I love love love how his languages and the world’s geography came first, and the story just sort of filled in the gaps with a narrative. Thanks for this! Inspiring me to revisit the maps for my own world building l and get some more detail on them before I keep going in the story!
I am currently reading The Hobbit to my 7 year olds, and they had some questions about what Bilbo could or couldn't see from the Lonely Mountain while he is being described as sitting in the cleft looking out over Mirkwood and seeing the Misty Mountains faintly in the distance and thinking of the Shire beyond them. They thought he should also be able to see Lake Town. So I pulled out both Thoror's map and the big Middle Earth map and showed them what he would have been able to see from that valley on the west side of the mountain. It was not the first time (and won't be the last) that I check back on the maps as I read his work to see what he saw in his mind.
Also, I have the Gondor/Rohan/Mordor map framed in my office.
As a geography teacher, I can affirm that there is a close relationship between maps and imagination. Cartography itself is art, and for a long time, cartographers of other centuries were true artists.
What is a map if not to place on a plane a representation and give spatiality to what we see? Adding imagination can generate many wonderful things, like these maps created by Tolkien. He certainly knew how to bring his work to life through maps.
I am partial to the Mirkwood one, if only because blue is my fave color :D and I love the blue accents in the map! LOL! Same with the 1930 Thror's map!
I love love love how his languages and the world’s geography came first, and the story just sort of filled in the gaps with a narrative. Thanks for this! Inspiring me to revisit the maps for my own world building l and get some more detail on them before I keep going in the story!
I am currently reading The Hobbit to my 7 year olds, and they had some questions about what Bilbo could or couldn't see from the Lonely Mountain while he is being described as sitting in the cleft looking out over Mirkwood and seeing the Misty Mountains faintly in the distance and thinking of the Shire beyond them. They thought he should also be able to see Lake Town. So I pulled out both Thoror's map and the big Middle Earth map and showed them what he would have been able to see from that valley on the west side of the mountain. It was not the first time (and won't be the last) that I check back on the maps as I read his work to see what he saw in his mind.
Also, I have the Gondor/Rohan/Mordor map framed in my office.
As a geography teacher, I can affirm that there is a close relationship between maps and imagination. Cartography itself is art, and for a long time, cartographers of other centuries were true artists.
What is a map if not to place on a plane a representation and give spatiality to what we see? Adding imagination can generate many wonderful things, like these maps created by Tolkien. He certainly knew how to bring his work to life through maps.
This is so interesting. My favorite is The first Silmarillion map. I love how detailed it is and the red it has. ♥️
I am partial to the Mirkwood one, if only because blue is my fave color :D and I love the blue accents in the map! LOL! Same with the 1930 Thror's map!