By-The-Bywater: A Podcast about All Things J.R.R. Tolkien 75. Obsessive (Complimentary).
Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Jared’s choice of topic: The Atlas of Middle-earth, created by Karen Wynn Fonstad. First published in 1981 and then in a revised edition later as more posthumous material was released in The History of Middle-earth series, Fonstad’s detailed and extremely well thought out depiction of Middle-earth across eras became something of a definitive work over time. Combining Fonstad’s own academic and technical training as a cartographer with her own deep appreciation and love of Tolkien’s work, it sought to cover everything from the climates and geology of Middle-earth to closely-read details of buildings, cities and battles in the legendarium as a whole. At the same time, while Christopher Tolkien openly appreciated the work via comments and testimonials, it perhaps acquired the patina of being an official publication when it is more accurate to consider it as a deep example of fanwork instead, with Fonstad unable to work with the since-deceased Tolkien himself and ultimately creating her own elaborations on the texts at many points throughout. Are her textual essays and summaries the core of the book itself, or would it be the actual maps and charts that define it as an atlas to start with? What other examples of in-depth and notable fanwork from its time, whether regarding Tolkien or other creative endeavours, can be compared to what Fonstad created? Does the atlas in the end fully succeed at its stated brief or can it be seen instead as something that reaches for it but doesn’t quite fully succeed? And are the mountains in California in fact actually purple? (As Timothy Olyphant once said to Oriana, yes, yes they are.)
Show Notes.
Jared’s doodle. Salut to a dedicated artist’s spirit indeed.
The Locus Awards nominations list, including Jared for best first novel.
The Hunt for Gollum announcement switching to December 2027. Whatever works for you.
The interview with the Rings of Power actors. They try, they do.
The Atlas of Middle-earth! Easily found many different places.
The NY Times ‘Overlooked No More’ obituary for Fonstad.
The WPR piece about preserving Fonstad’s archive.
Karst! It’s out there.
Mm, yeah, Mensa and IQ and all. Here’s a piece to consider.
Beyond Bree! Still going, good to see it.
Other Fonstad atlases for Pern, The Land, Dragonlance and the Forgotten Realms.
Our episodes on cartography and land.
The Civil War history book Ned mentions was The American Heritage Picture History Of The Civil War by Bruce Catton, published in 1960 and still considered a strong overview of the conflict via illustrations and accompanying notes and essays, as well as the maps in question.
The Klingon Dictionary by Mark Okrand.
Pauline Baynes’s “A Map of Middle-earth.”
Journeys of Frodo by Barbara Strachey
The Maps of Middle-earth by John Howe and Brian Sibley
Our episode on resisting Tolkien and The West Passage.
The manuscripts and maps for the Peter Jackson adaptations were done by Daniel Reeve.
The artist Ned mentions who did 1980s/90s fanzine illustrations in a style suggesting actual manuscripts from Middle-earth was Tom Loback. His map of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad can be seen in four parts at the bottom of this page featuring some of his work.
You’ve likely heard of Timothy Olyphant.
Plan 9! (The group.)
Support By-The-Bywater (and our network) on Patreon, and you can hang out with us in a friendly Discord.