the War of the Ring, and "The Second Map of Middle-earth west of the Blue Mountains" (also known as "The Second Silmarillion Map") in The War of the Jewels.

Map published by Iron Crown Enterprises for a Middle Earth Role Playing

War in Middle-earth Map - J.R.R. Tolkien

"A Map of Middle-Earth" by Pauline Baynes, 1970

If you want to interact with a map of The Middle Earth - look here: 

•  http://3rin.gs/#0.9462891,1.8750000,0.0268555,-0.4375000,c,
• http://www.middle-earth-map.com/