The Wisconsin cartographer who mapped Tolkien's fantasy world

If you’ve ever wanted to explore the world of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings,” the best place to start might be Oshkosh. That’s where a Wisconsin cartographer created dozens of maps that went into “The Atlas of Middle-earth,” the official geographic guide to the world of author J.R.R. Tolkien. Her work went on to influence “The Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy. Cartographer Karen Wynn Fonstad was featured in this Jan. 30, 1992 issue of The Oshkosh Northwestern. Photo courtesy Mark Fonstad Stay informed on the latest news Sign up for WPR’s email newsletter. Email Name This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Like many readers, Karen Wynn Fonstad fell in love with the fantasy series and went through multiple readings. Unlike most readers, she was trained as a cartographer, and came up with an ambitious plan to use the texts to create realistic maps from Tolkien’s texts. Fonstad passed away 20 years ago. Now, her husband and her son — both geograph ... Read full article.