Mapping Middle-earth: Questing for “real facts” in a fictitious world

Mapping Middle-earth: Questing for “real facts” in a fictitious world Presenter: Erik Mueller-Harder, independent scholar Though most fantasy authors heed Tolkien’s advice to start “with a map, and [make] the story fit,” Tolkien did not — resulting in (predicted) “confusions and impossibilities.” See the perils of making maps where descriptions are data; characters’ conflicting accounts are primary sources; “impressionistic” contour lines are DEMs; and even the author’s conceptions of his world change over time. Forensic mapmakers must beware the lures of conjecture and imagination. For even with databases, map normalization, and vector-based software (all demonstrated!), making Tolkien’s envisioned map of Middle-earth is a quest for the bold. [No familiarity with Tolkien’s works is assumed.] This presentation was made at the 2018 annual meeting of the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS) in Norfolk. For more information on NACIS, check out http://NACIS.org.