A new 1948 map of Arda by Tolkien!

[Huinesoron]

I don't have the book and haven't found a copy of the map yet, but a few more details: from the link address, it looks like this is from Carl F. Hostetter's article "Editing the Tolkien Manuscript". This review of the book says that article contains "Hostetter's clear and concise description of the process of deciphering the four manuscript examples that he provides (complete with reproductions of the originals)", while this appendix to the article from Elvish.org mentions "Text 2 — c. 1948 broad-nib pen over hard pencil", which matches your picture. It also includes the "of the" letterform matching the third 'word' on the first ruled line of the picture.

My guess, then, is that the (pen) text is transcribed by Hostetter in the book. It looks like a summary of the creation of Arda - the first part of the main block of ink seems to be "The fashion of the world", and I can see Melkor's name, and "The Valar make a land of [...] of the Great Sea". So the map might just be a sketch of what all that means?

The most interesting thing about the map is that it's clearly Arda - it has the Iron Mountains running across the top - but it's also clearly Earth! I don't remember another Arda map that shows Arabia and India so blatantly. The Africa shape of Harad is in Ambarkanta map V, but that map reduces Arabia & India to a couple of wiggles, and sticks a huge triangular "Australia" off them.

hS

EDIT: I've been puzzling over that broken vertical line running between the eastern end of the Iron Mountains and what's roughly the Red Sea. What is it? It could be a mountain range - Misty or Blue - but it's way too far east for either of them, somewhere near the border with Russia.

Then, separately, I looked at the First LotR Map and noticed how... Turkey-esque the bulk of Gondor is. So I created what I'm calling the "Europe Sucks" version of the Middle-earth : Modern-earth map alignment, and lo and behold: the Misty Mountains are right around the western border of Russia.

What I like about this map is that it uses Tol Falas as Cyprus; it puts the Sea of Rhun in the Caspian Sea; it lines the Misty Mountains up with an actual set of highlands; it implies Anduin is an old course of the Euphrates (birthplace of civilisation); it uses the mountains across Turkey and Iran as the Mountains of Mordor; and it absolutely boots everything west of Poland into the sea. Even raising Beleriand from the sea doesn't bring Britain and France back onto dry land!

hS