The earliest map
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File:J.R.R. Tolkien - The earliest map.png
The earliest map
"The earliest map" refers to a map of the world as conceived in the Lost Tales, the earliest version of the legendarium. The map as reproduced in The Book of Lost Tales Part One (page 81) was redrawn by Christopher Tolkien from a sketch by J.R.R. Tolkien, being "no more than a quick scribble, in soft pencil ... in many features difficult or impossible to interpret".[1] Features redrawn by Christopher include (listed roughly from north to south):
- Utumna (later Utumno)
- Ringil
- Mountains of Valinor (marked j)
- domain of Mandos (marked c)
- Hisilome (marked g; Quenya form of Hithlum[2])
- The Iron Mountains (marked f)
- Two Trees (marked b)
- Magic Isles (marked k)
- Kôr (marked d)
- Valmar (marked a)
- Eruman/Arvalin (marked h; later Avathar[2])
- Helkar
The map also features a river (possibly the Sirion) and an unmarked dot next to it, which possibly corresponds to Artanor.[source?]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "III. The Coming of the Valar and the Building of Valinor": "Notes and Commentary", p. 82
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Stentor Danielson, "[Untitled blog post]" dated 21 February 2015, mapsburgh.tumblr.com (accessed 19 March 2017)
