About the map of Middle-Earth

[Manwe Sulimo]

The map shows just a small part of the continent of Middle-earth. In parts of Book V there are numerous descriptions of "Easterlings", people who came from beyond Mordor. Haradwaith is referred to as "the land where the stars are strange", meaning the southern hemisphere of Arda. The equator is probably somewhere in South Gondor. Gimli also calls Moria "one of the wonders of the northern world", which again shows the small scale of the map of northwestern Middle-earth.

There are maps of the whole of Arda, in some of the HoMe books (I'm not sure which, but I think IV has the most). While not published (and therefore not canon), they are JRRT's most complete maps that CRRT has found. I think they are the ones that Marroc Underhill was referring to.

EDIT: There's a good map at the Encyclopedia of Arda, under the entry "Arda".

[ June 29, 2003: Message edited by: Manwe Sulimo ]