J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote: “I wisely started with a map, and made the story fit.” The Maps of Middle-earth presents four of Tolkien’s iconic maps, reimagined and newly updated for this edition by acclaimed Tolkien artist, John Howe, and richly decorated with scenes from the books:
Middle-earth, a breath-taking panorama of all the locations from Hobbiton to Mordor that feature in The Lord of the Rings;
Wilderland, a charming evocation of the realm to which Bilbo journeyed ‘there and back again’ in The Hobbit;
Beleriand, a lyrical portrayal of the ancient landscape of the First Age, where the great tales of The Silmarillion took place;
Númenor, an exclusive reproduction of the legendary island described in Unfinished Tales, which was sunk beneath the waves in the Second Age of Middle-earth.
The maps are accompanied by an authoritative text written by Brian Sibley, which tells the stories behind The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, and gives accounts of how the original maps came into being. Filled with illustrations by John Howe, many of which appear here for the first time, the book also features gazetteers of all the names on each of the four maps. They provide revealing insights into the significant role each place-name played in the stories, including those of Númenor, the island-kingdom once inhabited by Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anárion, ancestors of Aragorn, that was sunk in a cataclysmic storm following the treacherous deeds of Sauron, as told in Of the Rings of Power in The Silmarillion.
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892–1973) was a distinguished academic, though he is best known for writing The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, plus other stories and essays. His books have been translated into over sixty languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide.
Brian Sibley is the author of The Map of Middle-earth, Chicken Run: Hatching the Movie, and The Land of Narnia: Exploring the World of C.S. Lewis. He lives in England.
JOHN HOWE is an illustrator best known for his work based on J. R. R. Tolkien's worlds. Howe and noted Tolkien artist Alan Lee served as chief conceptual designers for both Peter Jackson's
The Lord of the Rings and
Hobbit movie trilogies, and he also re-illustrated the maps of
The Lord of the Rings,
The Hobbit, and
The Silmarillion. In addition to his Tolkien-related work, he has illustrated numerous other fantastic worlds, including Anne McAffrey's Pern, a limited edition of George R.R. Martin's
A Clash of Kings, and numerous cards for the game "Magic: The Gathering." He lives in Switzerland.
