Loved this. It helps to be able to visualize such a big and awesome world MiddleEarth is.
So wonderful. ( )

The Journeys of Frodo is without a doubt my favorite Tolkien reference book. It took me some time to find a perfect first edition, but it sits proudly on my shelves now. The love and detail and level of seriousness put into the maps warms my heart. I enjoy following the map chapter by chapter as I read through the rings. ( )

Based on Tolkien’s descriptions in The Lord of the Rings and his original paintings and drawings of Middle Earth, Journeys of Frodo tracks the routes taken by the hobbit and his companions of the Fellowship all the way to Gondor and, in the case of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin, back to the Shire. Barbara Strachey had long wanted more detailed maps to follow the action and, failing the provision of a definitive atlas, embarked on the task herself despite having no background in cartography.

At the time this was published this felt to me like groundbreaking stuff with its chronologies and lunar phases, cross-referencing and discussion of inconsistencies to accompany the maps Strachey drew. In many ways it remains authoritative, if also of its time. The fifty-odd hand-drawn maps detailing each part of Frodo’s (and the others’) routes in two colours are complemented on a facing page by summaries of the related sections of the narrative, along with the author’s comments and reflections. To have the relevant pages at hand when reading the work rather than constant referral back to Tolkien’s original maps (or the re-drawn versions) in another part of the volume is certainly very useful and manageable.

The original atlas appeared in 1981, and was later republished with revisions in 1998. Nowadays I suspect that the maps would be re-jigged by professional cartographers, the chronologies dissected by Christopher Tolkien and the discussion edited by a committee. I might well buy this hypothetical new version, but for now Journeys of Frodo is a charming as well as useful guide for Middle Earth lovers embarking on their first or umpteenth reading; it certainly is less bulky and more accessible than some of the illustrated encyclopaedias I’ve seen. In view of the renewed interest in Tolkien’s world-building as the film trilogy of The Hobbit gets rolled out it’s just a shame Strachey never produced Journeys of Bilbo as a companion volume.

http://wp.me/s2oNj1-journeys ( )

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I love books.

I love maps.

I love the Lord of the Rings.

Therefore, it logically follows that were there a book of maps based on the travels in the Lord of the Rings, I would love that, too. Journeys of Frodo, happily, proves this hypothesis.

In this marvelous gem of an atlas, what Strachan has done is gone through all of J.R.R. Tolkien's writings related to the Lord of the Rings, and matched up descriptions to detailed maps. Tolkien was largely consistent in his descriptions, but he occasionally gave conflicting evidence, and in those cases, Strachan has done her best to reconcile differing accounts. While you won't find a story, per se, in the pages of this book, it is a lovely complement to anyone who wishes to have a deeper, more detailed understanding of Middle-Earth and the travels of the Fellowship.

Valiant attempt to draw maps of Middle Earth, but I prefer Tolkien's. ( )