The Dutch Maps of Middle Earth, made by Cees Kelfkens

For all players who love the maps in the game, this blog is dedicated to three Dutch maps, drawn by the Dutch artist Cees Kelfkens (1919-1986). 

The story goes as follows....

I have three old dutch Lord of the Rings Prisma pockets from 1976. From the moment I got these books, I loved the map art of three maps, which were enclosed in these pockets. In part I (The Fellowship) there is a beatiful map of the Shire by Cees Kelfkens, based on Tolkiens own map. You can see the name of the artist in the left bottom corner of the map, just by a capital 'K' or - on the Rohan map - by his family name, Kelfkens.

Map of the Shire

Dutch map of the Shire ('De Gouw'), drawn by Cees Kelfkens

As you can see, all the topographic names were translated in Dutch. For a young Dutch reader this was great, but years later - when the movies and LOTRO were released, it was a bit difficult to translate them directly into the original English name, devised by Tolkien. You need the original Tolkien Map to know which Dutch name refers to which English name.

For comparison: here is the original map made by Tolkien of the Shire:

Original map of the Shire, as drawn by J.R.R. Tolkien

Map of Rohan

In part 3 of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (Dutch version), there was an intricate map of Rohan. It was republished in the one volume collectors edition in 2003. Unfortunately, the reproduction of the map had a fold in the middle, which makes the map not very easely readable in the centre parts. I made a scan of my 1976 pocket book and reworked it in Photoshop. Here is the final result:

The Lord of the Rings: Rohan map by Cees Kelfkens

As you can see this is a great map, drawn in the cartographic tradition of the old Dutch map makers, like Joan Blaeu in his Atlas Maior. This map was already enclosed as a folded map in the first Dutch edition, which was released in 1956-1957. Below is an impression of the first printed Dutch Rohan map, as photographed by the Tolkien shop, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Gondor map in the first Dutch edition of Lord of the Rings (1956-1957)

Most of the names on the Dutch map are recognisable, but some are lost in translation. For easy comparision of the English names, you can look them up on the original map, drawn by J.R.R. Tolkien, see the map below.

Original map of Gondor, as drawn by J.R.R. Tolkien

Map of Middle Earth

I do not remember in which volume the big folded map was enclosed, since I have used it over and over to look at all the details. It was first published in 1956-1957 as a big, folded map in the first Dutch edition of the Lord of the Rings. In the pocket series it was enclosed as a white, folded map, sized between A4 and A3. As you can see clearly by the 'K', this map was also drawn by Cees Kelfkens. I have scanned the map and reworked it, to remove the folds (and their shadows). The result of the scanned and enhanced Kelfkens map is presented below:

The Lord of the Rings: Middle Earth map by Cees Kelfkens (1976 printing)

Below a picture of the original 1956-1957 map, as can be seen at the Tolkien Shop, Leiden, The Netherlands:

The Kelfkens Middle Earth map of 1956-1957 (Tolkien shop, Leiden, Netherlands)

As you can see on the scanned map above, the map is a real beauty of art. I love the Dutch map, even if the names where translated in Dutch (and sometimes got lost in translation...).

Below you see the original map of J.R.R Tolkien, which is preserved in the British Library:

Original map of Middle Earth, drawn by J.R.R. Tolkien