I need to add a couple of things:
1) An excellent article regarding the geography of Arda (made by the same Discord user who uploaded the 1948 map):
https://www.tolkiendil.com/essais/ge..._geographiques (mind you, it's in French - but Google Translate will suffice)
2) The letter that Tolkien wrote in 1967 (
Letter 294):
Quote:
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If Hobbiton and Rivendell are taken (as intended) to be at about the latitude of Oxford, then Minas Tirith, 600 miles south, is at about the latitude of Florence. The Mouths of Anduin and the ancient city of Pelargir are at about the latitude of ancient Troy.
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3) This article on the Tolkien Society webpage:
https://www.tolkiensociety.org/2015/...-of-the-rings/
It concerns Tolkien's annotations to Pauline Baynes' map of the North-west of Middle-earth (published in 1970), including a fascinating quote:
Quote:
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Minas Tirith is about the latitude of Ravenna (that is 900 miles east of Hobbiton or near Belgrade). Bottom of the map (1450 miles) is about the latitude of Jerusalem. Umbar the city of Corsairs – about that of Cyprus.
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