Harondor: ...a debatable land between Corsairs and the Kings

[Galendae]

My first map, taken all the way to completion. It was a long process, two years in the making, with much trial and error along the way. Thankfully, I had the Cartographer’s Guild to help assist me on my journey. I learned much from the website’s tutorials, WIPs and the postings/ideas of much more adept Cartographers. CG has been a great inspiration to me during this process.

Now, to the map…
The map depicts Harondor, a Province of Gondor, in Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Harondor translates from Sindarian (Grey Elf Language) to English as, ‘South Gondor’. The map attempts to grab a moment in Tolkien’s History, essentially a period directly after the ‘Great Plague’ of T.A. 1636. The map’s year is T.A. (Third Age) 1645. The map is intended to tie into the Middle-earth Role-Playing Maps that stopped short of depicting Harondor. Indeed, the maps are done in mimicry of the MERP maps created by Peter Fenlon. Think of this map as a continuation or extension from where he stopped. I was not able to completely duplicate Fenlon’s style but I feel what I produced is close enough and ties in well enough with his maps.

This map is scheduled to appear in a Tolkien Fanzine Magazine called, Other Minds. The magazine is a non-profit, with no ads, it is available for free download here: https://www.otherminds.net/
Issue 20 is due out real soon, maybe after the New Year. Great magazine for Tolkien and RPG fans.

The excellent artwork in the margins and on the border is probably recognizable to many of you. It was done by Ilanthar, of our very own Cartographer’s Guild. I commissioned him to produce it and as you can see, he basically steals the show. An excellent person to collaborate with, Ilanthar had great suggestions and I found us both on the same page quite quickly. On top of his talent as an Artist and Cartographer, he is easy to get along with and a real credit to the Cartographer’s Guild. Top Notch!

Thanks,
Galendae
galendae@yahoo.com

[The Lazy One]

That is indeed a TON of work! Congrats!

I wonder how it could look with softer tones and a bit less saturation.

[Gallien]

Fantastic! Tolkien! Gondor! Oiliphaunts!

[Eilathen]

Wow! As a fan of those old MERP maps back in the day, i applaud you! This looks fantastic and just like those maps. And thanks for such an awesome resolution...i can really look at it in every detail and i could use that map as is for my roleplaying needs, zoomed in to a region where i want to set a game. In one word: PERFECT!

So thank you so much for sharing this! And have some well deserved Rep. as well.

Congrats to Ilanthar as well, of course. A nice atmospheric piece you helped create here.

[Ilanthar]

Hey, so glad to see this fine map here !
It was a pleasure to work with you. You provided very precise and descriptions and examples, making things very easy for me.
Plus, I learned a lot more about this part of the Tolkien world .

[MistyBeee]

Hehe, I opened the map and told to myself "damn, this guy draws exactly as Ilanthar o_o"
Congrats Ilanthar for the good job, and congrats Galendae for your work the map itself : such a pleasure to see something that detailed and complete for a Middle Earth map

[Kellerica]

Impressive work, congratulations on seeing such a large project all the way through! Nice work on both your and Ilan's part. The colors are a little too mellow for my tastes, but they do make for good readability. Impressive scale all on all, well done.

[Galendae]

The Lazy One

That is indeed a TON of work! Congrats!

I wonder how it could look with softer tones and a bit less saturation.

Thanks, Lazy One, it was a labor of love. Remember, this map is designed to mate up with existing gaming maps. The colors are designed to match the originals, see below for examples of the originals.
Also, I am color blind, I struggle seeing Red, it always looks desaturated to me

Gallien

Fantastic! Tolkien! Gondor! Oiliphaunts!

Thanks Gallien, Ilanthar's Oliphant is awesome. He was an excellent choice for the border art!

Eilathen

Wow! As a fan of those old MERP maps back in the day, i applaud you! This looks fantastic and just like those maps. And thanks for such an awesome resolution...i can really look at it in every detail and i could use that map as is for my roleplaying needs, zoomed in to a region where i want to set a game. In one word: PERFECT!

So thank you so much for sharing this! And have some well deserved Rep. as well.

Congrats to Ilanthar as well, of course. A nice atmospheric piece you helped create here.

Yes, yes... Exactly! This map was made in mimicry of those MERP maps from the 80's and 90's. This was a revisit of those maps and designed to mate up with them. Thank you Eilathen for the enthusiasm.

Ilanthar
Hey, so glad to see this fine map here !
It was a pleasure to work with you. You provided very precise and descriptions and examples, making things very easy for me.
Plus, I learned a lot more about this part of the Tolkien world .

Thank you for EVERYTHING! Clearly I made an excellent choice for the border art. As you know, I love your Heraldry. I will be watching your work closely.

MistyBeee

Hehe, I opened the map and told to myself "damn, this guy draws exactly as Ilanthar o_o"
Congrats Ilanthar for the good job, and congrats Galendae for your work the map itself : such a pleasure to see something that detailed and complete for a Middle Earth map

Yes, Ilanthar's art just about steals the show. Something in the water in France?

Kellerica
Impressive work, congratulations on seeing such a large project all the way through! Nice work on both your and Ilan's part. The colors are a little too mellow for my tastes, but they do make for good readability. Impressive scale all on all, well done.

Thanks Kellerica! The maps coloring was chosen to mimic maps that this is a continuation of , see below for examples of the originals that I was trying to simulate.

Examples of Maps I was attempting to mimic, these originals are available all over the net, yet I believe the Copyright still belongs to Iron Crown Enterprises. MERP was ICE's Middle-earth Role Playing series from the 80-'s and 90's.





Thanks
Galendae