Posted: December 27, 1999 at 21:28:23: by Michael Martinez
: >>>There is a book that compares Middle-earth to our world; I
: got it for Christmas as a matter of fact. The maps are not
: accurate compared to those in the other books you are familiar
: with, but that is because they are very large scale and show
: all the lands east of Rhun and south of Harad and of the
: Undying Lands. [snip] Well, it's also because it's a David Day book. I'm sure the artwork is superb, but Day is possibly the worst source of information on Tolkien's world one could find. Take whatever he says (or draws) with a lot of salt. The identification between Middle-earth and Earth is conceptual, but intended to be real. Arnor and Gondor would indeed comprise western Europe, but Tolkien never intended the map to have any real similarity to the physical record of our world. He later expressed regret that he did not try to bring the map into closer relation with Europe's shape.
------------------
Xenite.Org: Science Fiction and Fantasy
|
