Fingolfin’s Findings LXXX: Is this the best map of the Third Age of Middle-earth?

One of the many highlights of doing a weekly, all things Tolkienian newsletter (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is that I tend to stumble across things I might have never seen otherwise.

Now, this map drew my attention.

Understandably, I believe.

Let’s not forget that a number of maps out there have been done by artists, not members of the United States Geological Survey (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), right?

I do not mean to belittle the many beautiful maps out there but please do keep in mind that an artist’s rendition of Middle-earth is often not quite the same as a professional’s version of this fictional place.

So…

Here it is.

You may recognize the link from recent news on a certain cartographer (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Yes, Karen Wynn Fonstad’s work of many, many years will be catalogued and - hopefully! - made available via the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Here is a lovely piece on her son’s efforts to get it into good hands (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Fun Fact I exchanged emails with the librarian responsible for taking care of the Wynn Fonstad collection and they are hoping to make it as easily available to researchers and fans as possible. However, this is an ongoing process and no timeline has been set.

Unfortunately, she could not tell me anything more about the map. The only thing we know it that the creator is “Allan Long, cartographer” and that “Cynthia M. Hutson-Cluck, Geographer and Cartographer for the USGS” gifted it to UWM.

I’ll try to find out more.