{"id":5187,"date":"2017-10-11T13:00:35","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T17:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=5187"},"modified":"2017-10-11T09:25:35","modified_gmt":"2017-10-11T13:25:35","slug":"the-perplexing-river-systems-of-middle-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/10\/the-perplexing-river-systems-of-middle-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Perplexing River Systems of Middle-earth’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having ruffled fannish feathers with a post critiquing Middle-earth’s mountains<\/a> and another admitting that\u00a0they don’t like fantasy maps<\/a>, Alex Acks returns with a Tor.com post about the problems with Middle-earth’s river systems<\/a>. Specifically, the Anduin, which breaks all kinds of hydrological rules: it cuts across mountain ranges (and parallels the Misty Mountains), it lacks tributaries along one side and it doesn’t seem to have much of a drainage basin. “Even if you grant the mountains as things created by the Valar doing their Valar-thing\u2014which means my mental excuse for the Anduin cutting through mountain ranges is void\u2014it still looks weird from a geological perspective.”<\/p>\n

Another point Acks makes, about Tolkien’s influence on fantasy maps in general, that I should file for later:<\/p>\n

Just as Tolkien\u2019s novels have had a massive influence on epic fantasy as a genre, his map is the bad fantasy map that launched a thousand bad fantasy maps\u2014many of which lack even his mythological fig leaf to explain the really eyebrow-raising geography. The things that make me cringe about the geography of Middle-earth are still echoing in the ways we imagine and construct fantasy worlds today.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Previously:\u00a0\u2018The Messed Up Mountains of Middle-earth\u2019<\/a>;\u00a0Two Views on Fantasy Maps<\/a>;\u00a0The Territory Is Not the Map<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having ruffled fannish feathers with a post critiquing Middle-earth’s mountains and another admitting that\u00a0they don’t like fantasy maps, Alex Acks returns with a Tor.com post about the problems with Middle-earth’s river systems. Specifically, the Anduin,… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[31,486,397],"class_list":["post-5187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-maps-and-literature","tag-fantasy-maps","tag-middle-earth","tag-tolkien","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4627,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/08\/the-messed-up-mountains-of-middle-earth\/","url_meta":{"origin":5187,"position":0},"title":"‘The Messed Up Mountains of Middle-earth’","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"7 August 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"Science fiction\/fantasy novelist Alex Acks, a geologist by training, has some issues with Middle-earth's mountain ranges. \"Middle-earth\u2019s got 99 problems, and mountains are basically 98 of them.\" Basically it comes down to how Tolkien's mountain ranges intersect at right angles\u2014and mountains don't\u00a0do that. And Mordor? Oh, I don\u2019t even want\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Geology"","block_context":{"text":"Geology","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/geology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5831,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/11\/an-online-class-on-fantasy-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":5187,"position":1},"title":"An Online Class on Fantasy Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"14 November 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"Alex Acks and Paul Weimer are teaching an online class on creating fantasy maps: Join Alex Acks and Paul Weimer as they talk about fantasy maps in order to give you the tools you need to create and map your world. Topics include basic geologic principles, common mistakes, forms maps\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2692,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/08\/mapping-the-wheel-of-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":5187,"position":2},"title":"Mapping The Wheel of Time","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"26 August 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"The fantasy maps that get the most popular and critical attention are those of Middle-earth and Westeros. That's almost entirely due to their respective series' popularity (and in the case of Middle-earth, the foundational nature of that map and its influence on\u00a0later works). Maps of Robert Jordan's hugely popular\u00a0Wheel of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1828755,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/03\/the-river-sins-of-fantasy-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":5187,"position":3},"title":"The ‘River Sins’ of Fantasy Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"8 March 2024","format":"link","excerpt":"Author K. M. Alexander has some thoughts about rivers on fantasy maps, and the mistakes authors make with rivers when drawing those maps. When it comes to rivers, I\u2019ve noticed that quite a few fantasy writers don\u2019t understand the basics. While their intent is noble, I\u2019ve seen plenty of examples\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1786276,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/09\/maps-middle-earth-style-by-hand-and-by-arcgis\/","url_meta":{"origin":5187,"position":4},"title":"Maps Middle-earth Style: By Hand and by ArcGIS","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"17 September 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"Dan Bell's career drawing maps of real-world places in the style of maps of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth continues apace; a recent piece, a map of San Francisco, got written up in the San Francisco Chronicle, and his website is full of other recent works. But computer mapping may\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/nelson-lotr-usa-1024x683.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/nelson-lotr-usa-1024x683.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/nelson-lotr-usa-1024x683.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/nelson-lotr-usa-1024x683.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4689,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/08\/two-views-on-fantasy-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":5187,"position":5},"title":"Two Views on Fantasy Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"27 August 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"At Longreads, Adrian Daub has a long, discursive, in-depth essay about fantasy maps, fantasy novels with maps, and what it meant to grow up loving same. It's so full of good bits and covers so much ground that quoting just a paragraph would mislead you into thinking it was just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5187"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5188,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5187\/revisions\/5188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}