This is a passably incredible discovery : a map of Middle Earth featuring annotations from its creator , J.R.R. Tolkien was recently chance on in a written matter of a book possess by illustrator Pauline Baynes , which sheds some light on some of the inspiration behind it .
Baynes had been tasked with illustrations by newspaper publisher Allen & Unwin in 1970 , and worked with Tolkien to her own single-valued function of Middle Earth . Tolkien suggested various edits regarding the locations of city and plant and fauna of the country .
The notes also suggest that there were some real - world inspiration for the world : Hobbiton was to be place close to in the same place as Oxford , while other real citiesstood in for other location :
The novelist also uses Belgrade , Cyprus , and Jerusalem as other reference points , and according to Blackwell ’s suggests that “ the city of Ravenna is the inspiration behind Minas Tirith – a key location in the third book of the Lord of The Rings trilogy ” .
Tolkien ’s epic poem has often been described as a kind of alternative mythology for the British Isles , and it stand to reason that there were some real - universe parallels which he drew in from his surround . If anything , they serve well as useful denotation points .
[ The Guardian ]
mental image Credit : Blackwell ’s Rare Books
FantasyLord of the RingsmapsThe Hobbit
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