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Old 12-31-2002, 06:18 PM   #1
Dark Lord Sauron
Hobbit
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Barad-Dur
Posts: 26
Middle Earth Map

Right now I am trying to come up with an accurate map of Middle Earth that shows both political and geographical booundries. So far the best map I have come up is this:
http://www.geocities.com/saurondestroys/
I added a line there to show the boundries of Gondor at the start of The Fellowship of the Ring.
Besides needing to add mountains, the kingdom of Gondor obviously needs some modifications. The map above shows where Gondor is to be cut off, but I am not entirely sure where those corners go to. Do they become independent nations? Are they incorporated into the nations around them? This is all I know so far.
http://www.geocities.com/saurondestroys2/index.htm
Umbar, of course, goes to the Corsairs, whom are either allies or part of the Harad. I need to know which, because it is either an independent country or it isn't. The region to the north of that, Harondor, between the two rivers, is also unclear. The Encyclopedia of Arda only states that Gondor's hold on this region was "debatable at best". What I did was give the northern third of the region to Gondor, and then the rest to the Corsairs and the Harad.
The only thing I know for certain is that Mordor expands to the West. Of course, it has controlled Minas Morgol for over a millenia, but I do not know how close to Osgiliath Mordor actually was when Frodo was given the Ring. Also, Mordor apperantly expanded to the North, since the Encyclopedia of Arda mentions that the Nazgul were sent to take parts of Mirkwood. However, the location of these parts was not mentioned, and the location of Mirkwood itself I am unaware of. It only states that Mirkwood is part of Rhovanion, but that does not help because Rhovanion is such a large region. However, Gondor seems to be directly in between Rhovanion and Mordor, suggesting that either Mordor became two seperate regions in Middle Earth, or that Sauron also took that part of Gondor.
This is all that I even have and idea of what happened to Gondor in it's decline. I imagine that the large bulge to the North, Dagorlad, was separated from Gondor, as well as the far West, Dunland. However, this is based on my long held assumption that Gondor is relatively small. This assumption is based on the maps in the actual Lord of the Rings books, which show Gondor as surrounded by mountains, giving it the appearance of being small. It is altogether possible, however, that Gondor retained these areas.
It is my guess, however, that the North was taken by either the Harad, Mordor, or the Rhun. I am almost certain that the Eastern portion of that section fell prey to Mordor or the Rhun. The Western part I have no idea of. Since it is surrrounded by few enemies, it would seem logical that this place remained part of Gondor. However, the Encyclopedia mentions that Gondor abandoned Umbar, in order to shift troops over to this region. This would suggest that there was a major enemy over in this area. Also, Gondor was in a general state of decline and civil strife for much of the Third Age, so it is possible that they abandoned this region as well, to consolidate control in central Gondor. It would also not surprise me if several small regions, such as Dol Amroth, popped up as a few vassals realized that Gondor would be unable to prosecute them in the general upheaval.
It is likely that much of the rest of Northwestern Middle Earth remained pretty much the same, with a few insignificant border shifts. Thranduil's Realm, however, is in question. This is the home of the Wood-Elves, but they seem to dwell in part of Mirkwood, which Sauron also later took part of. Did Mordor invade Thranduil's Realm, or did he order the Rhun to take part of the kingdom? Or was Dol Guldur not even part of this realm?
Of course, Moria might have shrunk a little, or maybe it grew, as the dwarves did continue to mine until they met the Balrog, and the trolls invaded. This had to have happened after the time of the original map. The remnants of Arnor, as well as Lindon, probably stayed the same, although there also may have been some decline. The Forodwraith do not seem to be allied with Sauron, but that does not mean that they were not teritorilly aggressive.
If you can directly answer any or all of my questions, or know of a site that can, your help would be greatly appreciated.
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