--- title: Tolkien-Annotated Map of Middle Earth Discovered description: The rare document was found in an old copy of The Lord of the Rings in Blackwell's Rare Books in Oxford. canonical: https://time.com/4087650/tolkien-annotated-middle-earth-map-discovered/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-26T21:08:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:58.473Z og:title: A Tolkien-Annotated Map of Middle Earth Has Been Found og:description: The one map to rule them all og:url: https://time.com/4087650/tolkien-annotated-middle-earth-map-discovered/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06fad0889beab84d/6987806035ba6f48d1c07326/visual-effects-27.jpg?branch=production&width=1000&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1000 og:image:height: 563 og:image:alt: MCDLOOF EC167 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Tolkien-Annotated Map of Middle Earth Has Been Found twitter:description: The one map to rule them all twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06fad0889beab84d/6987806035ba6f48d1c07326/visual-effects-27.jpg?branch=production&width=1000&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A J.R.R. Tolkien-Annotated Map of Middle Earth Has Been Discovered > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: The Top 5 Underrated Sci-Fi Movie Masterpieces [Watch (HLS stream): The Top 5 Underrated Sci-Fi Movie Masterpieces](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xe99vdU4.m3u8) (4:45)  _Published 2010-01-11. Steven James Snyder, Techland's resident movie geek, outlines the top 5 most under-rated sci-fi movies of all time_  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 26, 2015 9:08 PM UTC  2004: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2004: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Warner Bros.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 26, 2015 9:08 PM UTC In news that requires a bigger celebration than Bilbo’s eleventy-first birthday, a map of Middle Earth annotated by J.R.R. Tolkien himself was recently discovered. The rare document was found in an old copy of _The Lord of the Rings_ in [Blackwell’s Rare Books](https://twitter.com/blackwellrare?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor) in Oxford. According to [_The_ _Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/23/jrr-tolkien-middle-earth-annotated-map-blackwells-lord-of-the-rings)_,_ the copy belonged to renowned illustrator Pauline Baynes, who collaborated with Tolkien on a color map of Middle-earth that was published in 1970\. Blackwell’s, which is selling the map for £60,000 ($92,118), said the document is “perhaps the finest piece of Tolkien ephemera to emerge in the last 20 years at least.” Heavily annotated, the map demonstrates how painstakingly particular Tolkien was about the details of his imagined world, and offers new insight into the background of Middle Earth. “The map shows how completely obsessed he was with the details. Anyone else interfered at their peril,” Sian Wainwright at Blackwell’s told _The Guardian_. “He was tricky to work with, but very rewarding in the end.” The author notes that Hobbiton “is assumed to be approx at latitude of Oxford,” and, according to Blackwell’s, implies that “the city of Ravenna \[in Italy\] is the inspiration behind Minas Tirith – a key location in the third book of the _Lord of The Rings_ trilogy.” And if this wasn’t already exciting enough for LOTR fans, now Ian McKellen, who plays Gandalf in the series’ movie adaptation, has taken to social media to tweet about the news. > [](https://twitter.com/IanMcKellen/status/658633695545327618) This map is truly _preciousssss._ ## Transcript >> Man, I love the scene-- Tai Chi against the stars. I asked The Fountain, now that, that's a good movie. I'm Steven James Snyder, movie geek with TechLand and anyone who knows anything about me knows that I am obsessed with the 2006, Darren Aronofsky's film: The Fountain. A pretty trippy- tail of the past, the present, the future, a man trying to cheat death and it got mixed reviews when it came out but I'm pretty convinced that I like it more than anyone on the planet, probably including the director. For three months now on TechLand, we've opened up the debate as to the five most underrated sci- fi masterpieces of all time. First up, the 1972 Eco- space opera, Silent Running, which is about a spaceship called Valley Forge that's been dispatched from a dying planet earth, the last bits of human vegetation. It's a little preachy. There's a few jawn via songs about protecting the plant life that's a little over the top but some of the closing shots of this domes filled with the familiar green of earth being sent out into the cold black of space. It's pretty haunting. Number four, Gattaca, the 1997, Ethan Hawke thriller about a future in which humans are all genetically modified. The majority of humans have been genetically perfected and those who are born via natural means operate in a lower rung of society. They have been plenty of other thrillers about cloning, I mean, even when we talk about Replicants and Blade Runner, but something about this movie which didn't get much fanfare when it was put into theaters stuck with us in the notion of a genetically stratified society. >> You keep your workstation so clean Jerome. >> It's next to godliness isn't that what they say? >> And number three: Serenity, the 2005 Josh Whedon space- western. It was a huge hit among TechLand fan. The plot revolves around in alliance and the rebels who are on the run with a telepathic secret weapon and it all builds up to one of these hulky, huge climactic space battles that you never forgive. >> Target the [ unk ]. Target the [ unk ]. Target everyone. Somebody fire. >> Number two: Dark City. It's all about a man who wakes up in a bath tub one morning without a memory to speak of, accused of murder, who must go on the run through this crazy, foreign foreboding futuristic city. The most haunting image, the whole thing must be the strangers or the white- faced supernatural being seemed to control everything about this other worldly China town. And the ending is all about figuring out who the strangers really are and what their abilities really are. It has to be one of the great surprise endings of all time. >> Finds and wondering like lost children. But this one was different. Yes. >> What does the doctor say about this? >> His filthy report in and to Mr. Quick, no more Mr. Quick. Mr. Quick is dead. >> And the number one underrated masterpiece has to be a little 2004 film that was directed by a guy name Shane Carruth who raised $ 7, 000 and used his parents garage to create a film called Primer. Primer drops us into the middle of a conversation in progress as four engineers spent every night in the garage trying to come up with the next big inventions that's gonna make them rich. And what sets Primer apart is the short hand that they use. The way we try to keep up with them and it takes us a few minutes to realize the implications of this box that they've devised that can warp time space. It takes us a few moments, few beats to realize this is a time machine. It's trippy stuff. There's no doubt about it but it works not only on a scientific level but also in terms of philosophy and personal relationships as these two best friends start to travel back and forth three times, never realizing the larger ramification that could accompany Pandora's box. >> I don't even know for sure. >> So what do you think? Have you seen our five picks? Have another idea for an underrated masterpiece? You can join the debate. 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