 Dust wrapper, first edition | |
| Author | Karen Wynn Fonstad |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Karen Wynn Fonstad |
| Cover artist | Alan Lee (Second edition) |
| Subject | Middle-earth |
| Genre | Atlas |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
Publication date | 1981 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| Pages | 190 (210 with notes) |
| ISBN | 0-395-53516-6 |
| OCLC | 24142309 |
| 823/.912 20 | |
| LC Class | G3122.M5 F6 1991 |
The Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad is an atlas of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional realm of Middle-earth.[1][2] 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.
- ^ Beahm, George (2004). The Essential J. R. R. Tolkien Sourcebook. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-56414-702-8.
- ^ Fonstad, Karen Wynn (with prefatory note by Verlyn Flieger) (2006). "Writing "TO" the Map". Tolkien Studies. 3 (1): 133–136. doi:10.1353/tks.2006.0018. ISSN 1547-3163. S2CID 170599010.