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| Klaeber's map from 1922 |
What do you think, could the map for Beowulf from the edition by Frederik Klaeber (1922) influenced the shape of the map of Middle-earth in the first edition of The Lord of the Rings? Tolkien knew Klaeber's work and discussed with it. Lettering, outline of the land shore, general features of graphics. Tolkien would agree that Beowulf had a great influence on The Lord of the Rings.
I would like to thank Father Mateusz Kopa for drawing my attention to the similarity of both maps.
The description of Tolkien's maps can be found here.
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| Tolkien's map from 1954-5 |
Details of both maps:
Hi Ryszard. Your article asks whether the Klaeber map could have influenced “the shape” of the map of Middle-earth. I’m sure you don’t mean that, unless you see similarities that I cannot. So I presume you mean that it may have influenced the style. I don’t see any strong similarity in the style of handwriting. If you compare individual letters, they are quite dissimilar. And the Klaeber map has no equivalent to the pictorial elements in CRT’s (forests, hills, mountains, or even river-widths. I see the similarity in the treatment of the coast, of course, with its multiple parallel lines. But I suspect that this was perfectly conventional for hand-drawn maps of that publication era. Klaeber’s map may have helped to shape Tolkien’s taste or even CRT’s; Tolkien owned the volume. But I imagine they each saw other maps in similar styles. Flipping briefly through "The Writer's Map", edited by Huw Lewis-Jones, I immediately found a couple, including one they also knew: a map drawn by war artist Steven Spurrier for "Swallows and Amazons" by Arthur Ransome (1930). It uses multiple lines for the lake shore (and it's clearer there that they are meant to suggest waves). https://www.biblioguides.com/pub/book/swallows-and-amazons-1930
OdpowiedzUsuńHi, John. Thank you very much for your comment. I am sure you are right. I was simply struck by the similarity I see in the drawing and lettering of these maps. But they're just maps from the same era in the same country.
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